Microsoft announced today that they"re going to begin rolling out an update to Skype for iOS and Android that will support group video calling.
Skype began a preview program for the feature back in January. Tens of thousands of people registered, providing "invaluable feedback".
They"ve also added a number of features, such as increasing the number of people that can be involved in the group call from five to 25 people. There"s also a flexible interface. The user can choose a grid or a focus view, which automatically focuses on the person that"s speaking.
In the Skype blog post, they said, "Now that group video calling is available on all platforms, nobody gets left out." To be clear, this isn"t entirely true.
There are some caveats to that last statement. Users still can"t start or join a group video call with Skype for Windows Phone, Windows 10, or Linux. You can start a group call with Skype for Xbox One and Skype for Samsung TVs, but you can"t join an existing call.
While the update is rolling out to iOS devices, iPhone 4/4S and the fifth generation iPod Touch do not support the new feature. iPad"s 2, 3, and Mini will see a maximum of three video streams while all other devices will see a maximum of six video streams. The rest of the streams will be audio only.
When Microsoft announced the feature in January, they did say that it will be coming to Windows 10 Mobile as well.
Source: Skype Blog / Skype Support