Skype is, undoubtedly, one of the more popular video calling apps when it comes to personal computers and some mobile platforms. However, did you know that it is also available for your Xbox One console (and has been for quite some time now)? Official launch of this app for the Microsoft console was made last November. Since then, the development team has been trying their best to improve the experience of using this app for Xbox One users. Recently, a fairly big list of changes and improvements was announced that will, hopefully, make it an even better experience. Here is a short list of the most important changes that they’ve made:
Improvements to Chat
Based on personal experience and some research, I can say that most of the Skype users do not limit themselves to just one platform. Instead, they like to switch between their desktop, mobile and console versions of the application all the time. The new update seems to recognize this and provides you the option to sync all of your Skype apps together, so you won’t miss any important messages that may come. It also includes a new feature called push notification that is used to alert you when you receive a new message or a call. Another improvement comes in the number of messages you can view: instead of the chat history being limited to only one week, it is now capped at 1000 messages.
New emoticons
Who doesn’t love to spam their friends with various emotes on Skype from time to time? Well, now you have the option to add emoticons of various characters from Marvel’s Captain America series. Make your conversations more action-packed than ever!
Option to filter your contact list
Coming up with the new update is the ability to group your online contacts together, so you don’t have to look through the whole list in order to see who is online at any given time.
A short tutorial for beginners
If you have just started using Skype, they provide you with comprehensive instructions on how to use this app effectively.
Notifications
Never again will you miss an important while you are busy doing something else on your Xbox, like playing games (such as Xbox Fitness, for example) or watching television.
Smart camera with automatic zoom
Thanks to Kinect and its wide lens camera, you are now able to fit much more people into the picture. However, the camera will automatically zoom in on the caller.
Multitasking
Your desire to do several things at once is now being satisfied with the so called Snap-Able apps. What this feature does is it allows you to start or accept an incoming video call while you are playing a game, watching some sports or movies or doing something else on your Xbox.
Better video quality
Skype is primarily known for one-on-one chats. Now, it is made even better with the new improvements being made to the quality of the video. Your face can now be seen in an impressive 1080p HD resolution.