Microsoft introduces new Skype Preview app for Android and iOS

The Skype team has announced a new Skype Preview app for Android and iOS is now in testing. The app features a full revamp that packs in plenty of new features for expressing yourself and sharing with your contacts.

Skype Preview Android

In its blog post, the Skype team highlights 4 main features of the new Skype Preview, with a heavy emphasis on reactions. Both in-call and messaging reactions are supported, with the former allowing you to add live emoticons, live text and real-time photos while in a video call. Messaging reactions let you add a reaction on specific messages to voting, show excitement or just add some flair.

Also highlighted is the app's integrated camera, which is just a swipe away from chat and lets you, again, quickly add emoticons, stickers and annotations to your photos before sharing them. Sense a pattern here?

Perhaps most interesting is a new Find panel, which let's you quickly search and share things from the web with your contacts. Like the camera, the Find panel is just a swipe away and lets you quickly look up things like new, sports scores, weather and videos and share those links and information with others.

If you're interested in checking things out, the Skype Preview app is already available on Google Play to download and test. Meanwhile, the iOS version is only available in a fairly limited preview through Apple's TestFlight program. You'll have to sign up to be a Skype Insider for iOS and hope you get lucky.

Download Skype Preview at Google Play

Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl