HomeWinBuzzer NewsNew Skype for Web Experience Seemingly Denies Access to Chromebooks

New Skype for Web Experience Seemingly Denies Access to Chromebooks

The newest version of Skype for Web brings a number of important features, but it also seems incompatible with Chromebooks, Firefox, and some Linux distributions.

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released a new Skype for web experience yesterday, but not everyone is happy. Though the latest update adds support for a number of useful desktop features, it also seems to deny access to Chromebooks.

Upon visiting the site, Chrome OS users are reporting a ‘device not supported' message.

“Sorry, Skype for Web is not available on this device yet,” it explains. “Give it a try on your desktop computer instead.”

The clear issue is that Chrome OS doesn't have a desktop version of Skype. On top of that, not every version supports Android apps, so some may be without it entirely unless Microsoft remedies the issue.

Linux and Browser Support Questionable

Unfortunately, support doesn't seem complete elsewhere, either. Some users are reporting the same error, while others don't seem to have any issues.

In the browser world, it seems only Chrome and Edge exist for Microsoft. Visiting the site in Firefox returns a browser not supported error. In it, the company tells users to switch to a different browser, and we're not confident that will change any time soon.

“Use Microsoft Edge or Chrome to access Skype for Web experience. Alternatively, download Skype on your desktop computer,” it says.

Interestingly, we found that we were able to access Skype for Web in Firefox without any issues by spoofing our user agent. Making the website think we were using a Chrome browser on gave full access with no easily discernable bugs.

If you're on a supported platform, you can expect a number of new features, including HD video calling, call recording, a notifications panel, media galleries, and message searching.

Ryan Maskell
Ryan Maskellhttps://ryanmaskell.co.uk
Ryan has had a passion for gaming and technology since early childhood. Fusing the skills from his Creative Writing and Publishing degree with profound technical knowledge, he enjoys covering news about Microsoft. As an avid writer, he is also working on his debut novel.

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