Skype promises to be better and faster

June 10, 2014

In the midst of all the E3 news, Microsoft's Skype division has just announced that a new version of Skype is coming soon for iOS users that promises to be better, faster, smoother, and smarter. "Remastered for iPhone," Skype said in a blog post that Skype 5.0 will share a more consistent look and feel with the Android and Windows Phone counterparts, "while still optimizing for iOS's unique strengths."

The Skype team said that the new version has been rewritten from the ground up and will fit iOS best, placing your conversations front and center. Being 5 times faster with smoother transitions, improved performance leading to longer battery life, and smarter usage over multiple devices, here is what you can expect from the new Skype 5.0:

Faster: You'll notice the effort we've put into this overhaul as soon as you launch Skype 5.0 for iPhone. The new version is over 5 times faster than the old version.
Smoother: As you swipe from conversations through to your favorites and then back to your contacts lists, you'll notice how smooth scrolling and transitioning from screen to screen is – with delightful little pops and animations punctuating them. All without degrading the performance and battery improvements we worked so hard to achieve.
More Integrated: Now, iPhone users can start group chats from the hub. And when you send messages or photos, it doesn't matter if the recipient is offline. Everyone will see your message as soon as they are available again.
Smarter: We know our users are using Skype on multiple devices, and we want to make sure your Skype notifications keep pace with your conversations, no matter where they happen. Now, as you read your messages on your PC, tablet, Xbox and so on, those conversations will be marked as read (or unread if new messages come in) on your iPhone too.