8 ms·

Skype for Android is available

85 points by ifesdjeen 16y ago

codedivine 16y ago
Heads up: Do read the fine type at the bottom. For example, currently its only available over Wifi in the US. Does anyone know why? Surely if it works on 3G at other places, its not a technology problem? Sidenote: So skype is now available for many major platforms including iPhone, Symbian and now Android. Does anyone know if Skype (and not skype-lite) is available on blackberry?
- heyitsnick 16y ago
  >> or example, currently its only available over Wifi in the US. Can you link/quote the part that says that? I can't see it. edit: Sorry, I read your post wrong. I thought you meant, "skype over wifi is (a feature that) is only available in the US". Rather, I see now you mean, "Those in the US can only use skype over wifi (not on 3G networks)". I just went through the whole process of skyping myself from phone to laptop, and back again (and getting some nasty feedback!) before realising what you meant!
  - codedivine 16y ago
    Here is a blog entry from Skype: http://blogs.skype.com/en/2010/10/android.html http://blogs.skype.com/en/2010/10/android.html On the bottom you can find the following disclaimers: * Skype is not available in the Android Market in China or Japan. * Skype has been tested on HTC and Motorola devices with Android OS 2.1 and above. It may work on other Android phones, but we can’t guarantee full functionality or compatibility. * We’re aware of some problems with the Samsung Galaxy S, and we’re looking to address these in the future. * It’s free to use Skype in a WiFi zone. If you use Skype with a mobile data connection, operator charges may apply, so we recommend an unlimited data plan. * In the US, you can make calls only over WiFi. * A fair use policy applies to unlimited subscriptions.
    - manveru 16y ago
      Since I have Android 1.6 and live in Japan, this announcement destroyed the little hope I had for using Skype on my phone in the near future. On the other hand, I finally taught my parents how to call me from GMail (not exactly easy, with me being 10k km away and without remote desktop control), now I can receive their calls via SIP, even in Pidgin.
      - technomancy 16y ago
        > Since I have Android 1.6 and live in Japan, this announcement destroyed the little hope I had for using Skype on my phone in the near future Welcome to the wonderful world of proprietary software.
- rue 16y ago
  Maybe because U.S. "3G" is very slow in most areas?
  - nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
    More because US carriers are deathly afraid of anything competing with them for voice calls, ie, to prevent people from buying just a data connection and still getting voice calls over Skype.
- jawee 16y ago
  I haven't used it on my own phone or anything, but I have several friends that use Skype on their Blackberries for IM and calls. I assume this is Skype and not skype-lite since it can make calls, such as on Verizon's Storm.
- dLuna 16y ago
  I would guess that it's because of the Verizon deal. Skype probably had to promise to make it only work for them.
- jeffclark 16y ago
  Skype is available on Blackberry on Verizon. I'm not sure about availability outside of that. The client is pretty packed. Apparently you can't use it on wifi though, but otherwise it's a full-blown Skype client.
moe 16y ago
Says "unavailable for your mobile" when trying to install on Samsung Galaxy S.
- ifesdjeen 16y ago
  Hm.. Here's an APK, although i'm not sure whether it'll run or no http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4650425/com.skype.raider.apk http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4650425/com.skype.raider.apk
  - sssparkkk 16y ago
    It runs on my Froyo firmware (JPK), however, the voices are very robotic (you can barely understand what's being said). Here's to hoping they fix the version for the Galaxy S soon. [Edit: hm wait, this might be my provider limiting VOIP bandwidth :S]
- codedivine 16y ago
  See my comment below linking to the skype blog. They say they are working on fixing some issues on Galaxy S so i guess it will be released for your phone once they fix it.
  - hexley 16y ago
    What fragmentation?
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- cskau 16y ago
  Said so too for my HTC Desire, even though that one of the two thy display in their site. It checked the App Market and it showed up there instead - now I've got it up and running ! oh boy oh boy oh boy !
- yock 16y ago
  They've now added that to the product description in the marketplace. That's quite a disappointment.
chaosmachine 16y ago
Just installed this on a Telus Milestone/Droid here in Canada. Calling works great. Doesn't seem to support SMS, though?
riffic 16y ago
skype is poison software and is antithetical to the hacker ethos of open systems. use at your own caution (I'm probably going to get downvoted for this because it always seems to be that any negative comment about skype == downvotes on HN.) :edit: a hacker I've been following for a some time has a blog and writes about emerging open voice+video standards. I think that Thiago Camargo expresses many points very well. http://xmppjingle.blogspot.com/ http://xmppjingle.blogspot.com/
- weego 16y ago
  as 99.5% of the world aren't "hackers" and quite like the idea of calling people on the other side of the world for free, perhaps the success of Skype shows your ideals are out of touch with the world around you. Who, then, is more likely to be wrong?
  - StavrosK 16y ago
    Neither. Ideals aren't about convenience, that's why they're ideals. While I love Skype, I can appreciate the fact that it's stifling innovation and killing interoperability, since you can't use it with SIP... It's as if we had email, and then a proprietary protocol which everyone used. Countless services would never have been created.
    - borism 16y ago
      except Skype works with SIP now: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/business/sip/overview/ http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/business/sip/overview/
      - StavrosK 16y ago
        Wow, this is great news, thanks! EDIT: Wait, this just converts your SIP phones to work with Skype, it doesn't allow you to call other SIP phones. E.g. I can't use it to call Truphone/Gizmo users with it. It's a two-tier phone service, same as IM clients. This is why the GP's ideals are a good thing.
