Skype Updated on Android and iPhone

Microsoft on Monday issued updates to its Skype apps for Android and iPhone. But the updates appear unrelated: On Android, Skype picks up improved photo sharing capabilities, while the iPhone version returns a feature that had been missing in action for a few releases.

Here’s what’s new.

Skype for Android

Skype 5.2 for Android provides a simpler and more integrated photo sharing experience and other new features, Microsoft says. More specifically…

Send photos to your contacts. Now, you can send photos to your contacts, even if they’re offline. Skype will simply queue the transfer until they are online. As before, photos shared over Skype appear in a chat window.

Picture in picture view is now supported on phones. Previously available only on Android tablets, this feature lets you keep a video call going even when you navigate away to the home screen other apps.

Chats load faster, especially when opened from a notification

Call quality improvements, especially in low bandwidth scenarios

You can download Skype 5.2 for Android from the Google Play Store.

Skype for iPhone

Skype 5.1 for iPhone brings Skype URI support back to iPhone and adds other improvements. These are:

Support back for Skype URIs. Available previously but missing for a few releases now, Skype URIs let developers use Skype’s messaging and calling infrastructure to start calls and chats from their mobile apps or web sites, rather than having to build their own. What does this mean to you? When you tap a Skype name or phone number, the Skype app will open to connect the call or send a message.

Dialer improvements. The Skype dialer has been updated to let you save phone numbers that have been entered in the dial pad or are in your recent calls list.

You can download Skype 5.1 for iPhone from the Apple App Store.