back to article Guys, you need to sit down and have a chat: Skype rolls out SMS a week after Microsoft

Skype demonstrated that it does indeed exist as a separate entity within Microsoft by bringing SMS functionality to its Insiders a week after something similar was flung out to Windows Insiders. Trailed a few weeks ago, Skype's SMS Connect has now begun to roll out to lucky owners of Android phones running version 8.3 or …

  1. JDX Gold badge

    Sounds similar to the WhatsApp web-client https://web.whatsapp.com/ which is really useful but so annoyingly lacks voice support.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Eh?

    Your Phone does not support MMS messages, although with the costs inflicted by carriers on users trying to use the service, this is probably no bad thing.

    What costs? Are there any cell phone service providers who actually charge for anything other than data or special services these days? (If yours does, you might want to consider changing...) ;)

    1. MiguelC Silver badge

      Re: Eh?

      I guess that's a country by country thing. If, in your country, one operator charges for MMSs I'd guess all others do the same. There's nothing like healthy (no)competition in a well cartel-ed market!

      1. JohnFen

        Re: Eh?

        You know, cell service in the US is objectively substandard, but at least SMS messages are essentially at no additional cost. So that's something.

        1. joed

          Re: Eh?

          ?

          "SMS messages are essentially at no additional cost"?

          Maybe something has change since, but there's definitely a reason I'd disabled SMS on my account. While outgoing messages were overpriced, the incoming spam could run multiple the normal monthly bill (and as opposed to call one can't just deny incoming message). Unless you considered the "unlimited messaging included" as no additional cost (I bet there's extra line on the bill) the cell service in the US is objectively substandard and SMS message pricing is another ripoff on top of already inflated service plan costs.

    2. NightFox

      Re: Eh?

      In the UK, MMS is one of the services that typically still doesn't fall within allowances - networks typically charging about 50p/MMS. This can get quite annoying if your phone OS's messaging system is set up to fail back to SMS/MMS if it can't send a message using 3G data/WiFi as you don't know until after it's sent, by which time that picture of cat you just sent for a laugh has just cost you.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You can tell when an instant messenger is desperate for users when it integrates external or 3rd party messages.

  4. ArrZarr Silver badge
    Mushroom

    The cycle continues

    Every year more chat apps are flung out into the market. These chat apps don't talk to each other and everybody requires an ever expanding list of applications to keep in touch with everybody. Way back when, there was Aim. Then there was Microsoft Messenger. Then there was Skype. Then there was Facebook Messenger. Then there was WhatsApp. Now there is discord. Soon, something else will come along and take the market by storm.

    Every one - a different set of logins, a different application, another database to be hacked into by ne'er do wells. Every one another program to figure out how to stop it beeping at you whenever you get a message. Every one making life more complicated.

    I'm drawing the line here. No more will I have an array of disparate chat apps bulging under the weight of Franz - I will get a myspace page and people who want to talk to me will have to trek over there. Hopefully not too many will.

    1. Giles C Silver badge

      Re: The cycle continues

      Agree entirely,

      I have email, text messages (iMessage) or call me.

      That is it....

      If you can’t do one of these then I’m not interested.....

    2. MAH

      Re: The cycle continues

      you missed the granddaddy of them all...ICQ...up until a few years ago I actually still had my icq number memorized (for whatever reason)

      lol..found it in my email from 2003 (although I am sure that was the trailing end of ICQ. Even found a mention of Trillian Pro...which allowed you to talk to ICQ and MSN users

      - icq# 3175333

    3. JohnFen

      Re: The cycle continues

      Yes, I stopped using such apps for similar reasons. If my friends and family want to send me a text, bog-standard SMS is the only way to do it. It helps that it's the least annoying of the messaging methods, too.

  5. Adair Silver badge

    Is Skype still a thing?

    Just seeing the name feels like looking at history.

    1. Richard 12 Silver badge

      Re: Is Skype still a thing?

      Microsoft haven't quite killed Skype 7 yet, so yes.

      Once they pull that plug, later versions are almost unusable on the desktop as they've turned into "I'm a phone!" GUI.

      What is it with cramming everything into one singular Window?

  6. OffBeatMammal

    the Skype capability (for me) is much more useful than Windows as I use Skype on Android (phone), iPad, and macOS ... so the ability to read/reply to a text on my phone from Skype on my iPad or Mac would be great (because I'm cross platform I won't use iMessage)

  7. Chris G

    "Now there is discord"

    I just looked for that in Google play, no sign of it!!

    I'm currently running droid7 and I keep getting the pop up offering me the SMS my pc service. So far I have ignored it but as I am not an insider I will have look see.

    Being able to SMS a phone from my PC would be more useful.

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