Skype on WinPhone 8.x, WinRT and some Android, Mac, iOS devices to continue work until early 2017

Microsoft, in their Skype FAQ page updated that, the Skype app will continue to work on Windows Phone 8.x and Windows RT devices until early 2017. This also includes some Android, Mac and iOS devices running older version of the OS.

It’s because of their move towards transitioning Skype experience on cloud. Skype for other systems will not have any impact.

These days, most of the people uses Skype to connect to other people over audio/video. People staying long away from their family generally uses Skype to stay in touch over video chat. Skype for Business is also getting popular after transitioning from Lync.

Now, Microsoft is transitioning the over all experience to the cloud giving better audio/video calls and reliable connections. You won’t need any app to connect to the other, and can directly use the Skype from the browser.

But there’s a bad news for the older devices and the devices running older version of the operating system. From the FAQ page it is now clear that, Microsoft is going to end the complete support from Windows Phone 8, Windows Phone 8.1, Windows RT and some devices running Android 4.0.2 and lower, Mac OS X 10.6 and lower, iOS 7 and lower from October 2016. They also noted that, those devices will continue to work (with some limitations) after the support ends, but that will be until early 2017.

For Windows RT devices:

While support will no longer be available from October 2016, Skype for Windows RT will continue to work (possibly with some limitations) until early 2017.

For Mac OS X devices:

While support will no longer be available from October 2016, users on Mac OS X 10.6 and below will be able to use Skype (possibly with some limitations) until early 2017. To run the latest versions of Skype for Mac (Skype 7.0 or above), you need to run Mac OS X 10.9 or higher.

For Windows Phone devices:

While support will no longer be available from October 2016, the Skype app on Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 8.1 will continue to work (possibly with some limitations) until early 2017.

For Android devices:

While support for Android OS version 4.0.2 and below will no longer be available from October 2016, the Skype app for these versions will continue to work (possibly with some limitations) until early 2017. To run the latest version of Skype for Android (Skype 6.2 and higher), you'll need to have Android OS version 4.0.3 or above.

For iOS devices:

While support for iOS 7 and below is no longer available from October 2016, users on iOS 7 and below will be able to use Skype (possibly with some limitations) until early 2017. The latest version of Skype works on all iOS devices running iOS 8 or higher.

Though it is still not clear what will be the limitations on those devices after support ends on October 2016, but willing to get those clarifications soon from the Skype team. Are you using any such devices? Share with us, if this change impact you after early stage of 2017.