
Skype for Android is available - ifesdjeen
http://www.skype.com/intl/en/get-skype/on-your-mobile/download/skype-for-android/?cm_mmc=m104
======
pilif
One thing that really annoys me about all the official Skype clients on
various phones is their complete ignorance of multiple sign-ins.

This could be an issue with the protocol itself, but it's still annoying.

When I am running Skype on my iPhone or now on Android and at the same time
having a conversation on the PC, my phone will notify me for every incoming
and outgoing message happening on the PC.

Now, on the PC, a conversation is something happening quickly and in
abundance. This basically leads to my phone constantly vibrating.

Jabber, even back then, recognized this. When you log in multiple times, it
registers multiple presences and once you send a message from one location,
all other clients will not be notified any more until you start a new
conversation on that device.

This is a requirement as always-on mobile-clients are appearing.

Now, on the iPhone I can at least quickly start Skype, make a call and close
it down using the easily accessible task manager.

On Android, while still possible, it's a really big tour through nearly every
screen the OS can throw at me before I finally can close down the application
for good.

Also, Android Skype insta-crashes the WhatsApp beta and seems to be constantly
sending/receiving data (the background sync icon is constantly on until I
uninstall Skype).

Unusable. Sorry.

~~~
lutorm
Not sure I agree with you there. I had the opposite experience with google
talk: I started messaging on my laptop, then left the laptop thinking I could
continue the conversation on my phone. But no, it apparently helpfully decided
that the messages should only go to my laptop, so I never got them on my
phone. A small annoyance of getting too many messages far outweighs not
getting them at all, imho.

~~~
StavrosK
I'm with pilif on this one, when someone sends a skype message, _all_ my
devices ring (two laptops, one desktop and three mobiles). This happens for
_every message_. It's so infuriating I log off Skype on every machine apart
from the one I'm currently on.

You can continue a Jabber conversation by just sending a message from the
device you moved to. As far as I know, all subsequent messages will go to that
one. It's also great for preventing snooping when you leave one device on at
work and chat on another at home.

~~~
moe
I think their (skype's) basic thinking was right but the implementation sucks.

I _want_ all messages to appear on all devices. I _want_ to be able to close
the laptop, get up from the couch and continue the conversation seamlessly on
the desktop or phone - with all context being present.

It's just the little notification sound that needs to be handled smarter.

Ideally skype would only ring the notification on the device that you have
been last active on (skype already detects that anyways). Also let me select a
default device that becomes the noisy one when _all_ clients have gone idle
for a while.

Unfortunately the impl is a far cry from that. As it stands skype doesn't even
reliably deliver all messages to all clients for me. When I leave my desktop-
skype running over night and open the _laptop_ in the morning then sometimes
I'll receive the messages from the night - but usually not. I literally have
to walk around and check any open skype clients (including the one at work
that I forgot to shutdown over the weekend..) if I want to ensure I didn't
miss a message.

~~~
StavrosK
This is a bit debatable, to prevent snooping, but I agree. They would probably
hit the sweet spot if they notified __all __the devices, initially, and then
stop the notification on all but the active device as soon as you replied. I
think that would be the best implementation.

~~~
moe
You are right, the details are debatable. What I really want is a handful
toggle switches to configure the behaviour to my liking - which may very well
change, e.g. during a vacation.

It's not exactly rocket science and I sometimes wonder what those skype
engineers are doing all day. ;-)

I haven't noticed any functional advancement in ~3 years. Only some minor GUI
polishing.

------
codedivine
Heads up: Do read the fine type at the bottom. For example, currently its only
available over Wifi in the US. Does anyone know why? Surely if it works on 3G
at other places, its not a technology problem?

Sidenote: So skype is now available for many major platforms including iPhone,
Symbian and now Android. Does anyone know if Skype (and not skype-lite) is
available on blackberry?

~~~
heyitsnick
>> or example, currently its only available over Wifi in the US.

Can you link/quote the part that says that? I can't see it.

edit: Sorry, I read your post wrong. I thought you meant, "skype over wifi is
(a feature that) is only available in the US". Rather, I see now you mean,
"Those in the US can only use skype over wifi (not on 3G networks)".

I just went through the whole process of skyping myself from phone to laptop,
and back again (and getting some nasty feedback!) before realising what you
meant!

~~~
codedivine
Here is a blog entry from Skype:
<http://blogs.skype.com/en/2010/10/android.html>

On the bottom you can find the following disclaimers:

* Skype is not available in the Android Market in China or Japan.

* Skype has been tested on HTC and Motorola devices with Android OS 2.1 and above. It may work on other Android phones, but we can’t guarantee full functionality or compatibility.

* We’re aware of some problems with the Samsung Galaxy S, and we’re looking to address these in the future.

* It’s free to use Skype in a WiFi zone. If you use Skype with a mobile data connection, operator charges may apply, so we recommend an unlimited data plan.

* In the US, you can make calls only over WiFi.

* A fair use policy applies to unlimited subscriptions.

~~~
manveru
Since I have Android 1.6 and live in Japan, this announcement destroyed the
little hope I had for using Skype on my phone in the near future. On the other
hand, I finally taught my parents how to call me from GMail (not exactly easy,
with me being 10k km away and without remote desktop control), now I can
receive their calls via SIP, even in Pidgin.

~~~
technomancy
> Since I have Android 1.6 and live in Japan, this announcement destroyed the
> little hope I had for using Skype on my phone in the near future

Welcome to the wonderful world of proprietary software.

------
wheaties
Hey Skype,thanks for letting me know. Actually, you came pre-installed on my
Droid. Wish you had given me the chance to decide if I wanted you or not.
Seems like I can't even uninstall ya, either. So looks like we've taken part
in a shotgun marriage.