andraz 16y ago
What's the point of Skype on Android if you need to be in WiFi Zone? In that case you can skype with your laptop in the first place. ... what's the name of the alternative that actually works over 3G?
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- scopendo 16y ago
  A lot if you're travelling outside of your home country.
  - stevefranco 16y ago
    I think an alternative that works on 3G is FriendCaller and Fring.
- codedivine 16y ago
  It works on 3G in countries other than the US.
  - ja27 16y ago
    It works on 3G in the US on the iPhone. Is there some sort of workaround for root users that can fool it into thinking it's on WiFi?
- lwhi 16y ago
  Sipdroid works with most generic SIP accounts and also works over 3G.
  - lutorm 16y ago
    Do you find Sipdroid usable? I tried it and my call quality was horrible, even over wifi. The lag was seconds and the sound was totally garbled. Was entirely unusable on my Nexus/T-mo.
labria 16y ago
At last. The "Lite" version was virtually useless, and fring recently droppped Skype support, so Android was left skypeless.
37prime 16y ago
Finally, Skype-Verizon exclusivity is over. It was really annoying how Verizon dictates the availability.
etherael 16y ago
The quality on a nexus one running froyo is significantly better than land line; almost as good as desktop, both wifi and 3g. enormous step up from sipdroid. Australia now has a year long plan for 120 aud that can effectively replace voice service from the carrier entirely. (three.com.au)
- robk 16y ago
  I find the call quality the same as Sipdroid, if not a little worse. Sipdroid is far too complex to get going but works fantastically once you have it setup.
- StavrosK 16y ago
  This is completely off topic, but do you know if I can install Vanilla Android on devices that come with Sense? I'm getting a Desire HD and I'm curious if I can just remove the entire HTC thing and install the plain Google one if it comes with too much crapware. Does everything work, or do vendors have too much integration to install the vanilla OS?
  - zacharycohn 16y ago
    You'd have to root it. However, HTC Sense isn't too bad - I actually enjoy it. There's a few apps you can't get rid of, which is kind of annoying, but you can just remove them from your desktops and never think about them again.
    - StavrosK 16y ago
      Thank you, I was hoping it would be good. What's rooting? Is it like jailbreaking? I thought Android phones were open?
      - Raphael 16y ago
        They're generally more open than iPhone, but the exact configuration is dictated by the carrier and manufacturer. As for rooting, see here. http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=Why_Root http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=Why_Root
wheaties 16y ago
Hey Skype,thanks for letting me know. Actually, you came pre-installed on my Droid. Wish you had given me the chance to decide if I wanted you or not. Seems like I can't even uninstall ya, either. So looks like we've taken part in a shotgun marriage.
- PhrosTT 16y ago
  yep... and city ID, amazon mp3, (if verizon: my verizon mobile, and most laughably - vz navigator which costs $9.99/month and is no doubt worse than google nav)
- nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
  Ironically, I envy you because Verizon users are the only Android/Skype users in the US that can make Skype calls over 3G. I would love to be able to use Skype anywhere I go, rather than being limited to using it by a WiFi hotspot...
pilif 16y ago
One thing that really annoys me about all the official Skype clients on various phones is their complete ignorance of multiple sign-ins. This could be an issue with the protocol itself, but it's still annoying. When I am running Skype on my iPhone or now on Android and at the same time having a conversation on the PC, my phone will notify me for every incoming and outgoing message happening on the PC. Now, on the PC, a conversation is something happening quickly and in abundance. This basically leads to my phone constantly vibrating. Jabber, even back then, recognized this. When you log in multiple times, it registers multiple presences and once you send a message from one location, all other clients will not be notified any more until you start a new conversation on that device. This is a requirement as always-on mobile-clients are appearing. Now, on the iPhone I can at least quickly start Skype, make a call and close it down using the easily accessible task manager. On Android, while still possible, it's a really big tour through nearly every screen the OS can throw at me before I finally can close down the application for good. Also, Android Skype insta-crashes the WhatsApp beta and seems to be constantly sending/receiving data (the background sync icon is constantly on until I uninstall Skype). Unusable. Sorry.
- nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
  > On Android, while still possible, it's a really big tour through nearly every screen the OS can throw at me before I finally can close down the application for good. What are you talking about? The Skype client itself has the option to either go offline or sign out completely, which stops the service altogether.
- lutorm 16y ago
  Not sure I agree with you there. I had the opposite experience with google talk: I started messaging on my laptop, then left the laptop thinking I could continue the conversation on my phone. But no, it apparently helpfully decided that the messages should only go to my laptop, so I never got them on my phone. A small annoyance of getting too many messages far outweighs not getting them at all, imho.
  - pilif 16y ago
    small annoyance? If I'm running skype on my phone, it's basically constantly vibrating while I'm in a conversation.
mitkok 16y ago
"Not found - The request item could not be found." after clicking the link to download. Great
https403 16y ago
There should be a QR-COde for easy download!!!
- steamer25 16y ago
  http://qrcode.kaywa.com/img.php?s=6&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skype.com%2Fm http://qrcode.kaywa.com/img.php?s=6&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.s...

