The latest Skype Preview version runs on Electron instead of React Native

By Sean Endicott
last updated

The latest Skype Preview build shows that Skype UWP could be moving away from React Native.

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

What you need to know

  • The latest version of Skype Preview is powered by Electron rather than React Native.
  • The move could remove several features from the Skype Preview app.
  • The change comes with v8.58.76.92 of Skype Preview.

The latest version of Skype Previews appears to be powered by Electron rather than React Native. A recent update pushed Skype Preview to v8.58.76.92 and brought a major shift for the app. Aggiornamenti Lumia shared a screenshot of the latest version, and the ensuing Twitter thread discussed the impact of the changes on Skype.

According to podcaster Florian B, swapping to Electron rather than React Native removed several features, including:

  • People app integration
  • Syncing with Outlook
  • Automatic Microsoft account sign in
  • App pausing and working in the background
  • A title bar that follows Fluent Design guidelines
  • In-line notifications

The app icon in the taskbar for the latest version of Skype Preview is also an older icon. In a follow-up tweet, Florian B added that push notifications and OS call integration are gone in the latest version of the app.

As this is a preview version of Skype, Microsoft could make significant changes before rolling things out to the public.

If you'd like to test out Skype Preview, you can sign up to try it on Microsoft's website (opens in new tab).

Sean Endicott
Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com (opens in new tab).

14 Comments
  • Are there and benefits of Electron vs React Native?
  • My guess would be ease of development. If Microsoft uses an Electron version elsewhere it's probably easier to maintain things if all versions run on Electron. But I'm not positive on Microsoft's long term plans for Skype.
  • more cpu and ram usage... thanks nadella
  • Upgrade your PC
  • Yeah. UWP is totally not dead. Again. /s
  • time to uninstall skype... thanks nadella
  • I sort of believe we move on to teams. It's powered by the Skype back end. Add in one note and to do intergration and family hub is back.
  • Also Skype preview is available on the web. And those features are still present just use edge to make it a full app and u are good to go including in line notifications.... Why all versions of Skype are not this already is mind baffling to me. U need internet for Skype to even work so it should just be a pwa across all platforms. Stop screwing around and make Skype amazing.
  • PWA is worse than a native app. Electron is worse than native app. It's just a facts.
  • Electron is a framework. Native apps uses framework since ages... for reference: before Windows 95 was released.
  • I use Skype app instead of UWP version at work. UWP is still working as beta.
  • Why wasn't if developed using C# UWP?
  • I'm sure Windows Central will present this info as it becomes available, but "WHY?" certainly stands out. Surely there are advantages to MS in moving to Electron, or why go through the effort of changing and losing several benefits? Our development team has also moved away from React Native, but that's because we depended on third party libraries that were becoming unusable on some platforms. I can't imagine that's an issue for MS.
  • Why is Skype for Windows always so bad? Windows makes some other good apps, that team needs to get it together.