~~~
nuclear_eclipse
Ironically, I envy you because Verizon users are the only Android/Skype users
in the US that can make Skype calls over 3G. I would love to be able to use
Skype anywhere I go, rather than being limited to using it by a WiFi
hotspot...

------
moe
Says "unavailable for your mobile" when trying to install on Samsung Galaxy S.

~~~
ifesdjeen
Hm.. Here's an APK, although i'm not sure whether it'll run or no
<http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4650425/com.skype.raider.apk>

~~~
sssparkkk
It runs on my Froyo firmware (JPK), however, the voices are very robotic (you
can barely understand what's being said).

Here's to hoping they fix the version for the Galaxy S soon.

[Edit: hm wait, this might be my provider limiting VOIP bandwidth :S]

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labria
At last. The "Lite" version was virtually useless, and fring recently droppped
Skype support, so Android was left skypeless.

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etherael
The quality on a nexus one running froyo is significantly better than land
line; almost as good as desktop, both wifi and 3g. _enormous_ step up from
sipdroid. Australia now has a year long plan for 120 aud that can effectively
replace voice service from the carrier entirely. (three.com.au)

~~~
StavrosK
This is completely off topic, but do you know if I can install Vanilla Android
on devices that come with Sense? I'm getting a Desire HD and I'm curious if I
can just remove the entire HTC thing and install the plain Google one if it
comes with too much crapware.

Does everything work, or do vendors have too much integration to install the
vanilla OS?

~~~
zacharycohn
You'd have to root it. However, HTC Sense isn't too bad - I actually enjoy it.
There's a few apps you can't get rid of, which is kind of annoying, but you
can just remove them from your desktops and never think about them again.

~~~
StavrosK
Thank you, I was hoping it would be good. What's rooting? Is it like
jailbreaking? I thought Android phones were open?

~~~
Raphael
They're generally more open than iPhone, but the exact configuration is
dictated by the carrier and manufacturer.

As for rooting, see here. <http://android-
dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=Why_Root>

~~~
StavrosK
Thanks, that looks like a good resource, which I'll definitely need.

------
andraz
What's the point of Skype on Android if you need to be in WiFi Zone? In that
case you can skype with your laptop in the first place.

... what's the name of the alternative that actually works over 3G?

~~~
lwhi
Sipdroid works with most generic SIP accounts and also works over 3G.

~~~
lutorm
Do you find Sipdroid usable? I tried it and my call quality was horrible, even
over wifi. The lag was seconds and the sound was totally garbled. Was entirely
unusable on my Nexus/T-mo.

~~~
lwhi
I don't use Sipdroid to make calls - but I use it to receive calls from a
geographic number that I've set up via SIP.

I've found the quality to be pretty good - but I do only use it via wifi.

I signed up for a free geographic number from Sipgate, and set up sipdroid to
automatically answer any calls that are made to it whenever I have
connectivity.

I've found it's a fairly nice solution, as missed calls (e.g. when I don't
have connectivity) are automatically taken care of by Sipgate's free answer
service (and I'm sent the message as an mp3 via email).

I'm using it with an HTC Desire.

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https403
There should be a QR-COde for easy download!!!

~~~
steamer25
[http://qrcode.kaywa.com/img.php?s=6&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.s...](http://qrcode.kaywa.com/img.php?s=6&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skype.com%2Fm)

------
37prime
Finally, Skype-Verizon exclusivity is over. It was really annoying how Verizon
dictates the availability.

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riffic
skype is poison software and is antithetical to the hacker ethos of open
systems.

use at your own caution

(I'm probably going to get downvoted for this because it always seems to be
that any negative comment about skype == downvotes on HN.)

:edit: a hacker I've been following for a some time has a blog and writes
about emerging open voice+video standards. I think that Thiago Camargo
expresses many points very well. <http://xmppjingle.blogspot.com/>

~~~
weego
as 99.5% of the world aren't "hackers" and quite like the idea of calling
people on the other side of the world for free, perhaps the success of Skype
shows your ideals are out of touch with the world around you. Who, then, is
more likely to be wrong?

~~~
StavrosK
Neither.

Ideals aren't about convenience, that's why they're ideals. While I love
Skype, I can appreciate the fact that it's stifling innovation and killing
interoperability, since you can't use it with SIP...

It's as if we had email, and then a proprietary protocol which everyone used.
Countless services would never have been created.

~~~
borism
except Skype works with SIP now:

<http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/business/sip/overview/>

~~~
StavrosK
Wow, this is great news, thanks!

EDIT: Wait, this just converts your SIP phones to work with Skype, it doesn't
allow you to _call_ other SIP phones. E.g. I can't use it to call
Truphone/Gizmo users with it. It's a two-tier phone service, same as IM
clients. This is why the GP's ideals are a good thing.

~~~
borism
Would you enlighten me how it is supposed to call Truphone/Gizmo unless the
owners of those services specifically want to connect them trough SIP gateway?
Is Skype supposed to go out and find every standalone SIP setup in the world
and connect to it?

~~~
StavrosK
Can't you call a Truphone user from Gizmo, since they both use SIP?

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chaosmachine
Just installed this on a Telus Milestone/Droid here in Canada. Calling works
great. Doesn't seem to support SMS, though?

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mitkok
"Not found - The request item could not be found." after clicking the link to
download. Great

