Zoom Workplace 4+

This app is awesome because I can chat with my friends when ever I want. And you can make someone else host if you don’t want to be host. But the part that I really like is that if you are host you can mute everyone and turn their video off! And you can have a virtual background, you can volunteer to be host, and if the host mutes you, you can unmute yourself. You can also write a message to everyone. And my personal favorite part is that you can see as many people as you want. You can also turn audio on and off when ever you want. But one thing is that sometimes people’s screens freeze or you can’t hear them very well or there voice stutters. Another one of my favorites is that you can change your zoom name. But one thing that confuses me is that the app is called zoom. Why is the app called zoom if the app is for video chatting. Anyways, those two issues certainly don’t stop me from giving this app a 5 ⭐️review. And all because of this app I can chat with my friends every day. So I definitely recommend getting this app!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Zoom is a great tool I used to study with friends, video chat, etc. and used to absolutely love it. It works great with SMS and provides a great alternative to facetime for those that don’t have it. However, the app added ridiculous time limits to meetings and it has gotten to a point where I can no longer use the app productively. They originally only had a 45 minute time limit on group meetings, so once the 45 minutes were over, you’d have to create a new meeting and resend the link. They then continued to add that same limit to one on one meetings which got slightly irritating as it would cut out and I would have to create a new meeting over and over again. While I thought this got irritating at times, the app was still functional so I continued to use it regardless. Recently however, they came out with a new update where you must wait 10 minutes after your meeting ends to start a new one. While I understand that they may want people to purchase premium, it has gotten to a point where you cannot even use the free version of the app functionally. The limits have gotten unbearable and there are many other FREE video chatting apps that perform a similar function. As a college student on a tight budget I simply cannot afford to pay for the premium version of Zoom and am absolutely devastated to have to let go of this previously amazing study tool.

Yesterday I spent almost 45 minutes working with a knowledgeable tech mentor who was helping me navigate Zoom on my hp laptop. We finally reached a point where I could get onto the app and up to the point of "Join a Meeting."

However, in trying to connect with my meeting today, after 3 failed attempts to get into my meeting on the laptop, a member of the group called me on my iPhone. He used his speaker so I could at least hear, if not see, the other meeting attendees. I then got my iPad, and was finally able to join the meeting - after having lost a full 45 minutes of the meeting! Not only did I miss a great deal of valuable conversation and information, I was lagging behind and trying to catch up the rest of the time!

This is untenable! It is frustrating and maddening to be unable to connect with the others through Zoom! It is my understanding that another avenue of connection is being sought. I can only hope that it will be more effective, because due to Covid restrictions, we are at the mercy of technology, and must meet virtually. I plan to try to speak to a Zoom representative today who can hopefully assist me to be prepared for next week's meeting - using my laptop. Who knows what will come of that, or even if I can make a personal connection? We shall see - Allegra Yancey