Can You Do Zoom On Your Phone? 6 Things to Consider When Using Zoom's Mobile App

Mobile communication has become one of the greatest achievements of the 21st century. As time passes, people are moving further and further away from their stationary workplaces to venture into a realm where they can get work done and business taken care of from a device that is held on the palms of their hands. This is not to say that we are abandoning the PC. Instead, we are recognizing that our other devices present us with greater flexibility. So, can you do Zoom on your phone? Absolutely. Since Zoom works on iOS and Android devices, you have the ability to communicate through our software with anyone at any time, no matter where you are. How do you get Zoom on your phone? While you can use an internet browser, the most effective method is through our mobile app. Mobile video communications through Zoom works fluidly and easily, but communicating through a mobile device is still somewhat different from communicating through your PC no matter how great our app is. For this reason, we’d like to let you know what kinds of things you should consider when using Zoom on your mobile device.

Apps have a tendency of bothering us at the most inconvenient times. If you have a meeting that has been scheduled and know the exact hour when it’s going to start, it would be best if you’d try to sort out your applications so that they don’t flood you with notifications in the middle of it. Take a few minutes before your meeting to disable notifications for the apps that display them. For Android, this can be done more easily if you use the Notifications Off app on Google Play. For iOS devices, you can read the instructions from Cult of Mac.

Since phones are small, and we’re more focused on seeing the participant we’re talking to, we often end up forgetting where the camera’s pointing. This is how we end up in video meetings where the only thing we see of the mobile participant is the top of his/her head or a mysterious chin. There’s nothing wrong with your chin, but people want to see your entire face. Zoom’s mobile app presents you with a large view of the active speaker and a small view of your own camera. Use this self-view to your advantage and make the necessary adjustments. If you’re stationary and in a room, it’s best to use a mobile stand and adjust the device’s position so that the camera faces directly at you. That way it's not shaking in your hand every time you move. If you're about to go into our safe driving mode, where your microphone, camera, and video shut off to prevent driver distraction, be sure to let the other participants know so they understand why they can't see or hear you.

“This is a weird little piece of advice,” you might say. The truth is that many devices, no matter how high-end they are, have a tough time with vivid red and green colors on their front-facing cameras. The CMOS behind the lens might make your clothes or background bleed out into each other depending on the lighting situation you find yourself in. Also - and this is true of all video calls - you should avoid wearing striped clothing that has an excessively vivid contrast since this might make for a pretty dizzying visual display.

It happens to the best of us. We go out of the house, pick up our phones, and forget to check whether the battery is fully charged. This is a recipe for a crisis in any online meeting. Zoom doesn’t really use much of your battery, but depending on the device you’re using, your camera, cellular, and Wi-Fi antenna might do the job of depleting your battery just fine. Before you leave your house or office, make sure that you charge your mobile device completely. If you don’t want to have to worry about your charge level, you can get an extended battery pack with USB connectivity. The typical phone battery has around 3,000 mAh of battery power per charge cycle. An external battery pack with 9,000 mAh could charge a phone three times over and a tablet twice. These are very handy when you’re traveling or thinking about having a very long Zoom meeting.

Just because you can meet from anywhere, it doesn't mean you should. Something to consider with how Zoom works on mobile devices is the amount of ambient noise surrounding you. The bathroom, a noisy coffee shop, a place that requires your attention, such as a supermarket checkout - are all places you should probably avoid during your meeting. If you're in one of these places when your meeting starts, send a quick group message telling the other participants to get started without you and you'll join in a few minutes.

Phones and tablets don’t often come with the specifications on their audio hardware. For this reason, it’s mostly a “hit and miss” ordeal when you’re shopping for a device. During a meeting, there’s a chance that people might not hear you clearly and you might not hear them. Added to this, not all mobile devices have echo-cancellation, transforming what could have been a pleasant meeting into an enormous echo chamber. To ensure that you have the best meeting experience possible on a mobile device, we recommend getting a mobile-compatible headset for audio. In taking these steps, you will have a complete and more productive experience on Zoom’s mobile platform. It’s a simple question with a straightforward answer. Can you do Zoom on your phone? Easily. Get the Zoom app on Android by following these simple instructions. And If you’d like to try Zoom today, sign up for a free account! Editor's note: This post was updated Dec. 8, 2021.