TIME TO DITCH SKYPE?
Switching is easy – our verdict on the alternatives
When Microsoft acquired Skype in 2003, it seemed like a no-brainer. The service was already a massive success – surely, under Microsoft’s guardianship, it could only continue going from strength to strength? But time hasn’t been kind to this once-brilliant service and, while Microsoft hasn’t provided any figures that would suggest a decline in users, there’s no escaping the feeling that, in its current incarnation, Skype is a pale shadow of its former self.
What went wrong?
A big part of the problem is that Skype has struggled to maintain relevance in the smartphone age. Back in its glory days, competition was scarce. But since then, lots of other online communication tools have sprung up (see page 63), many of which offer a simpler, more modern take on Skype’s core features. Crucially, most of Skype’s new rivals were all designed from the ground up to work on devices we all carry around in our pockets.
At the same time, Microsoft has been focusing a lot of its efforts on the corporate version of Skype, potentially to the detriment of the free home-user version. It attempted a major redesign of the desktop tool last year, but this was met with almost universal condemnation. Redesigned mobile versions were equally disastrous. The intention was to make Skype appeal to a younger, Snapchatfriendly user-base but, instead, it just ended up alienating many of its existing users with awkward navigation and meaningless features, such as the ability to use emojis in video calls. Another major update was rushed out in July this year, seemingly in response to all the negative feedback.
Horror stories of updates wiping out people’s address books and reliability concerns around problems with dropped calls and laggy audio haven’t helped. Until recently, Skype’s saving grace was that Microsoft kept the classic desktop version – Skype version 7 – alive for those who preferred it. But according to a recent blog post ( www.snipca. com/29454), Microsoft quietly killed off Skype classic, and since November 1 users have been forced to use version 8.
Should you ditch Skype?
Despite its flaws, Skype is, in our opinion, far from broken. While we’re certainly concerned by a few of the technical problems some users have reported, we haven’t actually experienced any of them first-hand. It’s possible that these issues are less widespread than their coverage in social media would suggest. In fact, voice-call quality on Skype is often superior to competing services, thanks to its proprietary audio codec. As for updates – it’s true that frequent, enforced updates can be annoying but, ultimately, they’re a good thing, as they make Skype safer to use.
It’s also worth pointing out that, while Skype 8 ( www.snipca.com/29455) is a little different from Skype ‘classic’, it’s actually a pretty decent desktop application. It adds some genuinely useful new features, such as screen sharing, free Hd-quality video calls and group chat for up to 24 people, and a ‘dark’ theme that reduces glare (see screenshot below). Further new features are being rolled out, too, including call recording and an updated mobile app designed specifically for ipads.
Whether or not you choose to ditch or stick with Skype depends on your own personal experience. If you’re finding Skype unreliable, can’t get on with the latest version, or just fed up with its (numerous) updates, there’s no shortage of alternatives.
Supported devices: Android, IOS, Windows Current king of the messengers, Whatsapp is used by more than 1 billion people in over 180 countries. It started out as free alternative to SMS, but has grown quickly over the years and now offers free voice and video calls to other Whatsapp users over the internet, though only on the mobile versions of the app. The Windows desktop version ( www.whatsapp.com/download) and web client ( web.whatsapp.com) are strictly text-only (see screenshot above).
The huge number of people using Whatsapp is probably its main advantage, though it also benefits from being easy to set up. It uses mobile numbers to identify users and works with your phone’s contacts, so you don’t need a separate contacts list like you do with Skype. Don’t let the fact that it’s now owned by Facebook put you off – Whatsapp employs end-to-end encryption to keep your chats private, and conversations and contacts sync seamlessly across all devices. VERDICT It’s free, simple and most people you know are probably already on it.
Google Hangouts/duo/allo
Supported devices: Android, IOS, Windows (via web browser) Confusingly, Google currently offers several slightly different apps that do more or less the same thing. Of these, Hangouts is the closest equivalent for ex-skype users. It combines text, voice and video chat. Google Duo ( duo.google.com) is a videocall app, similar to Facetime (see next section), while Allo is for text messaging. Google appears to be killing off Hangouts, though. SMS text messaging support was switched off last year and rumours suggest Google may be repositioning Hangouts as a corporate communication tool.
Hangouts, Duo and Allo are free for Android and IOS devices. You can (currently) use Hangouts on your PC via its web client ( hangouts.google.com), which also supports video and voice calls. Allo can also be used via your web browser ( allo.google.com/web), once you’ve enabled it on your phone. VERDICT Hangouts would be a great replacement for Skype if its own future wasn’t so unclear.
Facetime
Supported devices: IOS, macos If you own an iphone or ipad, you’ve probably already used Apple’s built-in video call app. Compared to Skype, Facetime is brilliantly simple to use and is integrated throughout IOS and macos, meaning you can video-call people directly within text messages, emails and more (see screenshot above).
It doesn’t do text chat, but you can make Facetime Audio calls to other users over Wi-fi as a free alternative to standard mobile voice calls. A group video calling feature was dropped from IOS 12, but is due to be added in the imminent IOS 12.1 update. The problem with Facetime – and it’s a big one – is that it’s strictly limited to communicating between Apple devices, so you can’t make or receive video calls with anyone who’s on an Android device or a Windows PC. VERDICT Facetime’s easy-to-use, but only works on Apple devices.
Facebook Messenger
Supported devices: Android, IOS, Windows (via web browser) Messenger used to be integrated into Facebook itself – and still is if you use Facebook via a web browser. But if you use Facebook on your IOS or Android device, you’ll discover that the Messenger part has been farmed out to a separate app, and it has its own dedicated website at www.messenger.com.
It’s not the most elegant messaging tool, but it’s extremely convenient if you and your friends and family are all fellow Facebook users. A key benefit is the ability to see which of your contacts is actively using the tool at any given time. Messenger has built-in voice and video calling, and is great for chatting with groups of people at the same time. Video calling is an area Facebook is investing heavily in – the company recently announced a new device called Portal, which is a large-screen video phone for your home ( www.snipca.com/29456). Portal is Us-only at the moment and costs around £150. VERDICT Useful for organising groups of Facebook friends.
Viber
Supported devices: Android, IOS, Windows If you’ve fallen out of love with Skype because of its attempts to aim at a younger, Gif-obsessed crowd, then Viber probably isn’t the app for you. One of its biggest selling points is the range of different ways to express yourself, via stickers, reactions and extensions, which let you search for content to share from within your conversations (see screenshot below). Another is Communities – a group-chat system with unlimited members.
You can make free voice and video calls to other Viber users, but it’s also possible to make calls to landline and mobile numbers at competitive rates – unlimited UK calls cost £3.50 per month ( account. viber.com). Viber is secure – it uses end-to-end encryption to protect your communication and monitors your contacts for suspicious activity, to prevent you being hacked. VERDICT Multi-platform text, video and voice calls, but skewed towards younger users.