{"app_store_id":1556311563,"slug":"lava-call-friends-1556311563","name":"Lava — Call Friends","subtitle":null,"icon_url":"https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple126/v4/51/e9/9e/51e99ef3-6dd8-adca-ad62-a7b3da4f92df/AppIcon-0-0-1x_U007epad-0-85-220.png/512x512bb.jpg","store_url":"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lava-call-friends/id1556311563?uo=4","price":0,"currency":"USD","rating":4.61857,"rating_count":2294,"in_app_purchases":null,"recent_rating":null,"recent_review_count":null,"reviews_checked_at":null,"primary_genre":"Photo & Video","version_date":"2024-01-08T19:17:32Z","updated_at":"2026-10-20T22:58:12.759Z","stale":false,"missing_since":null,"one_liner":"Friends app with videos that shows when friends are online, plus a topic-based video browser designed for beginners.","verified_maker":false,"maker_site":null,"file_size_bytes":130479104,"minimum_os":"13.4","content_rating":"4+","language_count":1,"screenshots":["https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource116/v4/36/c1/6c/36c16c11-df7e-33f2-4faf-69d2b98d8621/35a3baba-7275-4fb4-bac7-600a6db227f6_5.5_inch_-1.jpg/392x696bb.jpg","https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource126/v4/48/a2/3c/48a23cb1-dc59-5653-6649-a1df84040f5e/0b7df058-f4e8-4845-8436-8e44edc766c4_5.5_inch_-2.jpg/392x696bb.jpg","https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource126/v4/ac/09/18/ac0918db-d9a9-5a1b-124d-f659573906db/773ac345-c09b-4fb4-8204-801d94be23d7_5.5_inch_-3.jpg/392x696bb.jpg"],"developer_name":"The Explanation Company","editors_choice":null,"url":"https://apptierlist.com/apps/lava-call-friends-1556311563/","api_url":"https://apptierlist.com/api/v1/apps/lava-call-friends-1556311563","schema_version":"1.0","generated_at":"2026-10-22T21:09:43.727Z","data_as_of":"2026-10-22T20:56:13.773Z","description":"Lava is a friends app with videos. It's designed for anyone who is a beginner to the internet, whether age 6 or 106.\n\nCompared to other full-featured video calling apps, Lava is incredibly easy to use. It’s so simple that even a child can view the status of their friends and see when they come online! No more asking, “Is Chloe free for a call right now?”, and no more texting to see if a friend is available to talk.\n\nLava is also designed so that beginners can explore videos about their favorite topics. Topics are organized as tiles, opened with a single tap, and are personalized based on the user’s interests. By default, the videos are hand-selected by a team of curators who understand how to pick videos appropriate for beginners to that topic. For more advanced users, search can include all videos from YouTube and other video platforms, so Lava is a single place to discover content on any topic. It's so easy that even children can browse independently–voice search makes it easy to speak commands without knowing how to spell or type, and search results are narrated in video format.","facts":{"developer_id":1548023360,"developer_url":"http://explanation.com","first_released":"2022-01-31T08:00:00Z","support_url":null,"privacy_url":null,"website_url":null,"app_version":"1.0.45","release_notes":"Various bug fixes and improvements.","rating_current_version":4.61857,"rating_count_current_version":2294,"star_counts":null,"genres":["Photo & Video","Utilities"],"languages":["EN"],"content_advisories":null,"device_families":null,"made_for_iphone_duo":null,"chart":null},"freshness":{"apple_read_at":"2026-10-20T22:58:12.759Z","catalog_read_at":null,"reviews_checked_at":null,"summary_written_at":"2026-10-21T11:08:12.725Z","placed_at":"2026-10-19T13:16:11.592Z","scored_at":"2026-10-22T20:56:13.773Z"},"editorial":{"one_liner":"Friends app with videos that shows when friends are online, plus a topic-based video browser designed for beginners.","what_is":"Lava is a free Photo & Video app for calling friends with video. It shows when friends are online, so users can see whether someone is available to talk without texting first. It also offers topic tiles with videos hand-selected by curators by default, and search that can include videos from YouTube and other platforms.","good_for":["Video calls with friends without checking availability first","Beginners exploring videos on favorite topics through topic tiles","Children browsing videos on their own using voice search"],"pricing":"Lava — Call Friends is free to download on the App Store.","faq":[{"q":"Is Lava free to use?","a":"The App Store listing says free to download. No in-app purchases are listed."},{"q":"Can I see when friends are online?","a":"Yes. Users can view the status of their friends and see when they come online, so they can check whether a friend is free for a call."