It’s 2020, so by now, you are likely familiar with the many different messaging apps that we have available to us. You’ve heard of Snapchat, Messenger, and even Whatsapp, but there is likely one that you haven’t downloaded yet. When it comes to apps, Marco Polo is becoming a huge way to keep in contact with your loved ones!
Marco Polo is a video messaging app that allows you to record videos to send to and receive from other users. You can choose to send and watch these videos at any time, or you can record them live and see the other person’s reactions. So think of it as your phone’s own video walkie talkie! Now, what makes Marco Polo different from Snapchat or any other messaging app?
1. Marco Polo isn’t attached to any other app.
Unlike Facebook Messenger, Marco Polo is its own messaging app, so it’s not tied to any social media. You can only invite and talk to people from your phone contacts, making privacy a huge perk. You also cannot add to a social story with this app, which makes it less of a social media and more along the lines of text messaging or email correspondence, but adding a more personal touch.
2. Forget losing the videos or losing memory on your phone!
Marco Polo allows you to start, pause and come back to any video sent at any time all within the app! So now you don’t have to worry about accidentally closing the app and never being able to see what was sent to you. And unlike other messaging apps, you’re not downloading these videos directly to your phone. The videos that are sent to you stay inside the app, so you don’t have to worry about losing memory on your photos or having to buy extra storage in your cloud.
Keep in mind, the app can take up quite a bit of storage, so be sure to clean out your videos that are no longer relevant.
3. Keeping in touch with family members has been made easy!
In the world today, most families are spread throughout different states and sometimes even different countries. Long gone are the days of having to write letters back and forth to one another, but sometimes life is too busy to sit down and write out an entire message with everyone’s updates. Marco Polo makes it easy to have a group video message where you can sit down with your family and record video updates for one another.
Marco Polo is also a great way to connect with your loved ones who are deployed. Marco Polo released a video on Youtube with tons of stories from those who have used the app to connect with family members while serving in the military.
Read More: How to Maintain a Long Distance Relationship
Overall this sounds incredible, right? Well there’s one more perk of Marco Polo and it’s not personal…it’s business.
Video conferencing is HUGE for most careers. Not only does video conferencing reduce travel time, but it can increase productivity. While Marco Polo does not allow you to have real-time video chats like Messenger or Whatsapp, it does allow you to see your coworker or boss explaining a task versus just reading an email about it.
According to Forbes, “Once video engages during a call, “the entire feel and etiquette of the meeting changes,” says Koushik. Participants can see and be seen. Any sense of distance is removed. There’s no longer any semblance of “out of sight, out of mind,” says Koushik. Participants are less apt to “zone out” or multitask, as they might on an audio-conference, and instead maintain “virtual eye contact.” The result, says Koushik, are superior levels “of closeness and engagement.”
Hearing and seeing a video can help keep yourself and your employees zoned into the work that is in front of them, as well as having that personal connection that is often lost in email correspondence.
How to use the App Marco Polo
Once you have downloaded the app from your app store, it will ask to verify your phone number, complete your profile, and invite you to invite other friends in your contacts. Keep in mind that Marco Polo is based only on your contacts, so if the person you want to contact does not have the app, you will not be able to contact them.
Marco Polo is great about showing you how the app works. They start you off with an intro video with people introducing themselves through the app. After watching the video intro, make sure to allow Marco Polo access to your microphone and camera, without this access you won’t be able to use the app properly.
Once you have given access, you can start chatting with your friends, family and, colleagues right away!
Go through your list of friends and press start and you can start talking. When you’re ready to end the video, you can press stop and that’s it! The video will be delivered straight to your friend. You can choose to send them a video individually, or create a group where everyone can see one another’s videos. This is great when doing a group project or if you have several different family members who all want to talk together!
Like Snapchat, you have the ability to add different filters, voice effects and even draw on your videos. So make sure that you have fun with the videos you’re sending!
Apps like Marco Polo are slowly going to transform the way that we communicate. Make sure to download it and start connecting with your loved ones in a meaningful way today!
WANT TO READ MORE?
If you’re not sure what apps you need on your phone, make sure to check out 8 Phone Apps for New Moms!
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Photo Credits: Lauren Benson Photography
