What’s New in Skype 5.4 for Linux Beta

Good to see progress 👍. Hope the following problems are addressed soon:

1. Contacts renaming, for Skype contacts but especially phone numbers! The inability to associate a cryptic phone number to a name makes adding new phone numbers very unusable now; I shouldn't have to use the Windows / oldQtLinux client to rename a phone number 🙁!
   
2. Please synchronize between clients only the settings that make sense to synchronize. Especially, notification/sound settings shouldn't be synchronized: at work I want no notifications, at home I do.
3. The "Sound" setting shouldn't depend on the "Notifications" setting, and disabling notifications shouldn't prevent me from answering calls (currently, disabling notifications means the special call-answering notification with buttons won't appear, preventing call answering 😕).
4. Screen sharing.
5. Keep/search conversation history for more than 30 days.
6. [5.4.0 regression] Fix numeric keypad / dialpad broken during calls, making it impossible to select options in business/governments answering machines 😕

Thank you for the notification.

I installed 5.4.0.1, however there was little change. It did initiate a call much faster, which was a pleasent surprise. Voip is still not functional, and most of the requests found in this discussion have yet to be addressed. For incoming calls voip, I need to use Skype for Android. For outgoing voip calls I am still using Skype for Linux 4.3, since 5.3 and 5.4 are still unusable.

Skype-to-Skype video calls appear to work, although the quality leaves a bit to be desired (when compared to what we had). It is useable, however. Skype-to-Skype voice calls are quite good.

Thanks for your efforts in keeping it updated

Hi, Updating here.

Sometimes I got "copy and paste" problems.

We really need Contact renaming.

Sound source configuration is important too.

Sometimes I need restart Skype to turn back message receiving.

Thanks!

I use Skype for Linux 5.x Beta every day for voice calls on Linux Mint ?

Thanks for improving the Linux version of Skype.

Much appreciated.

Regards,

Joep

For my Ubuntu box (nothing very special) there are significant issues:

1. Call my cell from Skype 5.3/5.4 appears to work.
2. Call my cell Skype from Skype 5.3/5.4 has a 50% success rate.
3. Call any conference call (ATT connect, Skype etc.) it always connects with no audio nor dialpad function.
4. Call other VOIP line (business line/government) has a 50% success rate.
5. Incoming calls have no notification.
6. Voice message waiting has no notification.

If I am only calling private numbers to a landline, or even a LTE/GSM mobile device, then it probably wouldn't be an issue. But I use the conference call numbers a heck of a lot. Lack of incoming notification means I need to rely on my cell for that.

Skype 4.3 was connected audio through Pulse. Skype 5.3/5.4, I cannot tell where it wants to connect audio to.

Hi Jonas,

very relieved to see that Microsoft are still working on Linux Skype, Skype responded to the normal Ubuntu update process so have tried it.

However, still a very very long way to go, still far far far too early to restrict v 4.3 in any way.  

Great to see Screen Share on the + menu for the call, but not on the menu from clicking there, any indication as to when screen share is included please?

The settings menu is still pretty bare to put it mildly (about 80% down on v4.3, which was quite restricted compared to other desktop Skype versions), still deal breaker options missing such as auto answer, screen share, Skype call volume control, separate window for chats so can chat without intruding into the call window, and chat to other accounts spring immediately to mind.  With this version the video call seems to sometimes disappear when chatting, which is a massive pain.

Great to see this tiny step, but surely the missing 80% of features should have been included in the new Skype, as the Linux community so repeatedly requested, before any suggestion of restricting stable Skype for Linux 4.3's service, so that moving from stable 4.3 to the new Linux Skype offered seamless service in terms of functionality, my thread to that effect has the most people sharing the issue on the Linux forum.  Perhaps as this user interface is not getting much support, would it be worth rewriting the back end of v4.3 so that we can have the same functionality yet still work with the new cloud structure?  That would solve many poster's issues I guess.

Hope that the "bug fixes and improvements" means restoring the connectivity of Skype 4.3 to v 5.4?  As main contacts for poor signal are away in areas of even weaker connection, cannot explore for a few weeks.

One bug not fixed is the status indicator, always showing green online for mobile phone contact even when she had been flying for 9 hours so long offline, v4.3 has kept up with the status.

It would be far far better to put the sound & video settings with the other settings in preference to within the running call settings, so they are far easier to find, do not mean that you are fiddling with the settings during a call in preference to responding to the call (sure this will absolutely NOT go down well in some calls!), and apply to all calls

It seems that the numeric keypad which was require during call to business, government etc with automatic switch board (call to landlines) is not functioning anymore during a call. Meaning that you can't select any options as no tone is generated even if the number press appears (most of the time). It does work for dialing numbers to call.

Confirm it was working in the previous 5.3 version (other Linux computer). 

- Linux Mint Cinnamon 18.2.

Thanks for enabling group video call feature. That is a big step forward. Possible improvements:

• Set grid mode to default in group video call.
• Make it possible to initiate screen sharing when in group video call.
• Add search functionality and keep conversation history for more than 30 days.
• Synchronize notifications between mobile and desktop version (i.e. it has no sense to get notifications on mobile device (Android) if desktop is connected).