Microsoft Plans to Update Skype's Features
Microsoft reportedly plans to update Skype's features, including its messaging functions, on which users complain about because they miss messages and sometimes get out-of-sync messages from their Skype contacts.
The problems that Skype users are experiencing, with regards to messaging and chat, is reportedly due to the transition of Microsoft from peer-to-peer networks to servers powered by cloud. Also, Skype is having a hard time adjusting from being a Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) system, which is used mainly on PCs, to being used on mobile phones and tablets.
According to Skype product manager Jeff Kunins, who was interviewed by The Verge, Microsoft is aware of the Skype problems that users are currently encountering. Thus, they plan on updating the VoIP service to improve users' overall experience.
"It's not that we've been trying our best to be amazing at chat for 10 year (sic) and sucking at it, it's that we've been doing a great job doing what we were born to do and now people want more out of us and we're making the investments to expand and be great at that too," explained Kunins in his interview with The Verge.
"We're not there yet, but we will be," he added.
Microsoft's plans to update Skype's features include the following:
1. Client apps update (updated versions of Windows desktop and Windows Phone apps) for full message-sync across multiple devices (whether a message is read or unread)
**With this update, message notifications will be received by users on all their devices connected to their Skype account. However, they will only continue to receive these notifications on the device that they are currently using.
2. Call state sync update
**With this update, devices will no longer continue to ring once another device has picked up the call.
"That's just a fun bug we're working on," Kunins told The Verge.
"It's one of those that seems like it should be trivial, but it's actually quite hard, especially on some platforms like Windows 8 or on the web."
3. Skype Windows Phone app load time improvement
In his interview with The Verge, Kunins briefly talked about the Windows Phone 8.1, saying that they are working closely with the people behind it and are developing remarkable and exciting features for it.
Kunins also said in The Verge interview that these updates will roll out soon for users, so they could maximize cloud history and sync their messages across various gadgets or devices. However, he couldn't say exactly when.
Microsoft's plans to update Skype's features will be a welcome improvement for Windows and Skype users. Hopefully, the updates will be implemented soon, so users could have a much better experience using its messaging services.