10 ms·

Skype 5 for Mac blocks all webcam access by Flash. Skype says it is "by design"

193 points by lukeinth 16y ago

Thought I would pass on a word of warning about the recently released Skype 5 for Mac. Once installed, if Skype 5 is running (even in background), it will block Flash from being able to access your webcam. This breaks quite a few popular web applications. Unfortunately users will think the problem is caused by Flash, when it is actually caused by Skype. Examples of sites and applications broken by Skype 5. http://www.dailybooth.com - core feature of the site http://www.facebook.com - webcam record and "take a photo" feature http://www.picnik.com - image editors that have import from webcam http://www.webcamsnapper.com - webcam photo widget used by brizzly, dailybooth, many other sites. (disclosure: my company built this app) adobe connect, dimdim, etc - online meeting apps Skype has been aware of this issue since the release of the beta in November and yet they have not fixed it before the general release. According to their issue tracker they say this new behavior is "by design". https://jira.skype.com/browse/SCM-721 In the old Skype (2.8) this was not a problem, so something has changed. If indeed this is not a bug and is "by design" then it is a very worrying move. Imagine for a moment things were reversed. Say for instance a new release of Flash stopped all video calls working in iChat or Skype. People would be outraged, Gruber would have a heart attack. Just to be 100% clear, Skype doesn't need to be in a video call for it to block webcam access by Flash. It simply needs to be running. The only fix is to shut down Skype then reload your browser. After this the webcam will start working again in Flash. The only long term fix is to uninstall Skype 5 and install an older version. More discussion of the issue in Skype forum: http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=782411

