Roskatchestvo’s Digital Expertise Center conducted an unprecedented breadth and depth of research on the most popular mobile video calling apps. For this purpose, the experts selected the most popular applications based on the results of the consumer survey.
Which apps were investigated?
Tests were conducted on 162 criteria for specialized video services and 140 criteria for messengers and social networks. There was also an additional security test of applications using specialized software. As a result all key features have been tested, usability, security, performance and reliability of video calling applications have been evaluated.
Nineteen messenger and social networking apps were tested: 10 for iOS and 9 for Android, as well as two specialized video-communication services Skype and Zoom versions for both platforms . More than half of the analyzed applications on both platforms scored above 4 for security across all criteria – a very high score. There were no unrecommended ones in the ranking.
According to test results, the most functional applications among messengers and social networks – Telegram, VKontakte and Odnoklassniki, and among specialized video chat services – Zoom. The most convenient – among messengers and social networks on iOS are Telegram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, on Android – WhatsApp, “Odnoklassniki” and Facebook Messenger. Skype is slightly ahead of Zoom here. As for information security, all applications showed good results, but there are a number of points worth paying attention to. Skype and Zoom were identical in terms of security.
Information security
Security for video conference services is crucial, because user private or professional conversations, chats and past conversations can be compromised in case of data interception or account hacking. In this study, the security criteria group accounted for 15% of the final app evaluation. During the study, experts assessed whether the service requests only the minimum required user data and permissions. Additionally, we analyzed whether the application requires a complex password for the account and allows for password protection of the login itself .
Four apps requested excessive data for registration: “VKontakte”, “Odnoklassniki”, Instagram and Face Time. A complex password is not required by Discord and Instagram. Only Telegram, WhatsApp and VKontakte allowed to password protect the application itself. Zoom and Skype allow you to “password” an app only in the iOS version.
The security of application data transfer and user data was analyzed separately. To do that, experts captured all the traffic sent by the application with specialized software Wireshark , and then analyzed it for the presence of unencrypted data.
As a result, all applications were found to be quite secure. Almost all messenger and social networking apps received high scores above 4 , except for Instagram. Zoom and Skype also showed high levels of security on both platforms, with minimal differences less than 0.1 point . The possibility of sharing user data with law enforcement agencies was not considered.
In addition to the parameters tested during the survey, Roskatchestvo experts checked all Android apps with the Solar appScreener vulnerability and VAP analyzer. The following potential vulnerabilities were revealed: DNS was called in 81% of cases, insecure reflection was detected in 72% of surveyed applications. Insecure native implementation of SSL – 45%. Weak hashing algorithm was detected in 72% of apps studied.
Anton Kukanov, deputy head of Roskatchestvo:
“According to a Roskachevo survey, among the devices on which respondents use video calling services, smartphones lead the way 86.8% . The two most commonly used tasks for video calling were communication with family and friends 83.2% and work-related issues 46% . Most respondents use video calling services several times a week 39.4% . The vast majority of respondents use more than one video calling service on their devices 67.9% .”
The survey was conducted by the Roskatchestvo Digital Expertise Center. Over the four years of its work, the Center for Digital Expertise has conducted dozens of studies of mobile applications in key socially relevant categories. When developing the research methodology, users’ needs were taken into account in-depth interviews, sociological research and semantic analysis of app store reviews were conducted and the test methodology itself was discussed and improved by industry experts at the TC 702 working group meeting.
Next year, on behalf of the Ministry of Digital Expertise, Roskatchestvo will conduct a study of video calling apps. Experts will estimate such parameters as functionality, usability, security and others., As well as analyze the privacy policies of the services.
What were the key findings of the research conducted by Roskatchestvo on video call applications?
What are the key findings and recommendations from Roskatchestvo’s research on video call applications? Are there any standout performers or features that users should be aware of?
What are the key findings from Roskatchestvo’s research on video call applications? Did they evaluate popular platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Skype? Which applications performed the best in terms of video and audio quality, ease of use, and security? Were there any unexpected results or notable differences between the apps tested?