Any die hard Windows Phone users stuck on devices that can’t be upgraded to Windows 10 Mobile will lose support for Skype by ‘early 2017’, according to Microsoft.
While it was public knowledge that Microsoft was phasing out support for the client on Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 8.1, Redmond has now given a clear date in an updated version of the Skype support page.
“While support will no longer be available from October 2016, the Skype app on Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 8.1 will continue to work (possibly with some limitations) until early 2017, when we finish moving Skype calling to the cloud (see Skype blog),” said Skype.
Microsoft also announced that it will kill Skype clients for users of Android 4.02 or lower, and iOS 7 too. The shift comes as OS X and Linux users also lose support for the native Skype client.
To check if the Windows 10 Mobile upgrade is available for your Windows phone and install the upgrade, go to the Store, install the Upgrade Advisor app, run the app to see if the update is available, and then select Enable Windows 10 upgrade, advises Microsoft.
In May, Gartner said that almost 2.4 million Windows Phones were shipped in the last quarter, securing 0.7 percent of the worldwide market share overall. That’s down from 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2015.
Much of the plummeting can be attributed to Microsoft’s decision to not release any new Lumia devices, as the company gears up to sell the Lumia business to a Foxconn subsidiary for $350 million (£270m).
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The headlines for this article are rather misleading... Perhaps you should mention that this is only for Windows Phone 8 and 8.1... The article makes it sounds like Windows 10 mobile is included from the headline.
That's sad. I am hoping that windows 10 really takes off since I like windows phones. I recently switched from Windows phone to Android and, wow... Things I took for granted in Windows phone just do not work in Android at all. Things that windows just did without any problem do not exist in Android. I can't talk on the phone while navigating using Here Maps, for example. I can't just say "Hey Cortana" to set reminders. I can't do a lot of things I took for granted in windows.
Going from Windows phone to Android is like going from using a laser to start a fire to rubbing two dry sticks together...