Skype's Microsoft Store app is being replaced with the desktop version

[Karlston]

Skype's Microsoft Store app is being replaced with the desktop version

Microsoft's Skype app is available in two different flavors on Windows devices: there's a desktop app you can download from the website, and a Microsoft Store app that's pre-installed with Windows 10. The two apps look almost the same, but there have been some significant differences between them, specifically the tighter integration with OS features that's offered by the Store app.

 

Now, though, Microsoft seems to be unifying the two apps, as a recent update to Skype Preview on the Microsoft Store has turned the app into the exact same thing you'd get with the desktop version, as first spotted by Aggiornamenti Lumia on Twitter. That means it's no longer based on React Native and it's using Electron instead, and it also means that a lot of the OS-level integration is now gone. That includes the ability to respond to messages from notifications or Windows 10-style incoming call notifications, as noted in a couple of tweets by another user, Florian B:

 

 

Source: Skype's Microsoft Store app is being replaced with the desktop version (Neowin)

[steven36]

It dont matter Microsoft already ruined it when they switch to Electron that uses as much CPU as a chromium web browser it started out as light weight QT  . I try to avoid using  apps that are Electron as much as possible if you run too many of them  they bring your PC to a crawl . Spotify being  a exception because the webplayer   has  a bug in it were songs skip after  9 secs that been going on since 2018  and they still don't fix it . That the  reason devs  use Electron because  they lazy also it's very cheap and  a easy programming language  to learn . Just another website services wrapped  up in  a glorified chromium web browser wrapper called  a app with caveats. I make  my own webapps  with ICE SSB  to avoid  the dreaded bloat  called Electron as much as possible . Apps made in other programming languages are so much more better .

[rseiler]

It wasn't Electron-based before 14.58, but I take your point that it was different than it had been originally.

 

Originally, it was a "pure" UWP app. Then around a year or two ago (as of 14.0) they switched to a quasi-UWP thing: Win32 component using a web framework for the UI.

 

As of 14.58 it's just a bundling of the Electron app distributed via the Store (with a tiny number of changes, like the version #).

 

They want commonality between web, mobile, Win7, Win8, Win10. That's a nightmare to do without something like Electron.

 

Perhaps the answer, if possible, is to build the Electron "runtime" into Win10, like .Net was years ago. If that lets all the Electron apps (Visual Studio Code, Teams, Skype, Discord, Slack, etc) work with it, rather than each bundling its ownChromium, that would be great. Not sure if that's possible in this case though, since Electron and .Net are two very different things. Another factor is that Edge is also now Chromium-based (though not Electron, of course!). Maybe that builds the case for something like this actually happening.