Microsoft's Skype team updated the company's Android app today with a new design, though the interface will look familiar to anyone who's used the Skype apps on Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.
In a post on its official blog, Skype announced that it is transitioning the video calling and messaging app's appearance on various platforms to a "modern design" that's in line with the way the app looks on Microsoft platforms. Swiping is now a more prominent navigation technique in the app, as the gesture will take users to the contacts and favorites tabs. The design isn't the only change, however, as the blog post states the app was completely rewritten for improvements in almost every area.
"Skype for Android 4.0 has all the features you use and love, but is a whole new app … literally," wrote Derek Snyder, Skype's head of mobile marketing, in the blog post. "We didn't just give Skype a makeover, we rebuilt it from the ground up to be faster and more reliable. We went beyond design and fundamentally changed the way Skype was built, focusing much of our effort on stability, performance, and load time."
Snyder wrote that Skype plans on updating the Android app on a more consistent basis in the coming months to make it "more reliable, reachable, and mobile-friendly."
Last week, Skype announced plans to improve battery life, reliability and performance on mobile platforms, updates that were first released on Windows versions of the app, though it said the improvements would come to all platforms by the end of the year. Skype will continue to be a focus for Microsoft going forward, as the company reportedly plans to drop its Messaging app in Windows 8 for Skype.
Source: Skype
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