85 points by ifesdjeen 16y ago

Heads up: Do read the fine type at the bottom. For example, currently its only available over Wifi in the US. Does anyone know why? Surely if it works on 3G at other places, its not a technology problem? Sidenote: So skype is now available for many major platforms including iPhone, Symbian and now Android. Does anyone know if Skype (and not skype-lite) is available on blackberry?

heyitsnick 16y ago
>> or example, currently its only available over Wifi in the US. Can you link/quote the part that says that? I can't see it. edit: Sorry, I read your post wrong. I thought you meant, "skype over wifi is (a feature that) is only available in the US". Rather, I see now you mean, "Those in the US can only use skype over wifi (not on 3G networks)". I just went through the whole process of skyping myself from phone to laptop, and back again (and getting some nasty feedback!) before realising what you meant!
- codedivine 16y ago
  Here is a blog entry from Skype: http://blogs.skype.com/en/2010/10/android.html http://blogs.skype.com/en/2010/10/android.html On the bottom you can find the following disclaimers: * Skype is not available in the Android Market in China or Japan. * Skype has been tested on HTC and Motorola devices with Android OS 2.1 and above. It may work on other Android phones, but we can’t guarantee full functionality or compatibility. * We’re aware of some problems with the Samsung Galaxy S, and we’re looking to address these in the future. * It’s free to use Skype in a WiFi zone. If you use Skype with a mobile data connection, operator charges may apply, so we recommend an unlimited data plan. * In the US, you can make calls only over WiFi. * A fair use policy applies to unlimited subscriptions.
  - manveru 16y ago
    Since I have Android 1.6 and live in Japan, this announcement destroyed the little hope I had for using Skype on my phone in the near future. On the other hand, I finally taught my parents how to call me from GMail (not exactly easy, with me being 10k km away and without remote desktop control), now I can receive their calls via SIP, even in Pidgin.
    - technomancy 16y ago
      > Since I have Android 1.6 and live in Japan, this announcement destroyed the little hope I had for using Skype on my phone in the near future Welcome to the wonderful world of proprietary software.
rue 16y ago
Maybe because U.S. "3G" is very slow in most areas?
- nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
  More because US carriers are deathly afraid of anything competing with them for voice calls, ie, to prevent people from buying just a data connection and still getting voice calls over Skype.
jawee 16y ago
I haven't used it on my own phone or anything, but I have several friends that use Skype on their Blackberries for IM and calls. I assume this is Skype and not skype-lite since it can make calls, such as on Verizon's Storm.
dLuna 16y ago
I would guess that it's because of the Verizon deal. Skype probably had to promise to make it only work for them.
jeffclark 16y ago
Skype is available on Blackberry on Verizon. I'm not sure about availability outside of that. The client is pretty packed. Apparently you can't use it on wifi though, but otherwise it's a full-blown Skype client.

