Wi-Fi Calling

[fox]

....
Many of their phones have wifi calling (mine does) which means at least you can make incoming/outgoing calls over wifi for free....

Is wifi calling a feature of the phone, or is it available on any smartphone through an app?

[Jason]

Is wifi calling a feature of the phone, or is it available on any smartphone through an app?

It's a feature of the phone though the network you're on has to support it, too. Although the details of which networks support it is US-centric, below is a good article about it:

https://www.cnet.com/news/what-is-wifi-calling-tmobile-verizon-att-sprint-project-fi-setup-faq/

The first time I heard of it was with Freedom but doing a casual search shows that Bell, Virgin, Fido and Telus have it. Best to look at your particular carrier's website to see if they have support for it and they will guide you for how to configure it. For example, for Freedom:

https://www.freedommobile.ca/network-and-coverage/wi-fi-calling

[Jason]

It's actually probably not a bad idea to scan over the terms when you activate Wi-Fi calling. For example, with Freedom it mentions that when using Wi-Fi calling, your calls/texts are treated as if they're being placed from the Home Network which means they're subject to whatever restrictions you might have on that network (home network minutes, texting limits, etc). This prevents you from just having a phone with hardly any minutes and doing all your calls only over Wi-FI. For that, you'd want to use a separate app like Skype, Signal or Whatsapp for placing calls. Not sure about Whatsapp but Signal will let you continue to use your own phone number like with Wi-Fi calling.

[fox]

I hadn't realized that wifi calling isn't the same as making calls over the internet with an app that supports this. All wifi calling does is use the internet for your call when cellular service is poor or unavailable. I can certainly see the relevance to Freedom Mobile, where "home" cellular service is very spotty. Koodo has it too, but only supports it on monthly plans (mine is prepaid). Given that it is charged against your call allocation, it looks like Skype or Whatsapp calling are a much better option.

[ssfc72]

I believe with Skype (which uses wifi), that if you want to phone someone, who doesn't have Skype, then you have to pay some money to maintain a balance of cash and the phone calls cost a few cents per minute.
If the person you are calling has a Skype account running on their phone or computer, then the phone call does not cost anything.

I have used another app called TIKL, that also required the person you wanted to talk/text for free, to to have TIKL on their  phone as well.
TIKL of course uses wifi and is a great app. It sort of works like a walkie talkie when using voice calls.

[Jason]

Wi-Fi calling is also good for areas where cell reception can be poor like basements or towers or I suppose subways or malls even. I don't need it my home but when I was first with Telus (like 10 years ago), sometimes I lost my signal and could have used it.

The Signal app also lets you keep your existing number when you use it. And there is no charge (just data costs if needed). It's also open source calls are encrypted if you use it with other Signal users.

[fox]

The nice thing about Skype is that you can make the wifi calls regardless of whether or not the recipient has a Skype account. But yes, you do have to pay a few cents per minute if you call someone without an account.