lukeinth 16y ago
Thought I would pass on a word of warning about the recently released Skype 5 for Mac. Once installed, if Skype 5 is running (even in background), it will block Flash from being able to access your webcam. This breaks quite a few popular web applications. Unfortunately users will think the problem is caused by Flash, when it is actually caused by Skype. Examples of sites and applications broken by Skype 5. * http://www.dailybooth.com http://www.dailybooth.com - core feature of the site * http://www.facebook.com http://www.facebook.com - webcam record and "take a photo" feature * http://www.picnik.com http://www.picnik.com - image editors that have import from webcam * http://www.webcamsnapper.com http://www.webcamsnapper.com - webcam photo widget used by brizzly, dailybooth, many other sites. (disclosure: my company built this app) * adobe connect, dimdim, etc - online meeting apps Skype has been aware of this issue since the release of the beta in November and yet they have not fixed it before the general release. According to their issue tracker they say this new behavior is "by design". https://jira.skype.com/browse/SCM-721 https://jira.skype.com/browse/SCM-721 In the old Skype (2.8) this was not a problem, so something has changed. If indeed this is not a bug and is "by design" then it is a very worrying move. Imagine for a moment things were reversed. Say for instance a new release of Flash stopped all video calls working in iChat or Skype. People would be outraged, Gruber would have a heart attack. Just to be 100% clear, Skype doesn't need to be in a video call for it to block webcam access by Flash. It simply needs to be running. The only fix is to shut down Skype then reload your browser. After this the webcam will start working again in Flash. The only long term fix is to uninstall Skype 5 and install an older version. More discussion of the issue in Skype forum: http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=782411 http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=782411
- MediaBehavior 16y ago
  >> about the recently released Skype 5 for Mac. Note that one commenter observes: "This also affects windows users, its not just Mac."
  - ZoFreX 16y ago
    I've been trying to track down intermittent issues with webcam+flash on my Windows PC, looks like I need to investigate Skype. Thank you!
- jacquesm 16y ago
  http://ww.com/ http://ww.com/ is also affected and we've already seen some support requests about this.
  - dhimes 16y ago
    Are you taking a serious hit from this, or is it too new still?
    - jacquesm 16y ago
      The mac is fortunately not the largest part of the users but it's definitely something we can see.
      - dhimes 16y ago
        Hopefully they'll bow to the pressure of all the UIs they broke. This is a fear that alot of us have, of course: a seemingly capricious change (meaning unforeseeable to us) breaks our UI for our customers. Good luck with that.
  - drivebyacct2 16y ago
    OT: That stock photo that I was just greeted with was creepy and a major turn off for me looking at the site any further at all.
  - 16y ago
smikolay 16y ago
I have been fighting with this since installing the Beta. Has caused me to stop using skype, and only turning it on as a last resort. Would be curious if anyone has a link for 2.8, as it (unsurprisingly) isn't on their site anymore.
- maxart 16y ago
  You can get it from: http://mac.oldapps.com/skype.php http://mac.oldapps.com/skype.php
  - xentronium 16y ago
    It's still on their site anyways. http://download.skype.com/macosx/Skype_2.8.0.866.dmg http://download.skype.com/macosx/Skype_2.8.0.866.dmg
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
relix 16y ago
As the developer of a web app that uses the webcam through flash, I am already mentally preparing myself for the flood of support requests that inevitably will come. Maybe Skype should become classified as malware. This is only the latest in a series of huge bugs because Skype tries to integrate with every application.
- ringm 16y ago
  Their Firefox plugin has already been blocked: https://www.mozilla.com/en-US/blocklist/ https://www.mozilla.com/en-US/blocklist/
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
pclark 16y ago
I have no idea what Skype was thinking with version 5 of their client. It is atrocious. There is so much white space, if your Instant Messenger client takes up more screen space than a web browser, you're probably doing something wrong. Download version 2.8 - http://mac.oldapps.com/skype.php http://mac.oldapps.com/skype.php
- cpg 16y ago
  +1 for giving the link to the previous version. It is in fact atrocious, for a mainstream piece of software. Many of us gave them feedback that the new client is WAY too generous with the space, at least for us with more than 5 contacts online. They did very little from the beta to the general release.
- raquo 16y ago
  Skype never made good client software for apple's devices, so it's not surprising. All versions have major UX flaws and iphone app is very buggy and slow/freezing for example.
  - danudey 16y ago
    The biggest issue I have is that they seem to have this idea of 'keep your chats open even when you're not around'; then when I open Skype on my iPhone, it downloads the last month of chat history, one message at a time, and is slow and useless (and chews up bandwidth, CPU, and battery) until I give up on it. It's horrible design, and I can't help but think that no one at Skype has actually used it for anything, which seems improbable. I've heard that the Android version does the same thing as well. It's just terrible.
- ThomPete 16y ago
  What they had in mind was the 90% of their users who only have 5 contacts in their contact list and the 95% of their users who only use the text area to write "Can I call you" In other words Skype is designed for the 90% not us 10%
  - moe 16y ago
notintokyo 16y ago
Previous Skype extension for Firefox was also causing trouble for many websites. The plugin is common enough to cause a lot of grief.
jpcx01 16y ago
Flash video camera is a disaster, especially on Mac. After spending months working around its flaws, I've vowed never again to use Flash video recorder in my web apps again. Currently it's completely broken in Chrome on Mac (even broke non facebook.com). And I bet Adobe wonders what has provoked the wrath of Steve Jobs.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  Actually, it works pretty good. But skype is interfering with it in a completely un-necessary way by blocking access to a resource even when it does not need that resource.
- davej 16y ago
  This may be so but how does it justify Skype blocking flash from using the camera?
- bad_user 16y ago
  Have you reported these flaws? Have you documented them somewhere? Flash video recording worked perfectly fine for me btw.
coffeejunk 16y ago
skype for mac has always been a pain but it seems they're trying really hard to make it even worse. <irony>besides of course coverflow for profile pictures, which is a huge improvement in usability.</irony>
pmjordan 16y ago
Interestingly, FaceTime and iChat don't seem to have any trouble using the webcam while Skype is running. Since they're Apple apps, they may get priority, however.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- danpker 16y ago
