Viber, the popular VoIP and messaging platform owned by Japan’s Rakuten, hasn’t updated its iPhone app in any meaningful way for a while now. And just when you thought they’ve neglected the iOS app for good, here comes a brand new release packing a few solid improvements.
I’ve always hated Viber wouldn’t let me chat while on a VoIP or video call. This should be expected behavior as iPhones have always supported messaging during a cellular call.
In latestViber 5.4 for iPhoneupdate it’s now possible to minimize a VoIP call and open any other screen within the app without interrupting your conversation.
In addition to this in-app multitasking feature, Viber now lets you access call history for a contact directly in your chat with them. As mentioned before, adding contacts is a lot easier with Viber’s new QR code scanning feature.
To get started, hit the More tab at the bottom, choose Add Contact and then tap the new QR Scanner option to scan a QR code on another person’s iPhone screen.
To bring up your own contact details in the form of a QR code for others to scan, open the More screen and tap the QR code icon in the upper-right.
Other changes in this release of Viber include support for iOS’s Dynamic Type feature and improved usability with a person’s name and photo shown even if they’re not saved in your contacts.
And should you happen to use Viber groups, you can give them their own icon in order to better distinguish between multiple groups.
Viber 5.4 for iPhone changelog:
The 80.2-megabyte app requires an iPhone with iOS 7.0 or later.
