Skype Gets a Major Facelift

Microsoft's messenger is entering a new era. It will get an updated GUI and an extended feature palette.

Skype gets a new face and a new life. Microsoft has released a bunch of update notes, elaborating what exactly got tweaked and changed.

For starters, the looks of the messenger will become way sleeker. Smoothness is the new leitmotif in its GUI and workflow. So, a whole bunch of corners has become rounded. 

The app’s color palette has also been extended. As for the avatars, you won’t have to squint your eyes anymore, if you’re near-sighted — they will become bigger and, as a result, more identifiable.  

Screen sharing has also made it to the party. Apparently, Skype follows the trend set by FaceTime: now you can share your screen, including video, with your friends. What’s really nice, the feature is available in the web version of the app, among all else.

On mobile, notifications have relocated to the bottom part of the screen — it makes it easier to spot them and allows the GUI to stay a bit cleaner.

Apart from cosmetic nuances, Skype has also done a bug hunt. Now Microsoft vouches for more stable performance as they’ve eliminated a whole bunch of issues, including the one that made the app crash while exchanging photos.

Hopefully, it also includes those who caused unstable connections and screen freezing, which sometimes occurs when you scroll.

The search bar has also seen some changes — it’s brighter and juicer now. So, according to the company, your stylin’ and profilin’ will be on a whole new level.

These changes are probably a desperate attempt to help the app regain some of its popularity, which was taken by Zoom in 2020. 

Apart from texting and file-sharing, Skype also allows group calls with up to 50 people present at the same time. What features does it lack yet? Let us know in the comments