  Well, I think Skype only interferes with Flash apps, non flash apps that use the camera are unaffected.
  - pmjordan 16y ago
    This to me implies that both Skype and Flash are doing something wrong.
    - Maxious 16y ago
      Reminds me of the recent conflict between the IcedTea (Java) and Moonlight (Silverlight) plugins in Chrome/Firefox http://neugierig.org/software/chromium/notes/2011/01/plugin-conflict.html http://neugierig.org/software/chromium/notes/2011/01/plugin-... Is there an equivalent to Video for Windows/GStreamer on OSX?
      - nitrogen 16y ago
        Is there an equivalent to Video for Windows/GStreamer on OSX? Apple's media framework and counterpart to VfW/DirectShow/GStreamer/etc. is Quicktime.
- jackolas 16y ago
  Tinychat was having some issues with the google talk video plugin recently. I think something must have changed about video and flash recently...
chitra 16y ago
jawee 16y ago
I recall having this problem on Windows as well. I have a Windows laptop (XP with Turion X2 processor) I keep on hand in case I ever need Windows that I hauled out of the closet the other day as a Skype friend wanted to play a game (I´m on Linux). I installed Skype and was greeted with a behemoth that this computer couldn´t handle. Incidently, I was surfing in the background while I ended up just chatting due to poor video quality and came across a website that took your Flash webcam and did effects with it and the video would not load. I rebooted (sans Skype being open now) and it worked.
asmosoinio 16y ago
I am getting a 503 error from the link. Any mirrors?
nickolai 16y ago
For once, i am rather happy with skype devs not putting too much effort in the linux version. Hope it stays that way...
- danpker 16y ago
  Never had a big problem with the Linux version. It does video, with good quality, and that's all you really need Skype for, a flashy UI or other pointless features just detracts from Skype's main purpose.
  - nickolai 16y ago
    Totally agreed. I used to be annoyed by the absence of SMS support in one of the previous versions. I havent bothered checking whether it is present now, since I no longer need that feature anyway.
- pyre 16y ago
  Well, I hope they add support to video conferencing.
- cookiecaper 16y ago
  They've promised to open-source the UI and put out most of the functionality in a blob that the UI talks to, maybe over D-Bus or something I guess. That was quite a while ago, though.
gglanzani 16y ago
Skype does not care enough about UX in general. It's no wonder that, when faced with design questions like "Should we allow Flash to use the camera while Skype is running?", they take the wrong decision. If you couple this with the UI of Skype for Mac 5, you have plenty of reasons to remain with version 2.8.
adaml_623 16y ago
Does this mean that Skype can take snapshots through your web cam whenever it's running? There was a US high school that installed software that did that and got raked over the coals for it.
- DougBTX 16y ago
  Almost any running application on your computer can use your web cam and your microphones. The only question is whether they do.
  - adaml_623 16y ago
    My point was that they can do it and you wouldn't be able to tell as they always have access to the webcam anyway.
e40 16y ago
As a side note: the new Android Skype release is getting panned on the market because of horrible UI features (puts an icon in the notification area that cannot be removed) and other bugs. I finally removed skype from my droid, even though I do occasionally get calls from it.
riffic 16y ago
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1759181 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1759181
redthrowaway 16y ago
"To ſay it is ‘by deſign’ is not an acceptable anſwer. Your proprietary, inflexible, ſecret piece of ſoftware takes control of ðe uſer’s hardware wiþout his conſent, and ¿you do not even offer a reaſon for ðat?" I'm trying really hard to figure out what localization this guy's keyboard is set to.
- moeffju 16y ago
  "en@olde+obnoxious"
- mzl 16y ago
  English -700 years with a touch of spanish?
- zephjc 16y ago
  I think it is some sort of pseudo-attempt at a spelling reform movement, very silimiar to this http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2357504854 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2357504854 but even that doesn't have the s/ſ and ¿? changes.
  - iron_ball 16y ago
    Particularly ridiculous when you notice that he uses "ſ" for the S in both "software" and "design." Wouldn't a reformed spelling use different symbols for the two sounds?
lukeinth 16y ago
Just an update to say Skype have responded saying they will fix the bug in an upcoming release. Hopefully we won't have to wait long.
meric 16y ago
"Beom Soo Park added a comment - 31/Jan/11 2:21 PM I have to rectify the term I used before, this issue found to be a "bug", not "by design", We are working on the issue and will be fixed in future updates. Sorry for making confusions. Thank you"
ElliotH 16y ago
Skype are now calling it a "bug".
- iPadDeveloper 16y ago
  Confirmed. Retracted.
maxart 16y ago
According to Skype's reply ( see Beom Soo Park's new post on https://jira.skype.com/browse/SCM-721 https://jira.skype.com/browse/SCM-721 ) they are "working on the issue and will be fixed in future updates."
siculars 16y ago
This version was obviously built for people who only use one application at a time.
- JBiserkov 16y ago
  Yeah, but Skype launches by default on system boot up (on Windows, at least, assuming a next->...->next->Finish install)
alanh 16y ago
1. Three months ago, a Skype customer reports a terrible, hostile, unreasonable problem with the new client via official Skype bug tracker 2. Company rep asks, “Can you provide us your feedback? You can send feedback through Skype Menu -> Provide Skype Feedback … Thanks” and provides not a glimpse of insight into why the customer is being asked to submit this complaint elsewhere instead of the rep just, you know, doing his job and getting the message wherever it needs to be, himself. 3. Customer: WTF, didn’t I just do that here? 4. Support person: “Currently, this [issue] is by design.” 5. Other users express outrage, and this is posted to HN today 6. Today, rep “rectifies” previous statement and says it is a “bug, not by design.” (Can we get something to the HN front page about Skype for iPhone’s terrible behavior of loading all chat messages in chronological order, taking literally half an hour before the app is usable?)
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- ZoFreX 16y ago
  > (Can we get something to the HN front page about Skype for iPhone’s terrible behavior of loading all chat messages in chronological order, taking literally half an hour before the app is usable?) The iPhone app does that too? The Android app doesn't do it until you open a conversation... but it does it every time you switch to that conversation, making it utterly unusable and potentially embarassing!
janno 16y ago
We released a hotfix yesterday, fixing the Flash bug and a couple of other significant bugs. http://blogs.skype.com/garage/2011/02/skype_50_for_mac_hotfix.html http://blogs.skype.com/garage/2011/02/skype_50_for_mac_hotfi... Please upgrade to 5.0.0.7994: http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-macosx http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-macosx

