How to get the new Windows 10 Skype app without joining the Insider Program Fast Ring

How-to
By Daniel Rubino
published

Here's how to quickly get the all-new Skype app for Windows 10.

Skype on Windows 10
Skype on Windows 10 (Image credit: Windows Central)

The Skype team is at it again, with another attempt at making Skype a great experience on Windows 10. The app has been rewritten using React Native and Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform (UWP).

You can read more about the new Skype app, what's new, and some behind the scenes info here, but if you want the app now and are not a fan of early "Redstone 5" Windows Insider Program builds, here is how to get it officially.

Join the Skype Preview Program to get the app

Microsoft has individual preview programs for many of its apps, including Skype. Users can opt-in to the preview program and download the latest version even if they're not a Windows Insider or on Redstone 5 (which is currently how most users are getting it).

Update: Turns out, you must at least be a part of "Release Preview" for the Insider Program, which is just new apps and drivers but never touches the OS.

Signing up for the program is super easy, as it just a click of a button. Here is what you need to do:

  1. Open the Skype UWP app on your Windows 10 PC.
  2. Open Settings in the app.
  3. Scroll down to Skype App Preview.

  1. Push Join preview.
  2. Agree to the terms and select Join now.

  1. Hit Ok on the dialog screen.

  1. Go to the Microsoft Store and check for app updates.
  2. The latest version of Skype Preview should download.

On one of our PCs, our app jumped to version 12.x, which is not the latest re-built version. However, when we checked the Microsoft Store for app updates again we immediately saw version 14.25.22.0, which is the one you want. (The current public release that this replaces is 8.25.76.22).

While you usually can leave the Skype Preview Program within the app, so far we have not found a way to do so in this version. Uninstalling it will not revert to the older public release, either. While the app is working well for us, there are some missing features, especially in the My People hub. But for the most part, it should be OK across Windows 10 PCs and laptops, including Windows 10 on ARM.

Let us know what you think about the new app in comments, and don't forget to report bugs and share feedback with the official Feedback Hub (linked in the app's settings) to help improve things.

Thanks, reportered, for the tip!

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.