Skype just got this handy new zoom feature

Microsoft-owned Skype is literally gaining a zoom feature – not of course to be confused with Zoom, the company that eclipsed Skype as the verb for video calling during the past two years. 

Skype’s new zoom-in feature aims to help users when someone has shared a screen with images that are too small to see. Now Skype users can zoom in with a mouse or screen controls to adjust the size of the shared screen. Users can zoom in at will, without disturbing the meeting. 

To use the zoom-in capability, Windows users can press CTRL and + or CTRL and the mouse scroll. On Macs, it’s Command and + or the mouse. Alternatively, the laptop’s touchpad can be used to zoom in. There are similar zooming controls in Teams for shared screens. 

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Skype, whose development as a consumer app appears to be overshadowed by Microsoft’s consumer push with Teams, recently announced that it is “here to stay” with a redesigned interface. As ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley recently pointed out, Microsoft is keeping Skype around for all those people who find Teams to be “overkill” for their needs. 

In recent months, Skype has gained lightweight versions of Teams features that Microsoft developed throughout the pandemic to catch up with Zoom. 

Skype now has a grid view with up to 10 simultaneous video and audio streams, a Large gallery view with up to 49 video feeds, Together Mode, and Speaker view.  

Microsoft recently introduced a new view switcher grid icon on the top left of the screen that makes it simpler to switch views than digging through settings. 

That same view switcher icon has now arrived in Skype, as detailed in a Skype support note. The view switcher is available on Skype for desktop and mobile devices. However, Grid View is limited to fewer than 9 participants on some mobile devices. 

As part of its effort to modernize the look of Skype, the team has introduced new ways to filter contacts by All, My Contacts, and Only active contacts. 

The Skype team has also fixed several issues, including one that caused it to crash after ending calls, the notification failing to open chat on the iPhone, and a bug that caused refresh when attempting to add funds to a non-empty account on Windows devices.

The features are rolling out this week, according to Microsoft’s release notes for Skype 8.79.