Skype Preview now lets you see who has read your messages

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
published

Read receipts will bring Skype more in line with its competitors.

Skype is finally gearing up to add read receipts, so you can keep up with who has read your messages. Microsoft announced this week (opens in new tab) that it is now testing the new features with the Skype Insider Preview clients across several platforms (via OnMSFT).

From Microsoft:

Read receipts let you see who's seen your messages at a glance. When someone reads your message, their avatar appears beneath it in Skype chats enabling you to see how far someone has read in the conversation without tapping on every message.

Skype Read Receipts

Currently, the feature works in one-on-one conversations and in group chats with up to 20 people. In order for read receipts to work, the people you're chatting with will also need to be running the latest Skype Preview build as well.

Finally, for those who are uncomfortable with sending read receipts, you can disable the feature from the "Privacy" section of the settings menu. Read receipts will also be disabled if you've set your status to "Invisible."

If you want to test out read receipts, the feature is available in preview build 8.26.76 across Android, iOS, and the desktop clients for Windows, Linux and Mac. Should testing go well, we should see the feature roll out to everyone soon.

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
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. 

9 Comments
  • Yay! better late than never.... will this come to the desktop client as well or it's only the new app?
  • I read it as it's available in the Desktop client, but *not* the UWP version.
  • The desktop Win32 client *is* (identical to) the UWP now
  • Just 4 years late to the party, like always. :)
  • 😂
  • On Win10 the current UWP app will be replaced with the 8.xx version. The 8.26 will have the read notifications. When you open the settings you can join the Skype Insiders program, after which you will get the new client. The new one is also a native UWP client, but has the same look&feel as the Android and iOS versions (finally).
  • Very confusing A.F. explanation: 1. On Win10 "the current UWP App will be replaced" with the 8.xx version. 2. The "new one is also a native UWP client," but has the same L&F as the Android and iOS versions. Please explain this apparent discrepancy...
  • There was an internal direction change at Skype/Microsoft. If you search for Skype in the Microsoft Store and install it, you get a UWP app. This app has a different code base than the iOS and Android apps and was developed as its own project, just like iOS and Android were each their own projects. These "variants" or "forks" of Skype will no longer be developed. They are being replaced with a new "from the ground up" Skype program that uses the same code base, ported for each platform (so there is an iOS, Android and Windows-UWP app that will replace each existing app). To the normal every day user, they shouldn't notice any difference other than some minor design language updates, and the "new" Skype will replace the old in an update someday that they wont even notice. That Skype will have a fully shared code base is news-for-nerds, and basically means we can expect feature updates and bug fixes to roll out simultaneously for each platform.
  • Remember when Skype was going to get free SMS relay so it could finally have a shot at being relevant for messaging in the US? Pepperidge Farm remembers.