Microsoft is rolling out a new update for its Skype apps, just under one month after the last update was released. That update, version 8.61, replaced the React Native version of Skype that used to be available on the Microsoft Store with one based on Electron, similar to the desktop version you can find on the Skype website.
Version 8.62 is a lot tamer in terms of new features, and they mostly revolve around video calls, taking inspiration from Microsoft"s own Teams service. After recently adding the ability to replace the background behind you during a call, Skype also now has a series of preset images you can choose as a default background, rather than asking you to upload your own - though you can still do that if you want to.
There are also improvements to the grid view during group calls. On mobile devices, you"ll now be able to see up to 9 people at once, and on desktop, that number is being increased from 9 to 12. Perhaps more importantly, though, Microsoft says it made improvements to message sync for some chats that might not have been updating.
Aside from that, there"s not a lot that"s new here, and with Microsoft readying a consumer-oriented version of Teams, it seems likely that Skype will be less and less of a focus as time goes on.