Fun tips to stay connected with loved ones

Socialise from anywhere using the internet

The World Wide Web is as multi-purpose as they come. An entertainer, a distractor, a space to tune in or zone out. It also helps us connect with friends and family near and far. Keen to learn how to socialise from anywhere using the internet? Read on…

Host a house party, but make it virtual

Houseparty is an open invitation to a game night, with friends and friends-of-friends.

It’s one of the most downloaded apps around the world because it has that level of spontaneity where you can stumble into a room and find yourself making a new friend — as you would at a house party, right? But don’t worry, you can ‘lock’ a room for extra privacy.

The app lets you invite up to eight people, where you can host a game night. You can play games like ‘Quick Draw’, ‘Trivia’ and ‘Heads Up’ all with live video and chat.

If you’ve got a friend or family member that’s always running late, you can send a ‘Facemail’ or a video message to nudge them along. Otherwise, your new friend might take their place!

Keep challenging friends and family with word games

Playing Scrabble with your family is always…interesting.

There’s often a dispute about whether or not you can use that word (or if it even exists). Wordfeud app lets you have all the fun of the Scrabble experience, without the arguments.

You can play up to 30 games at once with a friend, a stranger, or a group of four mates. And if you’re that person who likes to rub it in when you’re winning, there’s a chat option for that too.

Be a trivia master among your friends or the wider world

If you and your mates can’t make it to the local pub for trivia night, why not take it online? It’s hard to replace that environment and energy, but you can get pretty close with the QuizUp app.

You can choose a mate or verse a random person on pretty much any topic you can think of. There’s so much to choose from, even the most unusual topics will have an opponent waiting for you.

Get your friends around a computer, and dish out the gossip

Video calls are our saving grace for face-to-face catchups, and there are enough video calling services to keep us gasbagging for days. We’ve already done a round-up of ways you can use your data to make calls to your loved ones, so give it a read!

Skype and Microsoft Teams have made a dent in social media lately for being go-to’s for work meetings, but can also be useful for school or university lectures. You can share screens, as well as thoughts, and collaborate with ease.

Decompress with friends and family on a Friday afternoon with a drink over a call. Just don’t forget to turn your microphone off if you’ve got to run to the loo!

The key to balancing work and life

Working at home? Or living at work? Balancing work and personal life can be difficult, but Cloze can take that burden off you.

Cloze is a handy tool to use when you’re knee-deep in work and struggling to organise it all. The app works as a virtual personal assistant: it automatically keeps track of your emails, meetings, and phone calls so you can continue to manage your professional relationships.

You can also use this to manage personal relationships — its algorithm can learn who is important to you, and keep track of how long it’s been since you’ve spoken to them. It then sends you a reminder to contact that person. Neat!

Netflix and Party?

Netflix Party has been around for a few years now, but it’s been mainly popular with couples in long-distance relationships and college students. It’s now one of the biggest parties on the internet.

Netflix Party is a Google Chrome browser extension that lets multiple Netflix users watch a movie at the same. People are utilizing this platform for their online communities to continue to collaborate and share experiences together.

Families are hosting movie nights across the pond, and friends are relieving the tension in a horror movie through funny social commentary in the extension’s chat function.

Video calls for conflicting time zones

Simple moments with loved ones are worth holding on to.

Having a nice chit-chat while you’re lying in your backyard, soaking up some sun rays, filling them in on life…Marco Polo can capture these moments and give your loved ones the ability to replay them as much as they’d like.

The app combines the best elements of both video calls and Snapchat. You record a video of yourself —recalling an exciting event, or even dancing in front of the camera — and whoever is on the receiving end has plenty of time to respond as the video never expires.

This comes in handy if it’s been longer than a few days since you received the video, and kind of forgot what they said. If you’re in different time zones, it’s an easy solution to organising video calls.

Stay at home live streaming events

Going to events just isn’t the same if you’re alone, online or in-person!

Eventbrite is now showing online events like lectures/talks, festivals, performances, webinars and conferences. If you have a lot of time on your hands, you can do online courses and earn a certificate. Or if you and your friend usually do fitness classes together, you can join virtual workout classes with a live instructor. Not all events are free, but there are plenty of options to choose from.

Conclusion

Aren’t you feeling more connected already? Go on, get in touch with a loved one, or get connected with a Belong internet plan.

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These handy apps and tools are not endorsed or provided by Belong. The social crew have handpicked these as their favourites, and are only suggested ideas. So please use them at your own risk — we encourage you to take sensible precautions if you do so. Belong Blog is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc or Microsoft. iOS software, and macOS software are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries and regions.