193 points by lukeinth 16y ago

lukeinth 16y ago

Thought I would pass on a word of warning about the recently released Skype 5 for Mac. Once installed, if Skype 5 is running (even in background), it will block Flash from being able to access your webcam. This breaks quite a few popular web applications. Unfortunately users will think the problem is caused by Flash, when it is actually caused by Skype. Examples of sites and applications broken by Skype 5. * http://www.dailybooth.com http://www.dailybooth.com - core feature of the site * http://www.facebook.com http://www.facebook.com - webcam record and "take a photo" feature * http://www.picnik.com http://www.picnik.com - image editors that have import from webcam * http://www.webcamsnapper.com http://www.webcamsnapper.com - webcam photo widget used by brizzly, dailybooth, many other sites. (disclosure: my company built this app) * adobe connect, dimdim, etc - online meeting apps Skype has been aware of this issue since the release of the beta in November and yet they have not fixed it before the general release. According to their issue tracker they say this new behavior is "by design". https://jira.skype.com/browse/SCM-721 https://jira.skype.com/browse/SCM-721 In the old Skype (2.8) this was not a problem, so something has changed. If indeed this is not a bug and is "by design" then it is a very worrying move. Imagine for a moment things were reversed. Say for instance a new release of Flash stopped all video calls working in iChat or Skype. People would be outraged, Gruber would have a heart attack. Just to be 100% clear, Skype doesn't need to be in a video call for it to block webcam access by Flash. It simply needs to be running. The only fix is to shut down Skype then reload your browser. After this the webcam will start working again in Flash. The only long term fix is to uninstall Skype 5 and install an older version. More discussion of the issue in Skype forum: http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=782411 http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=782411

MediaBehavior 16y ago
>> about the recently released Skype 5 for Mac. Note that one commenter observes: "This also affects windows users, its not just Mac."
- ZoFreX 16y ago
  I've been trying to track down intermittent issues with webcam+flash on my Windows PC, looks like I need to investigate Skype. Thank you!
jacquesm 16y ago
http://ww.com/ http://ww.com/ is also affected and we've already seen some support requests about this.
- dhimes 16y ago
  Are you taking a serious hit from this, or is it too new still?
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    The mac is fortunately not the largest part of the users but it's definitely something we can see.
    - dhimes 16y ago
      Hopefully they'll bow to the pressure of all the UIs they broke. This is a fear that alot of us have, of course: a seemingly capricious change (meaning unforeseeable to us) breaks our UI for our customers. Good luck with that.
- drivebyacct2 16y ago
  OT: That stock photo that I was just greeted with was creepy and a major turn off for me looking at the site any further at all.
- 16y ago

smikolay 16y ago

I have been fighting with this since installing the Beta. Has caused me to stop using skype, and only turning it on as a last resort. Would be curious if anyone has a link for 2.8, as it (unsurprisingly) isn't on their site anymore.

maxart 16y ago
You can get it from: http://mac.oldapps.com/skype.php http://mac.oldapps.com/skype.php
- xentronium 16y ago
  It's still on their site anyways. http://download.skype.com/macosx/Skype_2.8.0.866.dmg http://download.skype.com/macosx/Skype_2.8.0.866.dmg
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

relix 16y ago

As the developer of a web app that uses the webcam through flash, I am already mentally preparing myself for the flood of support requests that inevitably will come. Maybe Skype should become classified as malware. This is only the latest in a series of huge bugs because Skype tries to integrate with every application.

ringm 16y ago
Their Firefox plugin has already been blocked: https://www.mozilla.com/en-US/blocklist/ https://www.mozilla.com/en-US/blocklist/

