Microsoft officially pulled the plug on Skype this week, a once popular two-decade-old VoIP service that could be used to chat and place audio or video calls with other Skype users and call domestic or international phone numbers or cell phone numbers. Instead, the company has attempted to corral willing Skype users over to Microsoft Teams.
The new version also consumes less power and features more reliable call connections on Mac computers powered by the Apple M1 and M2 chips.
In more recent iterations Apple’s mobile operating systems, like iOS 13 and 14, the company attempted to incorporate support for third-party VoIP apps such as WhatsApp in the contact list to make reaching people who use those services even easier.
The concept sounds splendid on paper, but the execution appears to have been anything but. iOS developer 0xkujhappened upon a tweak bounty by Reddit user karm2308 requesting the removal of these botched options from the contact list, and a free jailbreak tweak dubbed Hide VOIP Suggestions was consequently conceived.
It’s honestly rather embarrassing that Apple’s incoming call interface on the iPhone still looks the way it does in 2020, and that’s one of the reasons why I’ve always advocated for jailbreak tweaks that unlock minimized incoming call interfaces that are far less intrusive and more visually stunning than the native UI.
With the above sentiment in mind, it may not come off as much of a surprise that I’m having trouble containing my excitement about the likes of a newly released jailbreak tweak dubbed Scorpion by iOS developer Esquilli.
Skype users may soon be able to share their iPhone's screen during video calls.
End-to-end encryption protects your sensitive Skype text messages, VoIP calls and more from eavesdropping. Here's what you need to know about setting up and using this optional feature, called Private Conversations, in Skype's iPhone, iPad and Mac app.
Following the earlier removal of unlicensed VPN apps from Chinese App Store, Apple is now clamping down on local VoIP apps that take advantage of the CallKit framework to integrate with the Phone app, Lock screen, phone favorites and more.
Microsoft has begun rolling out Cortana inside of its Skype apps, the company said yesterday.
Microsoft today announced availability of Skype Preview for Mac and non-Windows 10 PC users, highlighting some of the features recently launched in Skype for iPhone that are coming soon to its desktop apps for Mac and Windows computers.
Secure instant messaging service Telegram today launched voice calls in its desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux nearly two months after implementing the voice-calling feature in Telegram Messenger for iPhone and iPad.
To make sure Telegram calls are the best in terms of quality, speed and security, the app uses artificial intelligence to update its neural network after each call about things such as network speed, ping times, packet loss percentage and other factors that influence the quality of your VoIP calls.
Based on gathered data, the app optimizes dozens of parameters to improve the quality of future calls on the given device and network. By default, Telegram calls are lightweight.
https://twitter.com/telegram/status/864543129847955457
If there's a change in your connection during the call, the app will make necessary adjustments.
For instance, Telegram may boost your sound quality on stable Wi-Fi connection or use less data if your Wi-Fi or cellular coverage is spotty at best.
Whenever possible, your calls will go over a peer-to-peer connection using the best audio codecs to save traffic while providing “crystal-clear quality.” When a peer-to-peer connection cannot be established, the app will use the closest server to you.
Telegram has its own distributed infrastructure all over the world to ensure the fastest possible delivery of your texts and seamless voice calling experience. As mentioned, VoIP calls on Telegram use end-to-end encryption, just like the app's Secret Chats feature, to prevent eavesdropping.
For voice calls, however, they've improved the key exchange mechanism. “To make sure your call is 100 percent secure, you and your recipient just need to compare four emoji”, said the team.
Bottom line: the quality of Telegram calls will further improve as you and others use them, thanks to the built-in machine learning. And with group calling, video calling and screen sharing apparently on the team's to-do list, Telegram is bound to become a capable Skype alternative.
As soon as VoIP calls are enabled for your country, a phone icon will appear on every profile page in Telegram Desktop.
Telegram for iOS is available free via App Store.
Telegram Desktop can be downloaded from Mac App Store or through the official website.
Google announced during its Spring event in São Paulo, Brazil that audio-only calls would be coming soon to Duo, its one-to-one video calling app for iOS and Android. Today, the company pushed a small update to Duo for iPhone that enables this feature (which first rolled out to users in Brazil) for everyone. Available free of charge on App Store, Google Duo version 9.1 brings out VoIP audio calling along with unspecified bug fixes and product improvements.
At an event in São Paulo, Brazil today, Google announced that its one-on-one video calling app, Duo, will be soon gaining audio-only calling on iOS and Android. The feature is already available starting today to customers in Brazil and will be rolling out to users around the world in the coming days. With the update, Duo for iPhone now supports both video and audio calling and effectively becomes a viable alternative to Apple's FaceTime.