Thanks to a just-released update, Skype for Web is now just as functional as its desktop and smartphone app counterparts, with support for HD video calling now also on the web app.
Chrome and Microsoft Edge users no longer have to keep using the standalone desktop app if they don't want to — just retreat to the web app, instead, since apart from HD video calling, it now offers call recording, as well.
New Skype For Web
The key phrase there is "Chrome and Edge users." The newly retooled Skype for Web simply won't work on Firefox, Safari, and Opera. It seems to be working on Chromium-based browsers such as Brave and Vivaldi, however. Whether the new Skype for Web will eventually launch support for non-Chromium-based browsers remains uncertain.
Revamped User Interface
Apart from staple features centered on making calls, Skype for Web has also received quite a number of user interface improvements. First is a new notifications panel that pings the user each time they're mentioned or quoted.
The media gallery, a longtime feature of the standalone Skype apps, has also made it to the web. Users can now access it to see every link or piece of media even sent within a conversation, which should make it easier to locate something without having to scroll through stretches upon stretches of text bubbles.
Finally, there's also a new feature that lets users search within individual conversations.
Whether recently released features for the desktop version of Skype will also eventually come to the web app remains uncertain. One such feature is automatic background blurring, which uses artificial intelligence to generate a "bokeh" around the subject to blur their background during video calls — perfect for hiding super messy bedrooms.
Another feature lets users toggle on live captions and subtitles to help deaf or hard-of-hearing users communicate more efficiently.
Whether those features will also make it to the web app remains to be determined. But make sure to check back with Tech Times as we learn more.
