Microsoft teases ‘lighter’ version of Skype for Android, but is it Skype Lite?

According to a new blog post by The Skype Team (great pre-2000 teen punk band name), Skype for Android will receive a “new optimized version” for use on lower-end or aging devices.

“This update — starting to roll out in the next few days — is lighter on both disk and memory consumption, allowing for greater speed and better audio and video quality on lower end Android devices, as well as increased performance in challenging network conditions,” the post adds.

The Team isn’t clear if this “lighter” version is divergent from its current Android app, but it will work on devices from as far back as 2011 running Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich all the way up to Android 5.1 Lollipop. Around 42% of Android users are running devices within this OS version bracket.

Additionally the company did launch another app dubbed Skype Lite for the Indian market in late 2017, but we’re not completely sure if the app mentioned by the Skype Team is actually Skype Lite.

Microsoft is finally trimming Skype’s fat, but only on Android

Nevertheless, this is great news for users with budget devices or phones running older hardware. After LinkedIn Lite launched late last year, it’s great to see Redmond finally joining the app fat trimming movement in earnest alongside the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Google.

“In the coming weeks, the update will be rolled out around the world, so no need to worry if you are not seeing the update just yet,” the Skype Team concludes.

Now, please can you do the same for Skype on Windows, Microsoft? Thanks.

Feature image: Microsoft/Skype