And app interface updates now let you choose whether to receive any combination of push, in-app, and audio notifications for chat. First, the service's underlying notification system now spares you from seeing the same unread messages or missed calls as new events on multiple devices once you've addressed them on one device. Notifications Notifications in the latest Skype for iPhone get some welcome updates. In other words, I personally haven't experienced any fivefold speed multiplications, but the app is definitely faster in some regards. When signing back in after signing out, however, I didn't see a real difference. When I tried opening each version of the app on my iPhone 5, I noted that the new version took 2 seconds to open, whereas the old one took 4 seconds. Speed A big claim for the rebuilt Skype iPhone app version is that it's up to five times faster than the previous one for some actions. You can also now leave a multiparty chat whether you or another user started it, and you can see a list members of a large chat on a separate page. If chat group members go offline, they see any new messages the next time they're online. You can include photos inline in chats, but I still find the emoticon selection lacking compared with Facebook Messenger and the stickers in WhatsApp. Starting a chat session with either one or multiple users is now possible from any page of the main interface (Recent, Favorites, or People). Group Chat It's hard to believe the iPhone Skype app didn't have group messaging before this update. After a Skype call, the app asks you to rate its quality, so any problems are reported to the company. It's not quite as sharp as Apple's FaceTime, but the difference is slight, and FaceTime requires that both parties have Apple equipment. And video, though highly bandwidth dependent, looks reasonably clear, even over mobile connections. I found in my testing (and regularly find in my frequent personal usage) that Skype's voice quality is actually superior to what I've often gotten on a mobile call. I made test calls in the app from New York to the West Coast and to Japan. The last is a separate app that lets you use your Skype Credit to pay by the minute for access via millions of public hotspots, such as those Boingo hotspots you find at airports.Ĭall and Video Quality I can sum up call quality in Skype pretty quickly: It's been in the lead for years, and just seems to keep getting better. Nor do you see the status of voice messages, call forwarding, or Skype Wi-Fi. For example, there are no longer entries for your Skype Number (the number that people can use to call you from standard phones). The design of the Profile page is more pleasing and cleaner than in the older version, but it doesn't include a couple of helpful entries that were formerly present.
Sitting steadily at the bottom of all these screens are two buttons-one for the dial pad and one for chat. If you need to find someone from your list of contacts, People is the place, and Favorites offers large tiles for easy access to the most important people in your world. Now they slide back and forth smoothly and naturally. Navigation between each section is more elegant than in the previous version, which snapped from view to view with no visual transition. I usually leave the app on the Recent view, since that's where I can keep up with ongoing interactions. Instead, you swipe through three main views to start communicating-People, Recent, and Favorites-or check out your own profile page from its icon at top right. Interface As with the previous Skype iPhone app, there's no true home page. Unlimited calling plans start at $2.99 a month and pay-as-you go is 2.3 cents a minute for the U.S, but SMS messages are actually a bit pricey at 11.2 cents each. You don't need to enter credit card info to sign up, but if you do, you can avail yourself of things like cheap calls to regular phones (either using pay-as-you-go Skype Credit or a subscription), SMS messaging, and low-cost access to public Wi-Fi hotspots.
Getting Started with Skype for iPhone To create a Skype account, you can either fill out a form requiring name, email, country, and language, or you can just use your Facebook or Microsoft Account credentials (such as an account). The newly redesigned Skype app for iPhone supports most (though not all) of the service's capabilities in a highly usable, intuitive design.
You can even get an incoming phone number through Skype that works with standard mobiles and landlines. Maybe that explains why the service recently passed two billion talk minutes a day among its 300-million-plus users.
Skype for iphone 4 old version windows#
Skype is also available for any platform you can think of: Android, Blackberry, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox, and many smart TVs.
Skype for iphone 4 old version software#