Remember Skype? Well, it’s still around, and while Google Meet and Microsoft Teams may now be hogging the communications spotlight, Microsoft is still working on Skype. They hope to make it more popular by removing in-app ads and (you guessed it) adding AI features.
In the recently published release notes for Skype Insider Build 8.125Microsoft outlined the big changes in this new preview version. The biggest development, as mentioned, is that the ads are being ditched, and that means all ads, with Microsoft proclaiming that “Skype is now ad-free!”
In short, Skype users will no longer see ads in Skype channels and across the rest of the Skype platform, which will make for a much better user experience, or at least it should (not that I’ve been using Skype for a while). Keep in mind, though, that this move is still in testing, so there’s no guarantee it will come to fruition.
In addition to banishing the ads, Microsoft has introduced an improved AI image maker in the Skype desktop apps, allowing users to generate images directly in their chat window or from the top bar of the interface. Additionally, users can now expand these AI-generated images with just one click.
In addition to these larger changes, Microsoft has integrated OneAuth into Skype for iOS, giving users the option to simplify the sign-in process. This allows users to replace classic sign-in systems with OneAuth and be automatically signed in to Skype if they’re already signed in to another Microsoft app – very convenient.
The preview version also includes the usual bug fixes and improvements for the app’s stability.
A new and improved Skype for the modern era
While I don’t know why Microsoft thinks everyone has suddenly become hungry for AI image generators in every corner of Windows 11 and its apps, I suppose the changes on that front aren’t bad. But when it comes to ditching ads – now we’re talking about it. It’s great to see Windows 11 losing some ads for a change, instead of cramming more in – even if they’re ads in an app you don’t use much (or at all).
However, Skype has hundreds of millions of active users and it seems that Microsoft wants to make the app more popular by removing ads.
If this development has piqued your interest and you want to check out the ad-free Skype, you should download the latest Skype Insider build. Alternatively, you can wait until all of these features and changes are available in the release version of the app (which hopefully won’t be too long).
