Video chat giant ‘Skype’ go through major UI revamp, brings Snapchat-like features

One can add Skype to the growing list of services copying features straight from Snapchat. The Microsoft Corp communications service recently announced a chief revamp of its mobile app, including a "Highlights" feature that lets customers break photos and videos that will be for the time being visible to their connections.

Quite similar to Snapchat's "Stories”, Highlights is a key capability included in the refurbish of Skype, which has not had a essential face lift like this since it introduced video calls in 2006. Also, it is said to be the most extensive update since Microsoft purchased Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011.

However, the exact figures still not disclosed by the Skype but the company claims to have hundreds of millions of monthly users, of which 50% access the service on mobile. Well, it is been imagined that combination of new features and the large existing base of Skype users will be sufficient of a draw to get people to use the app every day.

"What differentiates one application from the other is the network that you have," said Amritansh Raghav, the corporate vice president of Skype. "For us, we have a network on Skype, and it is the exact network that we want to grow - the persona l network."

Additionally, with the highlights, the all new Skype puts a stress on group messaging. Users can respond to one another using emoji, they can also send messages on top of striking and colorful backgrounds or they can instill a chat with content from third-party services,such as animated images from Giphy. 

Well that’s not all; the service also features a selection of bots that has been made by Microsoft with an aim to help users get more done. This comprises Scoop, a bot that can fetch news of interest to an individual, and Cortana, Microsoft's virtual assistant.

Showing loyalty to its identity, with time Skype has also enhanced its video calling capabilities to cope up with advanced technologies, by adding the ability to send photos, stickers and emoji during calls. Also, over time, Skype expects to allow the users to watch videos and play games together during video calls.

"We want people to experience things together," Raghav said.