One of the few apps so ubiquitous that its name has become a verb, Skype has been around since 2003, dominating the video call and messaging space globally (being available in 108 languages) for the majority of that time.
To get Skype on Mac: Visit skype.com; Navigate to the Downloads tab for the regular Skype or Products Skype for Business for the business one; Click on Get Skype for Mac; Double-click on the Skype download for Mac.dmg file; Proceed through the installation process; Using Skype is as easy as any other messenger. How to download and install Skype on Mac computes (Macbook pro/air/imac). Download Skype for your computer, mobile, or tablet to stay in touch with family and friends from anywhere. Available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. How to download Skype on a Mac 1. Go to skype.com and select 'Downloads' from the menu toward the top of the screen. You can also click the 'Download Skype' button to go to the same page.
Originally developed in Estonia by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, Skype was purchased by eBay in 2005, and then again by Microsoft in 2011 for a whooping $8.5 billion.
Although Skype accumulated more than 600 million users by the end of 2010, it started slowly losing its appeal to a number of alternative messengers, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram, and Signal, all of which were mobile-centric right from the start and offered texting as well as video and audio calls.
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However, in 2017, Microsoft released a completely new version of Skype, reworked from the ground up to be run on Microsoft Azure infrastructure and redesigned with the latest trends of messaging in mind. In August 2018, Skype also added full end-to-end encryption to better meet privacy concerns of its users worldwide.
By now you might be wondering if Skype app for Mac is available and what’s the best way to download Skype for Mac. Simply follow this step-by-step guide to find out.
How To Use Skype On Mac Effectively
To begin, since Microsoft acquired Skype, they’ve created a few different Skype applications for Mac that cover interviews, video streams, classrooms, and most importantly Skype for Business.
While the regular version of Skype for Mac supports up to 50 participants at once, the business one can handle up to 250 and gives you additional features, such as joining through a URL, muting control, presenter selector, head-tracking video, and PowerPoint integration.
You can download Skype for Business Mac version and the basic Skype for Mac on the official Microsoft website. One caveat though is that you have to have an active MS Office 365 subscription to run the business edition, whereas the default one is free.
To get Skype on Mac:
- Visit skype.com
- Navigate to the Downloads tab for the regular Skype or Products > Skype for Business for the business one
- Click on Get Skype for Mac
- Double-click on the Skype download for Mac .dmg file
- Proceed through the installation process
Using Skype is as easy as any other messenger. All contact information is based around your username, so if you give it to someone they will be able to find you and add you to the list via search. Below the search field, you have Chats, Calls, and Contacts tabs. Going into any of them would switch the plus button below for creating a new chat, call, or adding a contact respectively.
Besides the basic functionality, all Skype chats support file attachments, money transfers, location sharing, call scheduling, and poll creation. There are also dozens of third-party bots and plugins that expand Skype capabilities even further.
The easiest way to join Skype meetings
Whether Skype is your one and only, or one of many video conferencing tools you use, there’s a way to make it work better and faster. Instead of scheduling meetings in your calendar app and then opening Skype, you can have a tool that does it all for you.
Meeter is an ultimate meeting app for Mac that you totally need. It collects the information about your upcoming meetings and brings it all into the menu bar. What’s more, Meeter sends you meeting notifications with clickable links so that you can join in a click. No need to remember when your next meeting begins. In fact, there’s no need to even open Skype before it begins — Meeter will take you right in.
How to deliver impressive presentations via Skype
Skype has a free screen sharing feature, which allows you to run online demos and presentations with ease. Simply hit the screen share button to start presenting during a Skype call, and hit it once again to stop sharing. It’s that easy. What’s not so easy is having your colleagues’ full attention while you’re presenting. Here are two apps that will help you with that:
PliimPRO gives you a custom presentation mode that you can use in combination with Skype’s screen sharing feature. The app hides notifications, desktop icons, and active apps in one click. So once you start presenting, nothing can distract your audience. It also has handy toggles for muting your mic and changing desktop wallpapers.
Vidrio adds a bit of fun to the whole process. It’s the first app that makes screen sharing on Mac holographic — like in the Tony Stark movie. Vidrio places webcam behind your Mac’s screen, creating a mirror effect. This way, a presenter is always visible in full-screen mode. Not much different from being in the same room. Give it a try! If anything, it’s super fun.
<So now that you know how to use Skype on Mac, let’s walk through a few widespread problems you might come across.
Troubleshoot Skype video not working
By far the most common problem you’ll have during conference (or personal) calls is Skype camera not working. There are generally a few ways to solve that. The easiest thing to do is just to use the camera icon to turn your camera off and back on again. If that doesn’t help, you can try dropping out of the call altogether and even restarting your Skype.
In case you see Skype video not working still, you need to check that the problem isn’t with your Mac’s camera. To do that:
- Launch Skype
- Click Skype in the menu bar and then Audio & Video Settings
- See if the camera is showing anything
- Alternatively, you can launch the default Photo Booth app and check there
If the camera isn’t working, you should take your Mac to the Apple store. If it is, then the problem is with Skype.
