Microsoft introduces improved chat sync and message delivery for Skype

Today the Skype team announced it is finally making some long-promised improvements to its chat syncing functionality for all platforms, including Android.

Previously, there were times when you’d start a conversation on one device and when you moved to a new device you’d see the same messages marked as “unread”. Furthermore, looking at your history log on your PC could turn up very different messages than you’d find on your Android tablet or smartphone.

Aside from improving conversation syncing, Skype is also improving its message delivery system to ensure you don’t run into issues with messages that failed to deliver. Basically, the new system will make sure that even if a contact is offline when you send a message, they will get it.

These changes should start going into effect immediately for all versions of Skype. Most of these changes apparently are already present within the most recent versions of Skype — Microsoft just needs to turn them on. Microsoft says this is just the beginning, as the Skype team plans several other upcoming changes to the chat experience, including a way to ensure that notifications only arrive on the device you are actively.

What do you think of Skype compared to other similar messaging, chatting and voice/video calling services? Have you received the changes that improve device syncing?