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

pclark 16y ago

I have no idea what Skype was thinking with version 5 of their client. It is atrocious. There is so much white space, if your Instant Messenger client takes up more screen space than a web browser, you're probably doing something wrong. Download version 2.8 - http://mac.oldapps.com/skype.php http://mac.oldapps.com/skype.php

cpg 16y ago
+1 for giving the link to the previous version. It is in fact atrocious, for a mainstream piece of software. Many of us gave them feedback that the new client is WAY too generous with the space, at least for us with more than 5 contacts online. They did very little from the beta to the general release.
raquo 16y ago
Skype never made good client software for apple's devices, so it's not surprising. All versions have major UX flaws and iphone app is very buggy and slow/freezing for example.
- danudey 16y ago
  The biggest issue I have is that they seem to have this idea of 'keep your chats open even when you're not around'; then when I open Skype on my iPhone, it downloads the last month of chat history, one message at a time, and is slow and useless (and chews up bandwidth, CPU, and battery) until I give up on it. It's horrible design, and I can't help but think that no one at Skype has actually used it for anything, which seems improbable. I've heard that the Android version does the same thing as well. It's just terrible.
ThomPete 16y ago
What they had in mind was the 90% of their users who only have 5 contacts in their contact list and the 95% of their users who only use the text area to write "Can I call you" In other words Skype is designed for the 90% not us 10%
- moe 16y ago

notintokyo 16y ago

Previous Skype extension for Firefox was also causing trouble for many websites. The plugin is common enough to cause a lot of grief.

jpcx01 16y ago

Flash video camera is a disaster, especially on Mac. After spending months working around its flaws, I've vowed never again to use Flash video recorder in my web apps again. Currently it's completely broken in Chrome on Mac (even broke non facebook.com). And I bet Adobe wonders what has provoked the wrath of Steve Jobs.

jacquesm 16y ago
Actually, it works pretty good. But skype is interfering with it in a completely un-necessary way by blocking access to a resource even when it does not need that resource.
davej 16y ago
This may be so but how does it justify Skype blocking flash from using the camera?
bad_user 16y ago
Have you reported these flaws? Have you documented them somewhere? Flash video recording worked perfectly fine for me btw.

coffeejunk 16y ago

skype for mac has always been a pain but it seems they're trying really hard to make it even worse. <irony>besides of course coverflow for profile pictures, which is a huge improvement in usability.</irony>

pmjordan 16y ago

Interestingly, FaceTime and iChat don't seem to have any trouble using the webcam while Skype is running. Since they're Apple apps, they may get priority, however.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
danpker 16y ago
Well, I think Skype only interferes with Flash apps, non flash apps that use the camera are unaffected.
- pmjordan 16y ago
  This to me implies that both Skype and Flash are doing something wrong.
  - Maxious 16y ago
    Reminds me of the recent conflict between the IcedTea (Java) and Moonlight (Silverlight) plugins in Chrome/Firefox http://neugierig.org/software/chromium/notes/2011/01/plugin-conflict.html http://neugierig.org/software/chromium/notes/2011/01/plugin-... Is there an equivalent to Video for Windows/GStreamer on OSX?
    - nitrogen 16y ago
      Is there an equivalent to Video for Windows/GStreamer on OSX? Apple's media framework and counterpart to VfW/DirectShow/GStreamer/etc. is Quicktime.
jackolas 16y ago
Tinychat was having some issues with the google talk video plugin recently. I think something must have changed about video and flash recently...

chitra 16y ago

jawee 16y ago

I recall having this problem on Windows as well. I have a Windows laptop (XP with Turion X2 processor) I keep on hand in case I ever need Windows that I hauled out of the closet the other day as a Skype friend wanted to play a game (I´m on Linux). I installed Skype and was greeted with a behemoth that this computer couldn´t handle. Incidently, I was surfing in the background while I ended up just chatting due to poor video quality and came across a website that took your Flash webcam and did effects with it and the video would not load. I rebooted (sans Skype being open now) and it worked.

asmosoinio 16y ago

I am getting a 503 error from the link. Any mirrors?

nickolai 16y ago

For once, i am rather happy with skype devs not putting too much effort in the linux version. Hope it stays that way...

danpker 16y ago
Never had a big problem with the Linux version. It does video, with good quality, and that's all you really need Skype for, a flashy UI or other pointless features just detracts from Skype's main purpose.
- nickolai 16y ago
  Totally agreed. I used to be annoyed by the absence of SMS support in one of the previous versions. I havent bothered checking whether it is present now, since I no longer need that feature anyway.
pyre 16y ago
Well, I hope they add support to video conferencing.
cookiecaper 16y ago
They've promised to open-source the UI and put out most of the functionality in a blob that the UI talks to, maybe over D-Bus or something I guess. That was quite a while ago, though.

