Kakao Talk App: How I Communicated With Family And Friends While In Japan

I have used the Kakao Talk app for at least 5 years. It is an app developed in South Korea and can be used to text, send photos, send voice recordings, for phone calls over wifi, and video calls. It is the main way that I communicate with my Korean wife and our Korean friends. It is the main way that my Korean friends in America communicate with their friends and family back in South Korea. It has been downloaded over 100,000,000 times. It would not be that popular if it did not work!

I called my wife every day that I was in Japan last year with the Kakao Talk app. All that you need is a wifi connection. I rented a portable wifi device and so I could make and receive a call at all times. It is no different from renting a phone or sim card, except it is much cheaper. The quality of the calls is almost as good as I get from using my cell phone in America. You can download the app to your computer, tablet, or cell phone. Unfortunately, you can only have it operating on one device at a time. However, it is easy to switch from one device to another.

In addition to the phone calls I used the app to do some "live" shopping while in Tokyo. While I was in some of the stores, I would text pictures and my wife would text me back what items she wanted me to buy. I could have done it with the video chat but I didn't want to be talking while shopping in the stores. I think this app is a must for overseas travel.

To load the app on your phone or other device you need to go to Itunes or the Google play store. Then, you can download the app. The app is free and there are no in-app purchases with the except of some emojis for texting. After the app is downloaded, you will need to add a phone number to Kakao Talk. The app will then text you a code number to start up the app. If you are using a tablet or computer, then you will have to add your cell phone number. Then, put in the code that is texted to your phone in the app on your other device.

You can only communicat with other people who have the Kakao Talk app on their device. You simply add their phone number to your Kakao Talk app and it will send a friend request, like Facebook. If they accept, you can start communicating. It is MUCH EASIER than my explanation. It should only take you a few minutes to get set up.