Since acquiring Skype six years ago, Microsoft has done a good job taking over the ongoing development of the popular video calling service, adding new features for both Skype and Skype for Business over the years. Today, Microsoft announced its biggest update to Skype yet (opens in new tab), offering a trendy new design with new features to help you connect and share moments with friends like never before — assuming you've never used Snapchat or Instagram Stories, that is. You can check out the preview of the new app in the Google Play Store (opens in new tab).
Microsoft has completely overhauled Skype, with the mobile app offering users three tabs to choose from at the top: Find, Chat, and Capture. The "Find" tab allows you to use plug-ins to search for concert tickets, recipes, and a whole slew of other things, then conveniently share the information in a chat with your friends or family all without leaving the app. "Chat" has also been given a fresh, trendy coat of paint, as Microsoft seems to have liberally borrowed popular features from other messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and iMessage.
But arguably the biggest addition is the "Capture" tab, which appears to function very similarly to Snapchat or Instagram Stories. Tapping the "Capture" tab will instantly launch the camera and allow you to capture a photo or video clip of whatever you're doing, let you slap a few emojis on it and then share with your friends or add to your "highlights" for others to check out later.
Video calling, which now feels like a secondary Skype feature, has also been upgraded to allow you to share photos, messages, emojis and stickers in real-time in one-on-one or group video calls. All these features will start rolling out to Android users first in a new update before becoming available across all other platforms.
You can learn more about the new Skype features (opens in new tab) and then head on over to the Google Play Store to see if the new update is available for you.
This seems like a move by Microsoft to try and rebrand Skype to appeal to Millennials, who apparently want Snapchat features in every app on their phone. What do you think of the new Skype? Let us know in the comments.
