Microsoft Releases Skype Preview 11.9 with SMS Relay and Drag and Drop

Skype Preview 11.9 comes with enhanced profiles, easier calling, improved messaging and several tweaks to Windows 10 Mobile.

Skype Preview

has been hard at work with the version of Skype, and today it rolled out an important to preview users. Those on 10 will be able to send and receive text messages from Skype , a feature previously reserved for Insiders. The update also comes with some other useful features. You can right-click to quote messages, see image previews of shared URLs, and call someone directly from a profile page.

Skype Preview 11.9 Changelog

However, this is just a small part of the new functionality. Microsoft has also come up with several other improvements in 11.9. The following should create a more robust and modern experience:
  • Easier calling – Manage audio and video from Skype settings to select a preferred camera, microphone or speaker and test audio before a call.
  • Additional Windows Mobile – Video calls will now default to loud speaker and we've improved back button navigation.
  • Improved messaging – Drag and drop files and images up to 300MB into your chat to quickly share them with friends and family, right click on a message and select “Quote Message” so you will know who said what in your chats, see an image preview of a shared URL rather than a long link, and stay on top of messages with an unread message indicator in chat.
  • Enhanced profiles – Start a call or conversation from a contact's profile page, add/remove/block contacts, view initials of a contact if they don't have a profile picture, and unblock any contact you may currently have blocked.”
The team's next focus is on integration with the new ‘People Bar' coming with the Windows 10 creators update. You'll be able to access Skype contacts straight from the taskbar for easy management. skype-creators-update-microsoft In addition, Microsoft is working on bringing the text relay feature to Android, so users will soon be able to get their hands on that functionality. In the meantime, you can grab the latest version of Skype Preview here.