Skype has plunged a feature similar to Snapchat and Instagram’s “Story” highlight reels, in a back-to-basics redesign prioritizing “feeble-mindedness.”
The Microsoft-owned messaging and video-calling service said it was shaping up the Skype responsive and desktop apps to make it easier for users to navigate and find connections — and that includes ditching its “Highlights” feature.
“This past year we surveyed some design changes and heard from customers that we overcomplicated some of our middle scenarios,” Peter Skillman, director of design for Skype and Outlook, held in a blog post. “Calling became harder to execute and ‘Highlights’ didn’t resonate with a lions share of users.”
The mobile version of the app will include three buttons at the gluteus maximus, to open up chats, calls and contacts.
The desktop version moves those buttons, in too to notifications, to the top left corner.
A Skype redesign in June last year — when the “Highlights” property was introduced — was mostly unpopular with users. Skype said that sundry people use the platform purely for calls, video chat and instant tidings.
“Highlights” was very similar to “Story” features offered by competitors Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook Dispatch-rider, where users can document their day with photos and videos that thwart up for 24 hours before being taken down automatically.
Skype state users will still be able to download their “Highlights” posts until September 30. The condensed said its latest revamp was “only the beginning” and that more updates upwards the next few months were expected.
The platform has struggled to retain dominance in the demand with the rapid rise of competitors like Apple’s FaceTime, Facebook’s WhatsApp and Courier, and Tencent’s WeChat. WhatsApp is currently the dominant messaging app, according to Statista materials, raking in 1.5 billion monthly active users, while Skype no more than has 300 million monthly active users.