Legal Battles Instead Of Competition

Posted: 12/142013

Update As Of 7/22/2014

For several months now, Microsoft has not offered any update.

What drives me mad is that this stupid mobile Skype on my Motorola X with Android 4.4.2 installed does not audibly ring when someone calls me on Skype although I have turned on all notifications in Skype and I have checked sound settings and app settings.

Update As Of 11/12/2013

If I am not mistaken, Skype offered another update which I installed past Friday (11/8/2013) and I rebooted afterwards, but the application still frequently dies when opened. Plus, invoking Skype also caused my phone to reboot suddenly. This is the only app on my phone that does this.

Update As Of 11/1/2013

Skype still stinks despite latest update! Video calls crash! Starting the app results in app restarting in an odd way!

An Update

As of today (9/12/2013), I can still report that mobile Skype sucks. Despite several updates in recent times (incl. at least one major one) after several months without any updates, it still not possible to end a conversation, because the controls for that are not visible on the screen nor are they accessible through the menu. This stinks!

Letting Steam Off

I usually do not blog about specific technology issues, but I need to let some steam off not least because I am a software developer myself.

My Great Experience In The Past

I have been using Skype on my notebook for many years and I have been very happy with this software. I usually make a lot of long distance calls across the Atlantic Ocean. Video calls work very well most of the times. Since so many dissidents in foreign countries used, we know it was fairly secure to use, because their servers were located in Luxembourg or so and the encryption was difficult to hack.

Lousy Experience With Skype On HTC Smart Phone With Android

My HTC Evo phone is just over two years old. Here is my gripe with Skype:

1.       For several months, Skype has not released any updates or new versions to fix issues

2.       When I place a call, the ringtone is so low that a hearing aid would not suffice

3.       When I receive a call nothing pops up to let me know and accept the call

4.       Too often, the software crashes when I accept a video call

5.       And so on …

Microsoft - The Evil Empire Again?

Microsoft purchased Skype for princely sum of $8.5 billion in 2011. What is Microsoft actually doing with Skype? Are Android users getting short shrifted for Windows Phone users?