moe 16y ago

Says "unavailable for your mobile" when trying to install on Samsung Galaxy S.

ifesdjeen 16y ago
Hm.. Here's an APK, although i'm not sure whether it'll run or no http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4650425/com.skype.raider.apk http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4650425/com.skype.raider.apk
- sssparkkk 16y ago
  It runs on my Froyo firmware (JPK), however, the voices are very robotic (you can barely understand what's being said). Here's to hoping they fix the version for the Galaxy S soon. [Edit: hm wait, this might be my provider limiting VOIP bandwidth :S]
codedivine 16y ago
See my comment below linking to the skype blog. They say they are working on fixing some issues on Galaxy S so i guess it will be released for your phone once they fix it.
- hexley 16y ago
  What fragmentation?
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
cskau 16y ago
Said so too for my HTC Desire, even though that one of the two thy display in their site. It checked the App Market and it showed up there instead - now I've got it up and running ! oh boy oh boy oh boy !
yock 16y ago
They've now added that to the product description in the marketplace. That's quite a disappointment.

chaosmachine 16y ago

Just installed this on a Telus Milestone/Droid here in Canada. Calling works great. Doesn't seem to support SMS, though?

riffic 16y ago

skype is poison software and is antithetical to the hacker ethos of open systems. use at your own caution (I'm probably going to get downvoted for this because it always seems to be that any negative comment about skype == downvotes on HN.) :edit: a hacker I've been following for a some time has a blog and writes about emerging open voice+video standards. I think that Thiago Camargo expresses many points very well. http://xmppjingle.blogspot.com/ http://xmppjingle.blogspot.com/

weego 16y ago
as 99.5% of the world aren't "hackers" and quite like the idea of calling people on the other side of the world for free, perhaps the success of Skype shows your ideals are out of touch with the world around you. Who, then, is more likely to be wrong?
- StavrosK 16y ago
  Neither. Ideals aren't about convenience, that's why they're ideals. While I love Skype, I can appreciate the fact that it's stifling innovation and killing interoperability, since you can't use it with SIP... It's as if we had email, and then a proprietary protocol which everyone used. Countless services would never have been created.
  - borism 16y ago
    except Skype works with SIP now: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/business/sip/overview/ http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/business/sip/overview/
    - StavrosK 16y ago
      Wow, this is great news, thanks! EDIT: Wait, this just converts your SIP phones to work with Skype, it doesn't allow you to call other SIP phones. E.g. I can't use it to call Truphone/Gizmo users with it. It's a two-tier phone service, same as IM clients. This is why the GP's ideals are a good thing.

andraz 16y ago

What's the point of Skype on Android if you need to be in WiFi Zone? In that case you can skype with your laptop in the first place. ... what's the name of the alternative that actually works over 3G?

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
scopendo 16y ago
A lot if you're travelling outside of your home country.
- stevefranco 16y ago
  I think an alternative that works on 3G is FriendCaller and Fring.
codedivine 16y ago
It works on 3G in countries other than the US.
- ja27 16y ago
  It works on 3G in the US on the iPhone. Is there some sort of workaround for root users that can fool it into thinking it's on WiFi?
lwhi 16y ago
Sipdroid works with most generic SIP accounts and also works over 3G.
- lutorm 16y ago
  Do you find Sipdroid usable? I tried it and my call quality was horrible, even over wifi. The lag was seconds and the sound was totally garbled. Was entirely unusable on my Nexus/T-mo.

labria 16y ago

At last. The "Lite" version was virtually useless, and fring recently droppped Skype support, so Android was left skypeless.

