July Releases of Skype for Business apps
Published Aug 03 2018 01:16 PM 4,869 Views
Microsoft

The Skype for Business client teams were busy in July, and we released monthly updates on all platforms.  Follow the links below for details of features and fixes included in the releases.

 

Skype for Business apps for Windows

 

 

Skype for Business for Mac

 

  • Version 16.19 of the app was released on July 13, and details are available here.
  • Customers using Skype for Business 2015 Server can also improve the experience for Mac users by installing the July, 2018 cumulative update which includes many changes that enable functionality for Skype for Business for Mac.

 

Skype for Business for iOS

 

Version 6.21 of the iOS app was released to the App Store on July 20.  This update includes the following improvements:

 

  • Quickly rejoin meetings on cellular network when WiFi is lost
  • Add button to rejoin dropped VoIP call by dialing in from mobile number
  • Allow users upgraded to Teams to sign in to get the full Skype for Business meeting experience
  • Fix to allow starting video in a call from certain Polycom devices
  • Fix to allow user upgraded to Teams from joining Skype for Business meetings
  • Update text and link to the privacy statement

 

Skype for Business for Android

 

Version 6.21 of the Android app was released to the Play Store on July 10.  The update includes the following improvements:

 

  • Allow users upgraded to Teams to sign in to get the full Skype for Business meeting experience
  • Updated Google SDK to optimize for security and performance
  • Fix for users in Germany to sign in
  • Fix the layout of the Participants list of a meeting
  • Fix to show Meeting Join Audio Option dialog box before joining a meeting
  • Fix ability to add and remove a contact using the contact card
  • Fixes for app crashes
  • Update text and link to the privacy statement

 

We encourage everyone to stay up to date with the latest app releases to have the best experience with Skype for Business.  Thank you for using Skype for Business!

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 Comments
Iron Contributor

Good to see fixes etc. for SfB, but could you please elaborate on what it means that users upgraded to Teams can sign in and get the full Skype Meeting experience? Does this apply even if they no longer have a Skype for Business license? And how does this pertain to the different kinds of migration paths from Skype for Business to Teams?

 

Thank you!

Microsoft

When a user is upgraded from Skype for Business to Teams, Teams becomes their primary service for chat, calling and meetings. Such users may still need to join Skype for Business meeting scheduled by others, however.  (Organizations don't always upgrade all employees at the same time, for example, so some parts of the organization may still use SfB.)  Previously, the user was blocked from signing into Skype for Business app, and could only join meetings from mobile devices as a guest.  This limited their meeting experience, however.  Now users will be able to sign into Skype for Business and join the meeting as an authenticated user and get the full meeting experience they previously had.  They will not be able to use the app for IM or calling, however, as those features are still limited to Teams.

Iron Contributor

OK, got it, thanks. Makes sense to me now,

 

So one thing that would be interesting would be, if you could sign in to Skype with your Teams account and chat, participate in meetings, etc. that originated in Teams. So basically using Skype for Business as a client for Teams, but on the Teams backend, etc. and without all the extras of the Teams client... or maybe there should just be a compact version of Teams. Or it could be the new and upcoming version of Skype which seems to be getting a compact and split view mode and is running almost on the same backend as Teams anyway?

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