Alternatives to Skype for all platforms with any license

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Skype Comments

no

Comment by marycosme4
about Skype · Aug 2016 · Helpful Not helpful 1 Helpful

i think skype was left behind, hangout and facetime are now much better and work faster.

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Skype

Comment by elpasotexasseo
about Skype · Jun 2017 · Helpful Not helpful

I love Skype but I think the FaceTime app is just a bit easier to use. Would definitely use Skype for more business oriented meetings though.

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Skype App

Comment by michaelangelo1980
about Skype · May 2017 · Helpful Not helpful

The number 1 video call app that most business man did.

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not so good

Comment by alanwong
about Skype and Facebook Messenger, Imo · Nov 2016 · Helpful Not helpful

Video calling from Skype consumes A LOT of data compared to Imo or facebook Messenger, and the video quality is also not so convincing seeing the data usage. also, it is a very large application

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not the best

Comment by sophiaschuler600
about Skype · Aug 2016 · Helpful Not helpful

there are better apps for videochat and contacting someone from other country... i think skype needs to improve several things... Hangout or facetime works much better that skype.

Ugotsta Aug 2016

Yeah, I agree. I like Hangouts myself, haven't tried Facetime yet. I think the thing that keeps Skype alive is it's established user base. Lots of people have gotten so accustomed to it, it's tough for them to move away.

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skype x...

Comment by dudu_brz
about Skype · May 2016 · Helpful Not helpful

I don't know if my question is for this moment.
I can send email hotmail to yahoo, gmail, etc And I get email from them and others.
Why I can't talk with friends don't use the messenger I use?
If I'm using Telegram I cant' exchange messages wiht someone using Viber.
Why not?

Ugotsta Aug 2016

Hi @dudu_brz,

Sorry no one caught this question til now. This is actually something imposed by the app and the app's developers. Email typically uses a protocol that's shared across email apps. But messaging doesn't have a single protocol like that, it depends on how the developers implement it.

There are apps like:
Small Franz iconFranz
Small Pidgin iconPidgin

They work across multiple protocols and services. However, your friends would still need the specific messaging app/protocol you use to send the message.

Hope that makes sense/helps. Have a great day. :)

Best regards,
David

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don't like it

Comment by sebastiandowny
about Skype · May 2016 · Helpful Not helpful

i don't really like it anymore, i think it is too slow.

Ugotsta Aug 2016

That's exactly my issue with it, though oddly enough, it always worked super fast for me in Linux desktops. It's only on Windows it was slow and cumbersome for me. Plus, the Windows version showed ads whereas the Linux version didn't. Not sure if it's still the same in current versions, but was definitely odd.

Oh, and actually, the Android version worked fine for me as well. Just as fast as the Linux version from my testing.

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big no

Comment by markcarandini
about Skype · Apr 2016 · Helpful Not helpful

i don't think this is reliable anymore, i don't like it, is too slow and no longer easy to use.

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Latest update not great

Comment by kelleygibson
about Skype · Jan 2016 · Helpful Not helpful

I used Skype everyday, mostly the chatting portion, but a lot of calls also. It works perfectly fine, but ever since the latest update (as of January 2016 time of writing), it has become quite sluggish, and the chat message are all out of order! Quite frustrating, especially since it was working fine for so many years.

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works fine but not on the phone

Comment by robertmu
about Skype · Dec 2015 · Helpful Not helpful

i think it works fine most of the time but on the computer. when i use it on my phone it just never connects, the chat doesn't work either, it takes too long to send a text there.

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Tox

Comment by tomgoldman
about Skype · Jul 2014 · Helpful Not helpful

Tox aims to be a free and open source Skype replacement. Seems to work better on all platforms too.

[Edited by tomgoldman, July 25]

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Useful app for Skype

Comment by Alex8899
about Skype and MX Skype Recorder · Mar 2012 · Helpful Not helpful

If you want to record Skype call you may want to try this MX Skype Recorder

Hope it'll help

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Time to abandon Skype.

Comment by DazzaJay
about Skype · Jul 2011 · Helpful Not helpful

Damn Microsoft, always buying out great apps, then ruining them. Skype will be the latest when the next update goes live as its installing mandatory tracking software and aggressive targeted advertising, even to people who are paying for subscriptions.

Ola Jul 2011

We don't know what MS will do yet. Skype has been kind of aggressive in installing plugins and stuff without even asking before so i don't believe it will get worst.

DazzaJay Jul 2011

was just repeating what I've been told. and I trust my source, nothing he's told me yet has been crap, everything from the PS3's having the "Install other OS" option removed (he told me about that 6 months before it happened) And also the introduction of DRM in Windows Media Player 10 (Told me about that about 6 months before it happened also) Amongst other things, (Just woke up so cant think of much at the moment). Either way, over many years I've come to trust him, as he's never been wrong yet.

Not sure about the aggressive plugin installing, I've never had it, then again, every time I load skype the Extras manager crashes immediately. so I've never been able to use it. (Must have something to do with XP X64 SP1's 32bit emulator)

Did some digging:
http://memeburn.com/2011/07/microsoft-and-skype-set-to-allow-backdoor-eavesdropping/

Anamon Jan 2013

It's almost been six months now ;) and so far nothing at all has changed, except the copyright messages and the ability to log in using a Microsoft Live account.

In fact, I'm disappointed that nothing changed, because when I heard that Microsoft bought Skype, I thought that maybe they would use their experience with Messenger/Lync to actually fix Skype, something which Skype themselves haven't ever bothered to do in their 8 years of existence. Deal-breaking bugs that have been reported 5 years ago, get several dozens of frustrated user comments every month, and no official ever bothers to reply, or say that someone's looking into it (because no one is, I assume). There's no money in fixing something people use in it's broken state anyway, I guess. And now Microsoft is closing the service that works (Messenger) for the one that never has and maybe never will (Skype).

All in all, this entire thing has been a catastrophic debacle—but not at all for the reasons people initially feared.

DazzaJayF Mar 2013

Well, it's changed now. Won't sign in with my skype ID, just sits there with the useless spinning circle.

or, I can use a "Live ID" -NO, I want to use my existing Skype ID.
or, I can use a "Facebook login" - NO, I want to use my EXISTING skype ID. I don't want to make a crapbook account just to use the same program I've been using for years.

-Uninstalled. Hello Trillian, oh, what a surprise, my Skype ID works in Trillian.

Anamon Mar 2013

Cool yup, I switched over to Trillian as well, since the announcement that Messenger users would be forced over to Skype, which I really couldn't bear. Trillian seems to be the only multi-protocol IM that supports Skype without having the full Skype client running alongside. Unfortunately it doesn't work on the Android version. Which is, of course, entirely the fault of Skype/Microsoft, and not Trillian/Cerulean. I'd really prefer to ditch Skype altogether, but that's the problem with IMs, you're kind of forced to use what your contacts use.

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Microsoft bought Skype - if you have 'like' checked, please ...

Comment by nitrofurano01
about Skype · Jun 2011 · Helpful Not helpful

Microsoft bought Skype - if you have 'like' checked, please click on it again to disable and downrate its popularity

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