Skype 2.1 update for Windows Phone 8 detailed

The Skype team have published a new entry on the official blog that details changes applied in the latest version of the popular message and calling app for Windows Phone 8. Version 2.1 was recently pushed to the latest hardware running on Microsoft's platform. We previously looked at the update and noticed a number of changes, but with the official changelog it's now easier to list everything that's included in the release. So what's new in 2.1?

As mentioned above, previously we noticed that Skype contacts are no longer synchronised with the People Hub, which is confirmed in the changelog. This has been temporarily disabled due to issues with device stability. The team reports they are indeed working with the folk from Windows Phone to sort out issues raised and hopefully the functionality will return in a future update.

Issues fixed in this release:

 Significantly improved the reliability of presence and chat and call notifications when the app is closed
Calling Improved call reliability
Chat In some cases, chat messages would appear in incorrect order. Chat messages will now appear in correct order, by timestamp
As well as bug fixes, optimisations and reliability improvements, the 2.1 update also contains the following:

Updated chat keyboard with improved autocomplete/autocorrect is now available
Buddies from Windows Live Messenger are labelled in the People list
Added option to enable toast notifications for Windows Live Messenger buddies
It's a positive release that shows the team is working valiantly to squash all bugs present in the app and to improve the overall experience. While it's not a perfect solution for the service on Windows Phone, we're slowly getting there. Remember folks, the app is still a preview and is by no means a final version.

You can download Skype from the Windows Phone Store for free.

http://www.wpcentral.com