Microsoft has tweaked Skype to play nicer with slow internet connections and the retooled version is now available as Skype Lite for Android.
Skype is largely used by business users, but its scope goes well beyond just business. Over the years, Skype has served as a tool for connecting colleagues, friends and family worldwide, striving to break down distance and language barriers.
However, Skype still had one barrier to break: slow internet connections. With that in mind, Skype Lite now aims to serve as the go-to app for slow internet connections in India.
Microsoft Skype Lite Launched In India
Skype Lite is making its debut only in India at first, but should eventually roll out to other emerging markets as well. The Android app is optimized for use on limited internet connections such as 2G. Skype Lite supports reading and replying to SMS, tracking mobile data consumption, and comes with a number of India-focused bots for task automation and delivering information such as news.
The app is designed not only to work well on slow internet connections, but also to further save potential data usage by compressing any files, photos and videos shared in conversations. Skype Lite itself is extremely lightweight, taking up just 13 MB to help save storage space on the entry-level phones that rule emerging markets such as India. Microsoft says that Skype Lite is its smallest and fastest app to date.
"Our goal is to help everyone experience the best that Skype has to offer, wherever they are in the world," says Microsoft. "From listening to Skype users in India, we felt we could design a more tailored product for the India market, one which would benefit users as well as the different network infrastructure across the country."
Skype Lite Built In India, For India
The company highlights that Skype Lite was built in India, for India. Moreover, Microsoft also plans to embed Aadhaar, India's national digital identity scheme, to allow for certain services starting in June.
Aadhaar integration could help Skype users check the identity of unknown callers in a range of scenarios where ID verification is required, such as job interviews, sales and other such instances.
The fact that Skype Lite is designed with India in mind demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to the country, as well as the fact that it plans to bet big on India's mobile growth.
India is expected to see the fastest internet growth worldwide, which would lead to significant economic and social changes across the board. That mobile revolution is still in the early stages, however, as recent stats indicate that only 300 million of India's 1.25 billion people own a smartphone.
Making it easier to communicate even with slow internet connections could be a notable perk to boost Android phone adoption in India, which would in turn lead to wider smartphone adoption overall.
India Push
Microsoft is hardly the only company making efforts to boost their presence and impact in India. Apple plans to start making iPhones in India in the coming months, while Google has launched a number of services in the country including public Wi-Fi projects, as well as a range of top apps. Facebook has a strong presence in India, where it has 155 million users, while Facebook-owned WhatsApp is the top messaging service in the country, with more than 160 million users.
Skype Lite could become among the top apps in India if everything goes smoothly. Microsoft has yet to detail when Skype Lite will become available in other emerging markets around the world, but for now the app is available for download in India at the Google Play Store.
If you already got the app and tried it out, drop by our comments section below and tell us how it fares.
