After 21 years, it looks like it's the end of the road for Skype. The video calling service that was once one of the go-to messaging platforms is being shut down, and the process will begin in a couple of months. As spotted by our colleagues at XDA, Microsoft will begin the Skype shutdown in May this year.
A reader of XDA spotted a note in the latest Skype for Windows preview that reads, "Starting in May, Skype will no longer be available. Continue your calls and chats in Teams." It continues to say that some of your contacts have already moved over to Teams for free, if that's the case with some of your Skype contacts.
This is specifically for Windows, and it doesn’t confirm what the future will be for Skype for Android. The wording here says "Skype will no longer be available," which seems very final, and it’s likely to refer to the whole brand. It may last longer on mobile, but if you often use Skype for Android, you could soon be asked to move to Microsoft's Teams app or you'll have to find an alternative. We've reached out to Microsoft for clarification, and we'll update this story when we hear more.
With us since 2003
Introduced in 2003, Skype was then acquired by Microsoft in 2011. It was used as a replacement for early communications apps like Windows Live Messenger, but the history of the Skype platform within Microsoft products has been bumpy. The writing has been on the wall for a while now since Microsoft has put most of its efforts over the last decade into its Teams platform.
Skype has also become less relevant over the years as platforms like Google Chat, WhatsApp Messenger, Facebook's Messenger, Zoom and Apple's FaceTime have taken over the mobile video calling space.
We're yet to know how swift the shutdown will be, and it may take the company months to fully kill the service. With a shutdown "starting" in May, you may have a while longer before it's gone for good. If you're a frequent user of Skype, you may want to start planning now to migrate to an alternative service.
