Skype Gets the Fluent Design Treatment in Windows 10

While Microsoft has been promising to bring the modern Skype design to Windows 10 for a while, the company has been quite slow at delivering on its promise. The modern Skype for desktops isn’t installable in Windows 10, with Microsoft basically forcing users to use the Windows 10 UWP app instead. The company is, however, bringing a touch of Fluent Design to the Skype app in Windows 10 this week.

Microsoft is testing a new update for the Skype app with Windows Insiders which brings Fluent Design’s Acrylic effect (blur) to the app’s sidebar. For dark theme users, you will also see the Reveal Highlight effect on the Skype app. While these new additions were much-needed, they actually don’t look very good on the app.

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Fluent Design on the majority of Microsoft apps look pretty great, but the Acrylic on the Skype app just doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing. More importantly, though, the Skype app in Windows 10 still looks way different from the modern Skype design on other platforms. Microsoft has been committed to providing a consistent Skype experience across devices with the modern Skype, and the company has succeeded for the most part. But in Windows 10, the Skype experience is extremely inconsistent and feels almost like the work of an entirely different design team.

In fact, it has come to a point where Skype for older versions of Windows is actually more powerful and prettier than Skype for Windows 10. Still, there’s a possibility Microsoft will end up bringing the modern Skype experience to Windows 10 in the future — but right now, we are only getting Fluent Design.

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Conversation 14 comments

  • Eric Jutrzenka

    30 November, 2017 - 7:39 am

    <p>The modern skype is, I think, implemented using web technologies (PWA-like) much like Microsoft Teams is. It seems like MS is maybe pitching these technologies against each other in it's own products. But whereas the future of PWA seems certain, UWP's seems a little shaky.</p>

  • Rahul Sharma

    30 November, 2017 - 7:43 am

    <p>The Title Bar needs to blend in with the app.</p>

    • jimchamplin

      Premium Member
      30 November, 2017 - 11:21 am

      <blockquote><a href="#222904"><em>In reply to Rahul Sharma:</em></a></blockquote><p>Agreed fully. I filed feedback on that early on, but apparently the amateurs building the Skype app don’t care for feedback. If they won’t design it better, at least fill the title bar with the system highlight color.</p>

  • Bart

    Premium Member
    30 November, 2017 - 9:29 am

    <p>Agree on the fact there needs to be a unified experience. But opinions may vary on whether the Acrylic looks good on the app, so not sure a writer's opinion should be stated as a fact.</p>

  • Rob_Wade

    30 November, 2017 - 9:38 am

    <p>Microsoft keeps working on the fluff: fluent, emoji, etc. They need to FIX THE APP. It doesn't work worth a flip…certainly not as an SMS client. I went back to Messaging. It has all the features and it works properly with Cortana.</p>

  • Alexander Rothacker

    Premium Member
    30 November, 2017 - 1:57 pm

    <p>At this point UI is not my concern. I just need it to actually ring on my work laptop when I get a call, get the basics working. My phone is ringing (sometimes), my personal surface is ringing, but there is no way to pick up the call on my work machine. This worked fine in the Win7 client, but not on Win10.</p><p>It's lipstick on a pig.</p>

  • FesterSilently

    30 November, 2017 - 6:40 pm

    <p>Regarding not being able to install the latest Skype for desktop in Windows 10: I currently have Skype for desktop installed in my Win 10 Pro desktop, build 16299.64. ¯_(ツ)_/¯</p>

  • bluvg

    30 November, 2017 - 7:33 pm

    <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The Win10 UWP app is still not quite a replacement for the Win32 version. In particular, it soaks up memory until it becomes unusably slow and in general is rather pokey in comparison, and sometimes it just disappears (silent crashes). Sometimes the animated emoji inexplicably stop animating. It's also missing some nice features from the Win32 version. I used it for a few months, but… sadly, the Win32 version is just much better overall. Maybe it will get there someday, but I think different paint should be far from a priority.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">That said, I'm a big Skype fan, and other than a lackluster mobile experience, I find Skype far superior to Viber, LINE, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, the new Yahoo Messenger (ugh… I really miss the old YM, though it got hopelessly busy towards the end), etc. On a computer, the others are pretty awful.</span></p>

  • HachingMonkey

    01 December, 2017 - 4:40 am

    <p>As someone who uses both Win 10 and Chrome OS, it's interesting how much their design styles are converging. This looks very like my Chrome OS WhatsApp client.</p>

  • Davor Radman

    01 December, 2017 - 10:06 am

    <p>How relevant is Skype actually nowdays?</p><p><br></p><p>Are there any market stats?</p><p>From my personal experience, off all the people I know and communicate on a regular basis, only 1 person (my sister) is still on Skype (she was similarly stubborn regarding windows messenger (but in that case, messenger was actually better than skype)).</p><p><br></p><p>Everybody has moved on to greener pastures.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

    • bluvg

      01 December, 2017 - 6:17 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#223343"><em>In reply to Markiz von Schnitzel:</em></a></blockquote><p>Unless you're talking mobile, the others are hardly greener pastures. WhatsApp, Viber, LINE, Facebook Messenger, etc. all absolutely suck on PC. Skype isn't perfect (though the Win32 version is pretty darn solid), but the others are pitiful in comparison.</p>

      • Jorge Garcia

        01 December, 2017 - 6:25 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#223524"><em>In reply to bluvg:</em></a></blockquote><p>IMO, Telegram and IMO are two not-so-well-known, but decent messengers that have fine standalone PC clients.</p>

        • Matthias Götzke

          05 December, 2017 - 2:31 am

          <blockquote><a href="#223525"><em>In reply to JG1170:</em></a><em> do any of them support proper screen sharing to a group ? last time I checked most others did not or only did so with really bad quality</em></blockquote><p><br></p>

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