Viber provides a way to get around those pricey carrier bills for messaging, and it throws in free VoIP calls too. The app has been in need of an overhaul for a while, and now it's here. Viber has been updated to be snappier and includes a few new features.

Performance seemed to be a common complaint about Viber previously, but the developer promises big improvements in this update. And there are new emoticons. Who doesn't like emoticons? Here's the changelog for the new version:

  • Send doodles or paint over a photo and share it with your friends!
  • Now you can know when your friends have seen your messages
  • Support for the Viber Desktop application on Windows and Mac
  • Fun new emoticons
  • Massive performance improvements
  • Bug fixes
  • Localized to: Croatian, Norwegian, Romanian, Slovak and Ukrainian

The addition of read receipts is definitely a big usability win. Data sync with the desktop client is cool too. Viber has crazy cross platform support – it even runs on Bada, if one of your friends uses those bizarre phones.

[EMBED_APP]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.viber.voip[/EMBED_APP]