Skype

A necessary piece of crap If you need to communicate with someone using the services that Skype offers Then there is little alternative. Video and audio are freakishly undependable. One moment you hear the other person, the next you don't. Constant bad connection warnings when it is Skype that is the problem. Lots of updates but zip gets better!

Version 8.56...Skype still stinks! Utterly untrustworthy. Constantly breaks down during conversations. Nothing changes with updates! The only positive is that it is free and can be managed if you have the patience to deal with its instability and quirkiness. If you have an alternative, use it!

Used to be great until Microsoft got their hands on it! Now, this latest version is so bad they can't even get a reliable DMG to mount! Anyone AWAKE at Microsoft?

MacUpdate Admin!! - link is pointing to the older .91 version! should be pointing to .123

Unreliable. And I absolutely hate that there is no longer a way to disable the video.

WARNING! There is a SERIOUS problem with this Version 8.52.0.138!! I have Skype version 8.51.0.92, but when I click on Check for Updates, it tells me that I have the latest version. When I go directly to the Skype website, it is version 8.51.0.92 that downloads!!!! When I click on MacUpdate's Download button, Version 8.52.0.138 downloads. WHY? I am NOT installing MacUpdate's Version 8.52.0.138 when it is NOT available from Skype itself!! Could this be a counterfeit, hacked, or virus-infected version from some unknown source? WARNING!

A necessary piece of crap If you need to communicate with someone using the services that Skype offers Then there is little alternative. Video and audio are freakishly undependable. One moment you hear the other person, the next you don't. Constant bad connection warnings when it is Skype that is the problem. Lots of updates but zip gets better!

It's getting worse. Recent versions have made things smaller such as the app icon and icon text. And there are still no simple improvements to app functions that are missing since this "new version" took over. Still waiting for autocorrect to come back - it can spell check while I type, why is autocorrect missing?

Skype is great

Never had any problems with Skype since its inauguration 20 yrs ago.
NOTHING to complain about.
Suits my needs just perfectly. People complain because too many people expect too many features to be implemented. If that happens, then the same people will complain why Skype is so slow, sluggish....blah blah bleh bleh.. You can't please everyone.
Skype was and still is The BEST internet video communication system for vast majority of people.

Zoom is an EXCELLENT professional alternative to faltering, blundering Skype. You can find it here on MU:
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/52421/zoom

Apparently, there's a bug in the MU interface such that the Zoom "cloud video conferencing solution for meetings" does NOT show up in the list when attempting to suggest software similar to Skype. It used to! I added it as a suggestion in Februrary! Now it's gone, with only the 'Zoom' game showing up in the list. Inexplicable, particularly since Skype shows up as an alternative to Zoom. Hmm.

Now that Skype 7.x has been cut off we are forced daily to use this monstrosity. It just looks terrible, like it was created for 14 year old girls. Just today I realized that there is no longer any autocorrect. It underlines misspelled words but doesn't correct them like it used to. This is a system-wide feature and Skype only has to include it in the menus but doesn't.

LOL, by now Skype doesn't even show the online status of your contacts anymore .-) I can't understand why M$ is still working on this app. With every release it gets worse and reverting to a backup from 2010 instead would fix all problems...

I used to love Skype. It was great when it was decentralized with a compact user interface. It has become ugly, bloated, inefficient, and constantly try to overrun a large part of the screen. it is the anti-Facetime. It's hard to say how much I despise what they did to a once-great program but hey, they find ways of monetizing everything and making us unhappy. They have succeeded at this and it sucks.

Present version is 8.32.0.44

Really??? People are still using Skype?? God-awful POS GUI and UX thanks to Microsoft's efforts to destroy what was once (before they bought it) an excellent product. MS software 'engineers' live in an alternative reality from us - they actually believe the product works! 0 (ZERO) stars if I could.

