Skype For Windows Phone Will Stop Working in 2017 (betanews.com)
Mark Wilson, writing for BetaNews: With the release of Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft's support for Windows Phone is gradually starting to die off. We already knew that Windows Phone support for Skype was coming to an end, but now we know more. Microsoft has now announced that as well as ending support for Skype on Windows Phone in October, come 'early 2017' the apps will simply stop working. And it's all thanks to a move to the cloud. The company has already said that the future of Skype is cloud-based rather than peer-to-peer, and this is the reason Windows Phone support is coming to a complete stop. Considering the amount of investment Microsoft has put into Skype, the decision to kill the app entirely is perhaps a little strange, but legacy support -- particularly for such a niche handset -- does not come cheap.
Just stop working? If actually does that it will be the most stable behavior ever MS advised for a software.
Mindshare and control was what Microsoft paid for, not for the technology nor the app.
"the future of Skype is cloud-based"
So it's client-server based?
I guess it makes sense as VoIP is available in nearly every chat program that exists nowadays. People like my dad will be upset as he's a big Skype fan. Yeah, it's an old person app.
Skype stops working frequently, already.
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
When they can tap the phone's microphone on demand, why continue supporting an app?
So you're saying a Microsoft product will stop behaving properly with previous versions and will require the ENTIRE installed base to either upgrade or fuck-off-and-die??? That's --- that's --- INCONCEIVABLE!!!
But if it stops working on Android in the future, there's Hangouts that does video calling nicely. Apparently there is no Hangouts for Windows phone but one for iPhone. The fact that Microsoft is killing killing it's own apps for phone tells you something about the future of Windows Phone. It should just be removed from MS's portfolio.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
yeahh... it almost solves many problems.. great
If you go over to EFF you will get a good list of alternatives to Skype and how secure they are to use. Skype is ranking at the bottom.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
If you go over to EFF you will get a good list of alternatives...
...which recommends WhatsApp. You might as well post the audio straight to FB.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
but legacy support -- particularly for such a niche handset -- does not come cheap
Legacy support? Niche handset? I thought the Unified Windows Platform was the biggest and most popular development platform in the world. At least it was according to Microsoft.
No, in case you missed it: WhatsApp has end to end encryption now (also for voice calls), so FB can't eavesdrop. It has gotten some angry reactions from states over that, with Brasil the most prominent example. Unlike Skype.
And noone I know uses it (that's even less than the amount of Signal users I communicate with) and it still allows easy eavesdropping. Skype is a buisiness tool now, I don't use it privately anymore. WhatsApp is the norm here in Europe.
Killing a popular app because it is too expensive for your niche (i.e. "me too" phone) product means good luck, niche.
You serve no purpose.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Both of them replied, one said that he doesn't even know there's Skype for his phone 'cause he only uses the phone to make calls, the other one said that it's a mistake and he doesn't use the Windows Phone anymore.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
...when will it start working?
The headline here is very misleading, at least for anyone not heavily into Windows-based phones. "Windows Phone" actually refers to anything running 8.1 and earlier; they renamed it to Windows 10 Mobile with Windows 10. In Android terms, this would be a lot like complaining if Google were to stop supporting Hangouts on Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.x) or if Apple were to stop supporting whatever their equivalent is on iOS 6 (iPhone 3GS). Those companies do still support those devices, right?
Because of this name change, the headline while technically accurate manages to imply that Microsoft is dropping Skype from all of the Microsoft mobile devices which isn't true. They're dropping support for it on devices that haven't been upgraded to Windows 10 Mobile, and while I haven't paid that much attention since the release, last year Microsoft was saying that they intended to have upgrades available on all devices running Windows Phone 8 and higher.
So, if they followed through with that (or even just most of it), the people that will be affected should either A) Go ahead and install the damn update on your 2-year-old phone or B) Suck it up and go out and replace your 3+ year old phone.
fencepost
just a little off
Just another reason never to buy a microsoft phone. I kind of feel sorry for them.
SURELY NOT!!!!!
No, just shitting on users who insist on running obsolete software without upgrading. Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile are different operating systems. W10M is backward-compatible with WP apps, of course, but the reverse is not true; WP8.1 cannot run W10M apps such as the current version of Skype. They're keeping the old version around on life support to give people time to upgrade, that's all.
Unfortunately, Microsoft branding sucks balls, and people like you with no incentive to get your facts straight will probably go on twisting these announcements and misleading others.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
Thanks for this. I have a Windows phone, but obviously didn't pay enough attention to what Microsoft were doing to realise "Windows Phone" and "Windows 10 Mobile" are different things. Guess I can hold off on worrying about switching platform for a little longer.