Skype is pushing a major revamp to its application. The company has announced a slew of new features. To make room for these new features, Skype is also retiring a lot of older features. The company sent out an e-mail to that effect to various users, acquainting them of the situation and of the changes that are on the horizon.
Among the new features making their way to Skype are a Stories-like feature called Highlights, group conversation add-ons and a selection of all new chatbots. All in all, the company seems to be nodding at social networks and IM platforms as it attempts t revamp its platform.
Meanwhile, the company is also retiring a host of services to make room for the new options. As per TechCrunch, the full list of the services and platforms being affected is as follows:
- Android 4.0.2 and lower
- Blackberry OS 7.1 and lower
- iOS 7 and lower
- Linux (Linux users must upgrade to Skype for Linux Beta)
- Mac OS X 10.8 and lower
- Symbian OS
- Mobile app for Verizon
- App on 3
- App on Telkomsel
- App on TV
- Skype phones: All Skype phones
- Windows10 task-based app
- Windows Phone 8.1 and lower
- Windows RT
So all in all, we are looking at a nearly complete re-haul. The company appears to be wanting to narrow its focus from being a service available across every platform (and redundant on may of those) to being a mainstream application that is the talk of the town.
And it must become popular unless it wants to lose out to apps like WhatsApp and Viber, which today support many features Skype originally pioneered. Despite being a huge success with over 1 Billion downloads, the company must keep renovating and improving if it is to survive.
The company has also released the following note, asking people to upgrade:
We’ve noticed that you are, or previously were, using an older version of Skype that will be permanently retired. As a result, after July 1, 2017, you will no longer be able to sign in to these older versions. Recently updated or started using Skype on another device? Great, you can ignore this email.
To keep talking with your family and friends, please update to the latest version. It only takes a few minutes and all your contacts and conversations will be right there when you sign in.
If you are unable to update, check our support site to see if Skype still supports your device and operating system. If it is no longer supported, you can still stay in touch with friends and family using Skype on other devices.
There are several Skype alternative available in the market with pretty much same or a few different features that you must check out right now.
