When I am home I like the idea of Windows 10 notifications alerting me to text messages. When I had a Windowsphone for a short while I seem to remember Skype allowing me to make it the default SMS messenger and then having do the same job in Windows.
This didn’t seem to last very long because Skype on Windowsphone lost messages, seemingly added them to random people in my contacts list and worked in a chaotic manner. I was forced to switch it off.
Then there are people with iMessage. It uses IMessage to iMessage if it can and SMS if it can’t. Its quite seemless.
I can now go to Android messages and have SMS in my browser. It allows me to text people with a real keyboard. This works pretty well and a lot better than Windows 10 has managed to do.
I feel a little frustrated that Skype doesn’t work like iMessage on mobile and doesn’t allow SMS integration on the PC. Despite Microsoft having Skype in the product catalogue for years they seem to reboot the interface, take it apart, put it back together but fundamentally fail to get it working in the way it should work in a multi-device world. Even when Microsoft controlled Windowsphone and Skype it spent more time rebooting how it looked than getting it to work really well.
We are now in a multiple messaging world. Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger and every other persons Android messaging app with encryption. Microsoft are fortunate Apple haven’t brought iMessage to Android and PC.
I do feel that Skype is Microsoft product being killed by unnecessary indecision about what it is and what Microsoft want to do with it.
I would like Skype to be my go to application for integrated communication. It really doesn’t work for that.
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#300431">In reply to longhorn:</a></em></blockquote><p>"Do one thing and do it well"</p><p><br></p><p>Well the scope of "one thing" can be rather flexible. </p><p><br></p><p>Traditionally UNIX programs took the idea to an extreme so that getting something accomplished often involved using multiple user-space utilities together as a kind of just-in-time "integration construction set". IMO, all OS's have idiosyncrasies that are more a reflection of the time and environment they were designed in than deep and thoughtful analysis. </p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#300444">In reply to bbold:</a></em></blockquote><p>"FaceTime is so much easier and everybody uses it."</p><p><br></p><p>Which is amazing given that more people have Android phones than iPhones and the former can't run FaceTime.</p>