Viber for WP8 isn’t the only mobile VoIP app to get an update today; Skype has also jumped on the tweaking bandwagon, adding a few enhancements to the application available to Windows Phone devices with version 2.8.0.84.
The app brings start and resume performance enhacements, which Skype says has been the “main focus” of the update. It’s now much faster to return to the app when it’s in the background state. If you open the app and then hit the start button or turn off the screen, pressing the back or power button now gets you back into the Skype app much more quickly. You’ll also see some general improvements to the start-up experience.
The Skype team has based a lot of what they do on user feedback, as is the case with the Live Tile Count enhancements in the most recent version. The Live Tile notifications will now show the number of unread conversations rather than the total number of unread messages.
Finally, the Skype app makes its debut to Windows Phone users in South Korea as of this latest update where it can compete with local apps such as KakaoTalk.
Notably absent from the list of enhancements is the video messaging feature that is currently available to iOS and Android users. This, unfortunately, signifies that Windows Phone has not yet hit “mainstream” status, something that will hopefully change very soon so WP8 users can get apps and updates alongside the other two mobile operating systems.
The latest version of Skype can now be downloaded via the Windows Phone Store.