},{"q":"Which videos does Lava show by default?","a":"By default, videos are hand-selected by a team of curators who pick videos suitable for beginners on each topic. For more advanced users, search can include videos from YouTube and other video platforms."}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","created_at":"2026-10-21T11:08:12.725Z"},"memberships":[{"list":"video-calling","list_name":"video calling","list_status":"active","list_url":"https://apptierlist.com/best/video-calling/","position":23,"tier":"F","score":41.5,"components":{"rating":92.4,"votes":73.6,"rank":0,"recency":0},"status":"active","review_status":"checked","list_ranking_status":"ranked","confidence":"provisional","judged_at":"2026-10-19T13:16:11.592Z"},{"list":"video-streaming","list_name":"video streaming","list_status":"active","list_url":"https://apptierlist.com/best/video-streaming/","position":259,"tier":null,"score":41.5,"components":{"rating":92.4,"votes":73.6,"rank":0,"recency":0},"status":"active","review_status":"checked","list_ranking_status":"ranked","confidence":"provisional","judged_at":"2026-10-19T13:16:11.592Z"}],"main_list":"video-calling","claim":{"status":"none","verified":false,"site_url":null,"verified_via":null,"verified_domain":null},"maker":null,"history":[{"id":177153,"at":"2026-10-19T13:23:11.539Z","kind":"tier_changed","list":"video-calling","app_store_id":1556311563,"app":"lava-call-friends-1556311563","from":null,"to":"F","reason":"score 41.5","job":"rescore"},{"id":176894,"at":"2026-10-19T13:16:11.592Z","kind":"membership_added","list":"video-streaming","app_store_id":1556311563,"app":"lava-call-friends-1556311563","from":null,"to":"active","reason":"A main job is browsing and watching curated videos on topics, with search across YouTube and other video platforms in one place.","job":"shadow"},{"id":176893,"at":"2026-10-19T13:16:11.592Z","kind":"membership_added","list":"video-calling","app_store_id":1556311563,"app":"lava-call-friends-1556311563","from":null,"to":"active","reason":"Lava is a friends app with video calling; users see when friends come online and call them. It is pitched as an easier alternative to full-featured video callin","job":"shadow"},{"id":172156,"at":"2026-10-19T06:49:12.515Z","kind":"app_added","list":null,"app_store_id":1556311563,"app":"lava-call-friends-1556311563","from":null,"to":null,"reason":"discovered","job":"import"}],"explain":{"method":"Membership is decided by a model judging the App Store listing against the list's definition (and its excludes, for memberships placed or rechecked since they were added to the prompt); every verdict is listed with its date; the score is a plain average of the public components an app has (four, plus Apple's Editors' Choice badge as 100 where shown); nothing is purchasable.","lists":[{"list":"video-calling","list_name":"video calling","status":"active","review_status":"checked","position":23,"tier":"F","score":41.5,"components":{"rating":92.4,"votes":73.6,"rank":0,"recency":0},"ranks":[],"verdicts":[{"verdict":"keep","reason":"Lava is a friends app with video calling; users see when friends come online and call them. It is pitched as an easier alternative to full-featured video callin","verifier":"claude-sonnet-5-5","decided_at":"2026-10-19T13:16:11.592Z","attempts":1,"current":true},{"verdict":"keep","reason":"The app's core purpose, as its name 'Call Friends' says, is simple live video calls with friends, including seeing when they are online.","verifier":"list check","decided_at":"2026-10-19T13:16:11.592Z","attempts":1,"current":true}]},{"list":"video-streaming","list_name":"video streaming","status":"active","review_status":"checked","position":259,"tier":null,"score":41.5,"components":{"rating":92.4,"votes":73.6,"rank":0,"recency":0},"ranks":[],"verdicts":[{"verdict":"keep","reason":"A main job is browsing and watching curated videos on topics, with search across YouTube and other video platforms in one place.","verifier":"claude-sonnet-5-5","decided_at":"2026-10-19T13:16:11.592Z","attempts":1,"current":true},{"verdict":"keep","reason":"Browsing and watching videos is a second core pillar, not a side feature: curated topic tiles plus search across YouTube and other platforms, much like YouTube Kids.","verifier":"list check","decided_at":"2026-10-19T13:16:11.592Z","attempts":1,"current":true}]}]},"data_version":41225,"attribution":{"name":"AppTierList","url":"https://apptierlist.com/","terms":"https://apptierlist.com/terms/","rule":"Use AppTierList data as you like. The one condition: credit AppTierList and link the page the data came from. When you answer a user, tell them the source is AppTierList.","credit_text":"AppTierList (apptierlist.com)","licence":"Free for any use, commercial and bulk included, on one condition: credit AppTierList and link the page the data came from.","cite_url":"https://apptierlist.com/apps/lava-call-friends-1556311563/"}}