37prime 16y ago

Finally, Skype-Verizon exclusivity is over. It was really annoying how Verizon dictates the availability.

etherael 16y ago

The quality on a nexus one running froyo is significantly better than land line; almost as good as desktop, both wifi and 3g. enormous step up from sipdroid. Australia now has a year long plan for 120 aud that can effectively replace voice service from the carrier entirely. (three.com.au)

robk 16y ago
I find the call quality the same as Sipdroid, if not a little worse. Sipdroid is far too complex to get going but works fantastically once you have it setup.
StavrosK 16y ago
This is completely off topic, but do you know if I can install Vanilla Android on devices that come with Sense? I'm getting a Desire HD and I'm curious if I can just remove the entire HTC thing and install the plain Google one if it comes with too much crapware. Does everything work, or do vendors have too much integration to install the vanilla OS?
- zacharycohn 16y ago
  You'd have to root it. However, HTC Sense isn't too bad - I actually enjoy it. There's a few apps you can't get rid of, which is kind of annoying, but you can just remove them from your desktops and never think about them again.
  - StavrosK 16y ago
    Thank you, I was hoping it would be good. What's rooting? Is it like jailbreaking? I thought Android phones were open?
    - Raphael 16y ago
      They're generally more open than iPhone, but the exact configuration is dictated by the carrier and manufacturer. As for rooting, see here. http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=Why_Root http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=Why_Root

wheaties 16y ago

Hey Skype,thanks for letting me know. Actually, you came pre-installed on my Droid. Wish you had given me the chance to decide if I wanted you or not. Seems like I can't even uninstall ya, either. So looks like we've taken part in a shotgun marriage.

PhrosTT 16y ago
yep... and city ID, amazon mp3, (if verizon: my verizon mobile, and most laughably - vz navigator which costs $9.99/month and is no doubt worse than google nav)
nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
Ironically, I envy you because Verizon users are the only Android/Skype users in the US that can make Skype calls over 3G. I would love to be able to use Skype anywhere I go, rather than being limited to using it by a WiFi hotspot...

pilif 16y ago

One thing that really annoys me about all the official Skype clients on various phones is their complete ignorance of multiple sign-ins. This could be an issue with the protocol itself, but it's still annoying. When I am running Skype on my iPhone or now on Android and at the same time having a conversation on the PC, my phone will notify me for every incoming and outgoing message happening on the PC. Now, on the PC, a conversation is something happening quickly and in abundance. This basically leads to my phone constantly vibrating. Jabber, even back then, recognized this. When you log in multiple times, it registers multiple presences and once you send a message from one location, all other clients will not be notified any more until you start a new conversation on that device. This is a requirement as always-on mobile-clients are appearing. Now, on the iPhone I can at least quickly start Skype, make a call and close it down using the easily accessible task manager. On Android, while still possible, it's a really big tour through nearly every screen the OS can throw at me before I finally can close down the application for good. Also, Android Skype insta-crashes the WhatsApp beta and seems to be constantly sending/receiving data (the background sync icon is constantly on until I uninstall Skype). Unusable. Sorry.

nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
> On Android, while still possible, it's a really big tour through nearly every screen the OS can throw at me before I finally can close down the application for good. What are you talking about? The Skype client itself has the option to either go offline or sign out completely, which stops the service altogether.
lutorm 16y ago
Not sure I agree with you there. I had the opposite experience with google talk: I started messaging on my laptop, then left the laptop thinking I could continue the conversation on my phone. But no, it apparently helpfully decided that the messages should only go to my laptop, so I never got them on my phone. A small annoyance of getting too many messages far outweighs not getting them at all, imho.
- pilif 16y ago
  small annoyance? If I'm running skype on my phone, it's basically constantly vibrating while I'm in a conversation.

mitkok 16y ago

"Not found - The request item could not be found." after clicking the link to download. Great

https403 16y ago

There should be a QR-COde for easy download!!!

steamer25 16y ago
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/img.php?s=6&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skype.com%2Fm http://qrcode.kaywa.com/img.php?s=6&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.s...