It’s been quite an interesting time for Skype, which is going on its second year under Microsoft ownership. The messaging platform continues to hold its lead against fellow VoIP competitors such as Viber and messaging apps like WhatsApp.
In a new blog post, Skype’s Director of Program Management, Noah Edelstein, goes over a few of Skype’s new features.
“When Skype for Windows 8 launched, we took a fresh approach to our UI and debuted the new Modern look of Skype,” Edelstein stated in an official Microsoft blog post. Working closely with the Windows team, our focus was to collectively design a great experience for the new, reimagined platform. Now, with Windows 8.1, we’re continuing to invest in optimizing and simplifying the experience so you can do more at once, which has always been a cornerstone of Windows.”
Microsoft has gone all-out on the multitasking features with the Windows 8.1 version of Skype, which lets you answer incoming calls from your lock screen as well as scale the app to the size of your device when launched in Snap mode. There’s also a new toast notification feature that allows users to answer Skype calls using video, voice only, or simply ignore the call.
Windows 8.1 is set for general availability on October 18th and the new and improved operating system will feature Skype as a replacement for Windows 8’s Messaging app. It’s going to be quite interesting to see if more messaging and VoIP apps join Skype and LINE in the world of Live Tiles.