Skype beta for Windows Phone doesn’t work in the background

The Skype beta for Windows Phone was launched a couple of days ago and it looks like there are some major flaws spotted for the app. According to reports online – the app doesn’t work in the background. Despite Windows Phone 7.5’s limited ability to support multitasking, it looks like it won’t be working for Skype. Apparently this is due to a limitation of Windows Phone Mango and Tango, and Skype can’t do anything to fix the problem yet – so don’t expect the feature to be available when the gold build is released in April.

While other apps have had no problems using Windows Phone’s built in push notifications, apparently it is much too slow for Skype which is why the feature was excluded. While that may be true, I think users would rather have a “slowed” feature instead of not having it at all, especially when it is something as important as being able to work in the background. Nobody wants to leave the app running all day and nothing else just to wait for a Skype call right?

With the Android and iOS versions of Skype without this noticeable limitation, it makes us wonder what benefits Windows Phone users are going to be getting with Skype since Microsoft owns the VoIP service now. Fortunately, Skype has mentioned that it will continue supporting non-Microsoft platforms in the days to come – so don’t worry about iOS or Android being abandoned by the company. Now Windows Phone users should worry about when Skype will address its issues. What do you think of the Skype beta for Windows Phone so far?

George Wong
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Apps, Skype, Windows Phone