Despite the growing competition from services such as WhatsApp and Facebook, video calling and conferencing service Skype has reached 1 billion app downloads milestone on the Google Play Store. Microsoft acquired the service from eBay for $8.5 billion in 2011, and has continued to improve it over the years.
Skype had been one of the primary sources for long-distant family members or colleagues to connect over video conferencing seamlessly, before the advent of the newer and more popular services. However, Microsoft‘s messenger has retained its own place in the market which is evident from its app download numbers. As GSMArena notes, Skype for Android hit 100 million downloads in July 2013, reached 500 million downloads in February 2015, and since, has continued to grow rapidly.
In a bid to stand at a better position against competitors WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, which are mobile-friendly services, and offer video calling, messaging, as well as some photo editing tools for social sharing, Skype underwent a major design change earlier this year. The new update introduced bots, add-ins, photo and video sharing capabilities, and more.
In addition to that, Microsoft also announced a new Skype Lite app which is aimed at low-end Android smartphones running on slow internet connectivity. The original app for Android has a file size of about 32MB, while the Skype Lite app is just 13MB. One of the important features of the app is that it comes with built-in Aadhaar integration.
The Aadhaar integration on Skype Lite is aimed at helping verify users’ identity online, and make communications more secure. An example Microsoft has given is of making an important call to a business client or government representative. With the presence of Aadhaar, identification of both parties will be easier and thus prevent impersonation fraud.