This is a stark contrast to the all-or-nothing approach to notifications found in Skype 4.17. Notifications are now also manageable on a per-chat basis, giving users the option to disable them for less important chats. Further, if you receive and clear a notification on one device, the notification will be automatically cleared on your other devices, so that you’re not stuck re-reading notifications just because you switched devices. By bringing this updated version to iOS, the Skype team is one step closer to unifying the Skype experience across the multitude of devices and platforms that users of the service access every day.īut a unified experience is more than looks, and this new version of Skype for iPhone introduces a smarter foundation, one built with the understanding that the average Skype user is likely accessing the service from more than one type of device.įor example, if you participate in a group chat on your desktop and later open the chat on your iPhone, the new app will sync your reading position in the chat and take you right to where you left off.
SKYPE VERSION 5.0 FOR ANDROID
IntelligenceĪs we noted earlier, the look of Skype 5.0 for iPhone has already found a home in the Skype apps for Android and Windows Phone. Longtime Microsoft watchers will recognize the experience as distinctly Windows (although it’s fair to say that this style of navigation dates back to the Zune), but the overall style, color palette, and “buttonless” selection points all fit nicely into the iOS 7 era of Apple’s mobile design. A new Favorites list, one of the main navigation categories, also makes the process of contacting friends and family easier and faster. With Skype 5.0, users need only to tap on the chat button and then select the desired participants from their contact list. iOS users could always participate in an existing group chat, but until now those groups had to be created on the desktop version of Skype (or one of the already-updated mobile versions on other platforms). Perhaps best of all, group chats can now be started right from the mobile app itself, something that has been a frustrating omission in previous versions. As a user swipes, an aesthetically pleasing cloud animation flows in the background, but disappears to make room for vertical scrolling. Major sections are listed at the top of the app and can be changed with a swipe to the right or left. Those who have used Skype on other platforms will instantly recognize the changes Skype 5.0 brings the same modern interface to the iPhone that Microsoft has already introduced on Android and Windows Phone. Related to the speed improvements is smoother navigation, which makes using the app faster and easier with just a swipe of a thumb or finger.
Skype 4.17 was no slouch in these areas, but consistently felt a half second slower than its replacement. In terms of using the app, Skype 5.0 also feels noticeably snappier (cue the Safari jokes), with recent chats and contact information pages loading nearly instantly.
That’s not huge for those who only use the app occasionally, but frequent Skype users will appreciate the improvement.
On our test iPhone 5s, a cold launch of Skype 4.17 takes about 5 seconds, while a cold launch of Skype 5.0 takes just over 1 second. In terms of performance, however, everyone who launches the new app will notice the difference. Depending on how you use Skype, some of the changes in Skype 5.0 may not be important to all users.
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