gglanzani 16y ago

Skype does not care enough about UX in general. It's no wonder that, when faced with design questions like "Should we allow Flash to use the camera while Skype is running?", they take the wrong decision. If you couple this with the UI of Skype for Mac 5, you have plenty of reasons to remain with version 2.8.

adaml_623 16y ago

Does this mean that Skype can take snapshots through your web cam whenever it's running? There was a US high school that installed software that did that and got raked over the coals for it.

DougBTX 16y ago
Almost any running application on your computer can use your web cam and your microphones. The only question is whether they do.
- adaml_623 16y ago
  My point was that they can do it and you wouldn't be able to tell as they always have access to the webcam anyway.

e40 16y ago

As a side note: the new Android Skype release is getting panned on the market because of horrible UI features (puts an icon in the notification area that cannot be removed) and other bugs. I finally removed skype from my droid, even though I do occasionally get calls from it.

riffic 16y ago

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1759181 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1759181

redthrowaway 16y ago

"To ſay it is ‘by deſign’ is not an acceptable anſwer. Your proprietary, inflexible, ſecret piece of ſoftware takes control of ðe uſer’s hardware wiþout his conſent, and ¿you do not even offer a reaſon for ðat?" I'm trying really hard to figure out what localization this guy's keyboard is set to.

moeffju 16y ago
"en@olde+obnoxious"
mzl 16y ago
English -700 years with a touch of spanish?
zephjc 16y ago
I think it is some sort of pseudo-attempt at a spelling reform movement, very silimiar to this http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2357504854 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2357504854 but even that doesn't have the s/ſ and ¿? changes.
- iron_ball 16y ago
  Particularly ridiculous when you notice that he uses "ſ" for the S in both "software" and "design." Wouldn't a reformed spelling use different symbols for the two sounds?

lukeinth 16y ago

Just an update to say Skype have responded saying they will fix the bug in an upcoming release. Hopefully we won't have to wait long.

meric 16y ago

"Beom Soo Park added a comment - 31/Jan/11 2:21 PM I have to rectify the term I used before, this issue found to be a "bug", not "by design", We are working on the issue and will be fixed in future updates. Sorry for making confusions. Thank you"

ElliotH 16y ago

Skype are now calling it a "bug".

iPadDeveloper 16y ago
Confirmed. Retracted.

maxart 16y ago

According to Skype's reply ( see Beom Soo Park's new post on https://jira.skype.com/browse/SCM-721 https://jira.skype.com/browse/SCM-721 ) they are "working on the issue and will be fixed in future updates."

siculars 16y ago

This version was obviously built for people who only use one application at a time.

JBiserkov 16y ago
Yeah, but Skype launches by default on system boot up (on Windows, at least, assuming a next->...->next->Finish install)

alanh 16y ago

1. Three months ago, a Skype customer reports a terrible, hostile, unreasonable problem with the new client via official Skype bug tracker 2. Company rep asks, “Can you provide us your feedback? You can send feedback through Skype Menu -> Provide Skype Feedback … Thanks” and provides not a glimpse of insight into why the customer is being asked to submit this complaint elsewhere instead of the rep just, you know, doing his job and getting the message wherever it needs to be, himself. 3. Customer: WTF, didn’t I just do that here? 4. Support person: “Currently, this [issue] is by design.” 5. Other users express outrage, and this is posted to HN today 6. Today, rep “rectifies” previous statement and says it is a “bug, not by design.” (Can we get something to the HN front page about Skype for iPhone’s terrible behavior of loading all chat messages in chronological order, taking literally half an hour before the app is usable?)

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
ZoFreX 16y ago
> (Can we get something to the HN front page about Skype for iPhone’s terrible behavior of loading all chat messages in chronological order, taking literally half an hour before the app is usable?) The iPhone app does that too? The Android app doesn't do it until you open a conversation... but it does it every time you switch to that conversation, making it utterly unusable and potentially embarassing!

janno 16y ago

We released a hotfix yesterday, fixing the Flash bug and a couple of other significant bugs. http://blogs.skype.com/garage/2011/02/skype_50_for_mac_hotfix.html http://blogs.skype.com/garage/2011/02/skype_50_for_mac_hotfi... Please upgrade to 5.0.0.7994: http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-macosx http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-macosx