Another example how to ruin a formerly awesome service: While the "core" – communicating – works very well – simple details like adding a new contact (not registered at Skype) or changing a contact's number don't work – or are at least "hidden". Who is responsible for UX design or quality assurance in those companies…

8.29.0.50 is crap! In Version 7 you could use Command > W to close the JUST window of the person you were talking to and leave the main App window open. Now Command > W Crashes the App. Complete POS! Does MS just monkeys to work on their Clients? Actually, I bet Monkeys would do a better job.

Skyp;e started going downhill WAY before Microsoft acquired them, but, indeed, Skype has become an abhorrent abortion of a program ever since Microsoft acquired them. Among the first stupid ideas they tried was Facebook integration, and now it is this abysmal GUI that makes the Office ribbons quaint by comparison.

Every update seems to make the user experience more difficult. What was once an enjoyable experience is now a frustrating challenge of trying to remember where they hid a utility or menu option that one time was intuitive...

Economists wonder why US productivity continues to decline despite the proliferation of IT. I would argue that IT is not inherently more productive. Indeed, one might argue that the likes of Facebook, along with increasingly poor software user interface design, makes us all less and less productive. Skype, in its Microsoft incarnation, is a good example of really poor design trumping over what used to be a pretty useful software app.

Let's go back to creating software and systems that solve real-world problems rather than simply focus on creating a captive customer base (ie, users have little choice) and increasing economic "rents" for their owners.

Why oh why is the current Skype user interface so bad?

As far as I can tell 8.28 is pretty much the same as the last 8 Version. Same BS problems: Now Skype Signs you in Automatically rather than offering a Blank Sign-in Window that allows you to sign-in as any of your accounts. ...and you can't talk to anyone who's not your "Friend..." ...and there's NO WAY to TURN OFF THE DAMN' EMOTICON SUGGESTIONS!!! The Command > W to close the Current Window but Leave the Generic Window open to see you "Friend" List loss is really a pain too... ...and so much more.

I have not used Skype for at lease 6 months, so I was very surprised when I was alerted that I must first sign-in or create a Microsoft account. At any rate, having a Microsoft account is a deal-breaker for me. Both my future actions vis-à-vis Skype and views towards Microsoft are easily predictable...

There are usability issues with Skype, but it works. Since many people use PCs, Skype is essential to talk face to face.

Problematic!

Not anymore in the dashboard. Consumes a lot of memory and CPU. I only use when I need. Is there any good alternative, among those in "similar software" ? Any recommendations ?

Yes, this once very useful piece of software has been rendered down to almost junk software by none other than Microsoft.. the masters at creating software that have problems and bugs from day one.. Kind of shame what they have done to Skype..

Pretty clear the verdict is in - despite all the pretty fan boys posting 5-star "reviews" on their first and only 'review' here.
App has gone from 5 stars to barely 1 over time, with the loss of ratings/reviews accelerating since Microsoft bought Skype and started tweaking/'improving' what was once great software to the point where it is irrelevant today.
Great job M$! Yet another resounding failure to your name!

Skype of old had excellent GUI and UX with minimal memory and screen footprints. Skype today is garbage software with poor GUI, terible UX and horrendous screen and memory footprints.

For all those Skype-devotees claiming 'no alternative' because their friends/family use Skype - move on and make the effort. Skype is a walking dead app. Start using an alternative now so that when Skype finally dies, you won't be left stranded.

Version 8.24.0.2 is missing input selection (Microphone) form Audio & Videos Settings. Switching output (Speakers) is buggy.

Farther cartoonification. More wasted space. A messy and busy interface. It really is getting worse with every "upgrade". Microsoft, just stop it. Make it plain and functional. Get rid of the theme garbage. Stop pretending it is friendly. It isn't. It is visually annoying.

In my experience, Skype's user interface is getting worse and worse with each new major release. For me at least, it's now virtually unusable. Bolded text appears large and blurry, for example. And there is a lot of bolded text. Perhaps the app simply does not show up well on my speedy iMac running High Sierra, with 32GB of RAM and SSDs??

Other's having the same problems?

