Skype for Windows 10 updated with @mentions, granular presence controls, more

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
published

The Skype app for Windows 10 is picking up some new features that bring it more in-line with its cohorts on other platforms.

Skype New

Microsoft has begun rolling out a new update to the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) Skype app for Windows 10, bringing along a trio of features and tweaks. Most notably, the update packs support for @mentions in conversations, but users will also see new, more granular presence controls and the ability to delete conversations.

Here's a look at what's new in Skype for Windows 10:

  • Control your presence - set your presence on Skype by going to your profile and selecting Active, Do Not Disturb, or Invisible.
  • Delete chats - right click on any chat and select "Delete Conversation" to delete it forever.
  • Mentions - type "@" followed by someone's name to mention them in group conversations.

Each of these will be welcome features for anyone using Skype for Windows 10, which has lagged behind the Skype apps on mobile and for desktop in recent months. The presence control changes, for example, were first announced in early October, though they hit the mobile and desktop versions of the app first. The @mentions feature was also present in the recent desktop revamp as well.

The updates are rolling out with version 12.8.487.0 of the Skype app for Windows 10. Microsoft hasn't yet updated its release notes (opens in new tab) on the web, but you should be greeted with the list of new features upon updating your app.

See at Microsoft (opens in new tab)

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. 

27 Comments
  • Whoo love it. Now that I have an Invoke I can't help but LOVE Skype.
  • ..and bringing with it, marking old conversations as unread(including the bonus of marking as read, then checking back 15 minutes later to see it's marked as unread again..the real fun one is a group conversation back from 2+ years ago), delaying SMSs by hours(if even working at all), load time of 11+ seconds on mobile(8 seconds on my Core i5-6400 16GB RAM, SSD desktop) ,  I'm just tapping my foot awaiting the next update that throws 1,000+ contacts into the blocked list again(aka, all the spam addresses that I blocked with MSN Messenger and for some reason, two of the people at work even though they've never been blocked)   Skype is insanity.  I'm trying desperately to get my boss to get rid of it at work.
  • Brandon confirmed on Twitter that SMS isn't a priority right now as it only works on W10M - But admitted they should have been quicker to bring it to other platforms like Android - Hopefully it's sorted on all platforms soon
  • To the surprise of no one. It worked perfectly with Messaging and could be used as a share target.
  • Wait wait wait. SMS doesn't work on Android? I've been basing my buying choices for my next phone on the entire concept that SMS works with Android.
  • @Dan Harris that is because it's borked on WM10 and whatever they are doing is making it worse with every update.
  • hmm weird, I didn't have these issues (not including SMS because I don't really use that one). The load time seems especially weird for having a SSD. It takes under a second for mine to load. Did you try uninstalling and reinstalling? I wonder if the upgrade got messed up somehow.
  • It also broke Skype in My People's pinned contacts. Instead of displaying the chat, it says 'Insufficient Skype funds'. Broken after a month. Wow. Just wow.
  • Same here. 
  • It remains to be seen if deleted messages stay deleted.  Anyway, the app crashes more than 50% of the time, and is missing a number of features that exist in the Messaging app.  Skype is one big huge fail.
  • Skype was a champion. I loved it. Until they started trying to do the whole SMS thing...then it has slowly and consistently denegrated into a festering cesspool or programming. Now it is so bad that I dread opening it. I've been relegated to using Outlook.com for anything even remotely resembling BASIC contact management.
  • Wow it's really sad to see the best messaging platform, becoming the worst! And the worst part of it is that it keeps getting worse slowly but surely..
    I used it back when w10 was my only platform, and back when Skype in general was the sh.. but the past 6 months I haven't even opened it, and can see from this article that, that is a good thing 😲
    I'm on Android now so really no need. The only thing that would return me to Skype is with WORKING sms relay to my w10 pc, and overall an app that is worthy of the name Skype. Right now none of those things seems to ever happen 😐
  • Skype is dead soon. Horrible app. Microsoft destroys anything. Even Excel is getting less stable.
  • To be honest, there is a Skype 12.9 in the Fast Ring. It brings ... mentions when someone reacted to one of your messages.
  • I don't really care if someone "reacts" to one of my message.  That's not why I use Skype.  Skype is SUPPOSED to be a way to communicate with your contacts.  If I want to just post things and hope for reactions, I go to Twitter.  Microsoft is failing with Skype in every possible way.  I NEVER hear people mention they conversed with friends on Skype.  I frequently hear them say,"this morning I was Facetiming with my mom....".  
  • Damn, now the "Hide conversations" is gone..... I can only delete the complete chat history for a contact.
  • Lol, I guess they think options confuse people...
  • After the last couple of days, I would be happy with a version Skype that simply doesn't crash after a few seconds to a few minutes of use.
  • Skype was very bad for the first few days using SMS relay on both my Surface Book and HP Elite x3. After making sure all were set up right...they just work. Now i don't miss notifications or anything.
  • I did this with my Lumia 950XL, but replying to or writing a new SMS is a nightmare as the app defaults to Skype message 90% of the time, and when I choose SMS it selects the land line phone numbers. And on top of that, the app loads very slowly and is a lot slower than messaging all over. Do you not have any of these issues? This could have been so great.
  • I have a boat load of issues with Skype.
  • Cool. Now I need people that use Skype, because all my friends and relatives are on Facebook or Viber (cause it loads like instantly and has awesome video/audio calls)!
  • Actually the update is almost the same as last, mentions was already there, the layout changed and you still can't set yourself as 'active' like you can on ios or android. It's still not granular, away/busy still show up as invisible and offline.
    But it has messed up replying from the action centre. Edit: There were two updates - one that displayed the lead image after opening and the other did not.
  • Looks promising. I never use @ mentions. Got the update for windows 10 mobile too. Only problem now is that skype is refusing met to allow me to delete my sms chat messages. weird bug. Some sms'es even return after I delete them. Even weirder!
  • Skype for Windows 10 is so bugged: Presence status bug 70% of the time: I can't see my contacts as online even myself Lag of 1 sec while navigation between conversations Quick reply in the notification never worked at all And recently, {code} stopped working Of course, desktop and web versions work well. But the UWP version is just a piece of crap.
  • Verison 12.8.487.0 is a disaster!!
    Keeps crashing every minute. Can't use it. Useless!!
  • I'd like too the the Skype status icon in the task bar, just like in the original x86 Skype program.