Before you try to reinstall Skype altogether, you can reset it to its factory settings first. You can do this manually:
- Go to Finder and type ~/Library into search
- Find all the Skype files and folders
- Delete all of them but the Skype itself
Another option when you want to do a factory reset is to use an optimization app like CleanMyMac X:
- In CleanMyMac X, navigate to the Uninstaller tab
- Choose Skype and select Reset
- Click on the Reset button
When none of that works, you just need to reinstall Skype. If you’re not sure how to uninstall Skype on Mac, use CleanMyMac X that you’ve tried when resetting the app to factory preferences. Simply removing Skype from Applications doesn’t delete all the supplementary files, whereas CleanMyMac X completely wipes out the app from your system.
To delete Skype with CleanMyMac X, go to the Uninstaller tab, select Skype, and click on Uninstall.
If you’re experiencing a problem with your microphone instead of a camera:
Go to System Preferences > Sound
Navigate to the Input tab
Say something and see if the “Input levels” change at all
If the input levels are fine, repeat the steps above to reset factory settings and reinstall Skype to fix the problem. If not, a trip to the Apple store might be necessary.
Combine all messengers in one
Nowadays it’s likely that Skype isn’t your only messaging app. You might need to use it at work or for calling relatives’ landlines overseas, but that means you probably chat with friends through something else.
The point is that most of us have three, five, 10, or even more messengers active on a daily basis, and that message overload can get pretty tiring and actually distract us from doing something of value.
An all-in-one messenger for Mac
No more switching between work and private chats. Get IM+ on Setapp and bring all your favorite messengers into one.
One of the solutions here might be to ditch your Skype app for Mac altogether and get an instant message aggregator such as IM+.
IM+ allows you to combine dozens of popular messaging apps together, from Skype to Slack to Instagram, and manage them all through the same interface. With IM+ you can categorize every messaging service as either Home or Work and set common rules for notifications and online status for both.
Limit instant messaging overload
Sometimes, even when you’ve consolidated all your messaging into a single app, distractions get the best of you and you end up spending hours chatting instead of concentrating on your work.
Even when you don’t catch yourself being distracted, those one-off replies here and there tend to add up to more than you’d think. To see how much time exactly you spend on social media, you need an unobtrusive time tracker like Timing.
Timing observes how you spend time on your Mac in the background and then shows you detailed reports for every app or website launched and every project worked on. You can even use Timing to invoice your clients or log hours at work. But mostly, you’ll have the most accurate representation of where your time goes during the day, and after you gain knowledge you can come up with the action plan.
Best of all, Meeter, Vidrio, PliimPRO, CleanMyMac X, IM+, and Timing are available for a free trial through Setapp, a platform of more than 190 best-in-class Mac apps that could take on any problem and make your days as productive as they can be. Is it time for a conference call?
Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.
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Skype has been around for years, connecting people on different sides of the planet (and closer) via the magic of the internet. In its day, it was the VoIP to be reckoned with - easily a market leader at the top of its game. Over time, however, technology has marched on and people have found new ways to stay in touch with their nearest and dearest - has Skype managed to keep up?
Experienced internet calling for Mac
Power or bloat? That’s up to you to decide...
Skype for Mac has been around for years and has changed from being a piece of must-have software to something that’s no longer everyone’s first choice when they want to call someone online. In case you’ve managed to avoid the app until now, Skype is VoIP (voice over internet protocol or internet calling) software. It lets you make telephone and video calls to anyone else using the software and, for an extra charge, to “normal” telephone numbers too.
Visually, Skype for Mac is acceptable but not great. Even though it’s regularly updated, it is reminiscent of software from the early 2000s, with cutesy emoticons and a soft, rounded feel. It’s pretty easy to find your way around once you’ve added your contacts but make no mistake — adding these contacts in the first place is one of Skype’s greatest challenges.
The quality of calls and videos is dependent on your internet connection - if it’s good, call quality is perfect and if it’s bad, it’s a subpar experience. Many users complain of other problems with the software, independently of the internet connection. These complaints tend to be sporadic and anecdotal, but it’s worth bearing in mind. When your calls do connect correctly, you’ll be able to use some fun and unique features, like call recording, subtitles, group emoticons, and screen sharing.
Back when Skype was released, there weren’t many alternatives and certainly none that were as user-friendly and enjoyed such widespread adoption. That made it an incredibly popular app back in the day, so today, with so many alternatives to Skype and alternatives to VoIP in general, is it still as essential an app as it once was?
This may be a question that has occurred to the people at Skype too. They’ve launched lots of additional free and paid call-related services and features that you can add. As well as being able to add credit to call non-Skype numbers, you can also sign up for a Skype number that looks like a local landline. Handy for business and something that’s definitely not offered by Skype’s competitors. In certain countries, you’re also able to use Skype with Alexa, and there are a range of separate Skype apps for content creation, business, and broadcasting.
Where can you run this program?
Free Skype Video Calls
This version is for Mac, but you can also download versions for Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, tablets, Kindles, Xboxes, and even Alexa.
Is there a better alternative?
There are certainly lots of alternatives to Skype, but not specifically for Mac. If you’re specifically looking for a desktop app for Mac, Viber fits the bill. In terms of functionality, it’s much like Skype, but it offers a much cuter, younger vibe that will appeal to many.
Our take
Besieged by connection problems, buggy behavior, and even accusations of privacy concerns on Mac, it’s no wonder that many people have abandoned Skype-like apps completely, instead opting for mobile alternatives like Whatapp and Facebook to call the ones they love.
Free Download Of Skype
Should you download it?
Go ahead and download it if you’re in need of a standalone VoIP app for Mac with a focus on voice calls, or some Skype-specific features.
Skype Free Download For Windows 10
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