Recently tried to have a business conversation with someone in Asia. The latest Skype proved so problematic on both sides we reverted to using another messaging and video service, Viber.

Viber was their choice, not necessarily mine.

Ok, so they have fixed two of my previous criticisms and drawbacks, Kudos. The app no longer fills the screen and remembers its size and position, and it also now remembers your password. A huge improvement that makes it useable now.

Are you $%^&ing kidding me with this %^&* you're putting in my mouth, Microsoft? Holy Jumping Jack Flash! You know, I had some DIM hope that Skype 8.0 on the Mac would be better because it was finally supposed to reintroduce the real time translator. Instead of true integration though they ported it all over to the translator bot, requiring you to do an awkward group conversation that is clunky and convoluted to use. What a disgrace. Every time I get angry at Apple and think of moving to Microsoft I go and see this travesty of a garbage app and I stay right where I am. In addition to a cartoonish interface, it's even more bloated and slower than before, with a notable lag from the time I send a message to the time it shows up. GIFS and other image uploads that I've generally taken for granted on other apps like iMessage and even FB Messenger are a clusterboink of epic fail on this fossilized feces of a crapola Microsoft pile of baboon anal fail. I have deleted Skype once and for all off my Apple devices and the Mac. Good bye and good riddance.

It still works for making paid calls but is much more expensive than any other voip service. The app resizes itself to fill 75% of your screen on every startup. You have to re-enter your login information on every startup. They have made the desktop app as bad as they made the mobile app. Do they actually want people to use this or are they trying to drive everyone away?

It's become overly complicated and very non user friendly.. and every update appears to make it less user friendly. I use to use this almost every day. I'm currently considering ditching it for something that is more user friendly.

What a crappy app I wish I had an alternative

I liked Skype a lot, but the new interface consumes a lot of space, is useful in full screen but in a window is bad, it consumes a lot of unnecessary space I am using less every day, like the platform but not the interface. On iPhone the new design is cool, on iPad is not on par yet, but on Mac is not nothing is pleasant to use.

I just hate it now. I cannot remember the steps I took to find anything, there are so many, it takes hours to search and find the right button or option to press! Even half a star is too much for this crap!

Skype 8 has introduced a pile of bugs. Be certain to update to the latest version if you've run into them. I personally avoid Skype when I can. But it limps along and many people still like it. If only Microsoft was a reliable developer. I've never found they were.

Skype was always my favorite... but I wouldn't recommend anyone that new update

0.5 becouse i can't give 0 for v.8. can't see who is online, can't have 2 or more Chat window (just one window fo all even Preverences!!). m$ + FB generation logic… we are so doomed

Everybody has already said it all about the "new SnapSkype" and I don't know anyone who uses it any more, so I will just leave my half-star rating before saying "Good bye, Skype" and uninstalling it.

Horrible.

Skype for Mac v. 8 cannot dial phone numbers formatted with spaces as separators. Since by default Apple's Contacts includes parentheses as well as spaces phone numbers cannot be dialed directly from the dropdown menu it displays. Terrible. interface and wretched support.

Wie alles was Microshrot in die Hände nimmt, ist es so richtige Abfall geworden.

Version 8 is a joke. Nothing works anymore. Sending files is gone or not possible to figure out, how to. You cannot even see your credits anymore. Have to find something else, but what...?

Does not work.

After installing there's just a loading symbol on start. The loading symbol never goes away.

There's no way to contact/receive technical support by e-mail.

Technical support website often does not work due to web server errors and some support links go to dead pages or send you in a loop back to the original support pages you started at.

Support forums are filled with frustrated users reporting all sorts of problems, and rarely does anyone from Microsoft ever seem to chime in. If someone from Microsoft does "answer" a post, they ask for numerous details the original poster already gave them in their initial post. After the OP gives the details [again], there's no follow up from them explaining the underlying cause of the problem or how to fix it. Most questions seem to just go unanswered, leaving the forum as basically a wasteland of wandering lost souls trapped in the endless purgatory of Skype technical problems with no hope of salvation..

idiotic interface, removal of favorites functionality simply crazy.

