People hate the new Skype, and Microsoft is listening

Ever since Microsoft radically redesigned Skype to look more like Snapchat, the video chatting app’s rating has plummeted to an average of just 1 star in some regions. The company is aware of this overwhelmingly negative reaction from users and has decided to bring back some old but beloved features with the latest update.

When the new design hit the Skype app for Android, I wrote a piece explaining in depth why all this senseless Snapchat-copying is getting very frustrating. Skype has been, is, and always will be a video chatting app; no, no one is going to use it in lieu of Messenger, Instagram, or Snapchat to send images and texts. That’s why Microsoft’s decision to include features that are blatant clones of Snapchat’s fundamental identity makes zero sense. And had they done a good job of it, I may have let them off easy, but not only are these new features unnecessary, they’re slow and feel rushed, making Skype even more of a subpar option for video chatting than it already was.

Judging from Skype’s ratings around the world, I’m not the only one who hates this new design: in Apple’s App Store, Skype’s mediocre average rating of 3.5 stars fell to 1.5 stars in the US since the update, and it’s worse in the UK at just 1 star. The Play Store isn’t any better either – most of the recent reviews are pretty harsh, calling it the “worst Skype update ever” and pointing out that the UI now feels nothing like Skype.

Well, Microsoft is aware of the overwhelming amount of negative feedback and reassures us that they have been listening, updating, and responding to our feedback. Specifically, it will be rolling out an update which brings back some of the most beloved features like the status feature and native sharing capabilities. The company also says that it has further polished the UI, both in terms of looks and functionality. Not only are there more themes now, you can delete contacts and conversations as well as multi-task while in a call.

Microsoft was probably taken aback by just how negatively the so-called next-generation Skype app was received. Unfortunately, the new UI is here to stay, and even with the latest update, things just feel clunky. However, the company seems to understand that Skype will never be and should never be Snapchat. It’s honestly better for Skype to stay Skype rather than try to be something else and lose those who actually use the app along the way.