Skype Users Slam Microsoft's Attempt To Infuse App With Social Media Magic (theregister.co.uk)

Last month Skype announced a major update to its messaging and video calling app. The update brought a visual revamp, as well as "social features" such as Highlights that were first introduced by Snapchat. At any rate, it turns out, people are not enjoying the update as much as Microsoft had hoped. From a report: Reviews of the Android and iOS versions of the app have been mostly terrible, and those posted to the Windows App Store have not been much better. Chief among the issues is that the redesign imagines Skype as a youth-oriented social media app along the lines of Instagram or Snapchat, rather than a staid business communications tool. "This new app is absolutely terrible," observes an individual posting to Google Play under the name Kulli Kelder. "Skype is mostly used by people for professional use or for connecting with friends far away. This looks as far from simple and professional as it can be. Skype does NOT need to be Snapchat ." The Skype team clearly has a different view of its work. "We think it's the best Skype we've ever built -- inside and out -- and it's been designed to make it easier for you to use for your everyday communications," the company said last month. A few individuals have expressed similar enthusiasm, but among those reviewing the most recent update, one-star ratings dominate. Of the 20 most-recent reviews posted to the iTunes App Store, 19 out of 20 award one star out of five. The other is two stars.

Comments

I cannot remember the last time something changed

[Anonymous Coward]

for the better. Seriously. Change today means "making everything worse". Without exceptions.

MS like to ignore their customers

[UnknowingFool]

From my perspective Skype was starting to make major inroads into corporate networks to replace other video conferencing systems in addition to being what younger consumers used. It was fairly unobtrusive and cross-platform. Then MS had to buy them and change their focus. Now it's all about chasing the cool which MS was never good at doing.

When something works, don't change what it is

[GWBasic]

Probably the biggest failing here is not understanding what Skype is. The biggest problem is that the changes fundamentally redefine what Skype is; but Skype's users used it for what it was: simple video conferencing.

Best Skype EVAR?

[Dusty101]

"We think it's the best Skype we've ever built..."

This statement may even be true, since it's coming from an MS employee. However, it still doesn't change the fact that Skype was better before the MS buyout.

Re:I cannot remember the last time something chang

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm so sick of that kind of talk. It isn't "because of aging", but because things are really made to be worse and worse.

Admit defeat, for once

[Nemosoft Unv.]

So Microsoft finally commented:

We’re confident that as we continue to listen to users and provide updates to the app with new features and functionality, we’ll be able to keep improving the experience.

So the usual marketing blabla of "improving your experience". When, for crying out loud, is a company going to admit that they were wrong and going to reverse course??! Just for once, please. Just say "Oops, sorry. We hear you; here's the previous version." Now that would be really listening to your customers.

Re:I cannot remember the last time something chang

[JThundley]

This is Skype and Microsoft we're talking about. The very first thing Microsoft did when they bought Skype was to change it to make it worse. They threw away the P2P functionality that gave users better privacy than other programs.