I just hate the new Skype version...there is so much that is wrong with it. Does anybody know a good alternative that offers video and text chat within one app just like Skype?

The new GUI in Skype 8 is not only bulky and non-functional, it also feels extremely laggy and slow. It's a disaster to work with. I will completely move to another messenger. Goodbye, this was it!

It's almost unbelievable that Microsoft screwed up the GUI of Skype 8 so terribly, and it's good to know that there are alternatives available. That I cannot set the default view to seeing my contacts, sorted by online status, makes me not want to use Skype anymore.

To think that people will use in great numbers Skype for messaging (which seems to be the idea behind this latest design change) is simply delusional.

First they did this to the iPhone app. Everybody hated it ... so a few months later they do the same thing to the desktop version?! The arrogance of Microsoft has no limits - but my patience does. Deleting this disaster after a good decade of using it, time to move on. And no it doesn't deserve even one star but apparently I can't post the review without giving it at least that...

New Skype interface is horrible! Violates any sense of intuition it previously had and does not feel like a Mac Application either. Time to find another provider.

The link above goes to v7.x The current version can be gotten here: https://go.skype.com/mac.download

A most unpractical UI! Everything messed up and I can't even sort my contacts for names! Most important functions are hidden an you've got a kind of point and klick game to find them. Seem MS wants to port an iOS app to the mac.

This is absolutely worst and ugliest interface I've ever seen !! Who designed it?

Skype was a great tool. Was. The 8.x release has one of the worst UI I ever seem, with primary errors and unpractical approach. Functionally also lost a lot, with less options, bad contacts management and lack of control over numerous details. Microsoft being Microsoft, as usual.

Wow, new Skype for my old Mac OS 10.9. But what is this!? This ist the ugliest and most useless UI! Where is my normal contacts list? Where are the contacts with status "away"? What the hell…

The new Skype 8 has the ugliest and most useless user interface I've ever seen!

Had my Skype account since 2005 and used it every 6 months or so. After the update it refused to accept my password - "Looks like someone else has been using your account" etc and every attempt to recover the account using the various questionnaires has failed despite the answers being correct. The account still has credit in it but all MS can come up with is to open another account. Less than impressed, especially as from comments on the net this is a very common circumstance for people who have had accounts well before the MS takeover and appears to be caused by the transfer rather than account problems per se.

I had always been happy with Skype and recommended it until a few months ago when the updates made it practically unusable. I mistakenly updated it on my phone first. It made changes that I did not want and that did not improve anything. It slowed down the service so much that I no longer use it on my phone. I have continued to use Skype on my macbook and was even talking to family last night. This morning I have a notice that I have been logged out until I install an update. This is a forced update and very annoying. Why break something that worked well? Some of the problems I have noticed with Skype include: problems accepting incoming calls; not notifying of incoming calls until they are missed, even when the app is open; useless color and sound changes; long load times; problems ending ongoing calls; etc. None of these issues existed until the recent "updates". I recently tried to Skype with my aunt and Skype had locked her out and would not send her a new password until she updated and got a different email account. As a result, we were unable to use the Skype service at all. After almost an hour on the phone trying to get connected on Skype, we gave up and used Zoom. I guess we will have to start using other services instead of the now broken Skype.

Please note I am referring ONLY to the new Skype version for Mac, 8.10.0.4. The new Skype is a downgrade not an improvement. They failed to absorb the maxim "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." They put a shiny new interface on Skype and made a lot of what makes Skype great harder to access. My principal complaints involve the new dialpad. Rather than being a top item, they've buried it one layer in. Furthermore, when using dialpad to call phones, they've taken away the user view of seeing how much a call costs in Skype credit in realtime clicking down. I hope Skype will revert these features soon.

Still can't change my password. Why the process of a password's updating should be so hard? Just don't understand...

FYI, Lync is now called Skype for Business, download here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54108

It now shows ads.

Now it just quits right after it finishes loading.