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Attention to All Skype Friends (Updated)
10 years ago
Originally posted on deviantART.
Hiya, it's your not-so-average Yoshi, and after posting pretty much nothing for the longest time, I reappear with a journal entry of all things. Yeah, I know; with how inactive I've been on this site, I can only imagine that the amount of watchers I have now have moved on or don't pay attention to my stuff anymore, but I can be hopeful.
The reason I'm writing this journal today is to specifically address something to anyone who has contact with me over Skype.
There's an issue that has me already considering leaving Skype once again for someplace different. Allow me to explain: to put this in perspective, I use Skype in multiple places. I have it available on my laptop, my Mac, my iOS devices (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad), and an Apple Watch. Last night, while at work, I was receiving messages from my friends in a small group chat (three people, including myself). I was able to receive the messages being sent by one of the two people in that chat, but when I was able to use my iPhone and check the full chat, the messages were not there. I sent about four messages and none of them were showing by the other two participants. Later that night when I got home, I sent a good 25 messages of some kind into the chat, and the other participant didn't see any of those messages appear. I then proceeded to wait until morning to see if the issue was fixed, and it was... for only a short while. Not only that, but messages fail to appear when I get some coming in. As in, I would be doing whatever on my iPhone or iPad, a notification would pop up saying a message came in, I would tap on it, but half the time, the message was not there. I would have to wait either a good minute or two for it to finally appear, or restart the app to try and get it to appear.
During the testing with this issue, I used my iPhone, iPad, and Mac, was on Wi-Fi and cellular during this time. I tried signing out about twice, and deleting and reinstalling the app at least once, as well as trying to send messages from my end from three different group chats with the same users: one that we've used for the longest time, one that was set up to be used as a back-up (so very little usage), and one more that was set up new. The issue was still present, and one of my friends said I was going offline and back online randomly. So I'm to believe the issue is not with the app itself, but with my account or something, because after having to deal with this problem for two days, I and my other group participants went to Hangouts and we have yet to have a problem.
But all three of us have had some sort of problem with Skype and Hangouts, but at the moment, Hangouts is becoming my more preferred option. Yes, I am giving some things up because of it, but I'd rather have something that's stable than something that I can use some of the time. Have any of you had issues with Skype before?
So while it hasn't been much time since this issue began, I'm not expecting it to be fixed anytime soon. So that's why I'm saying for now, I wish to not return to Skype, not because of someone, but because of the program's inconsistency with quality. With how much I use a chat service to communicate with my friends (and family, when the time comes to it), I want something that is reliable and works. Because I've had my problems with Skype, and this is the breaking point for me. It shouldn't be this hard to make something work without a problem, especially as something so universally used like Skype.
At this point in time, if you or I communicate actively on Skype or you would still like to keep in touch with me, I always have [deviantART and] FurAffinity open in my browser, so Notes is always an option. Otherwise, I am using Hangouts until I see this issue is resolved. I need to remember how to add contacts with Hangouts, but should you have a Gmail account, that should be the way to go.
However, I'm not saying that I want to just use Hangouts from now on. Like I said, I'm giving this and that up for switching back to Hangouts. For one, I liked Skype for how universal it was, you can find it on pretty much everything, and it's something everyone has. Hangouts is essentially universal too, but you use it through your browser and to me, it feels a bit awkward. Either Google+ has to be open, or Chrome does. I'd rather to just have a dedicated window program for Hangouts like Skype does.
Right now, I'm looking into chat alternatives, but I'm not just looking for any chat service, no. I want something that I can put on my mobile devices and computer, not one or the other. I don't want to use something like Yahoo! Chat, even though Hangouts is kinda the same; I guess the reason is that Yahoo! hasn't put any sort of attention into it for years. I've already been suggested Telegram, which looks to be a promising chatting service, but I want to know from you guys: is it any good?
What I also wouldn't mind knowing is if there's any sort of chat clients, or a service that can also import other chat services. Something like IM+, which has its own chat services, but if you have something like Skype, Google, or Yahoo!, you can integrate those services too so your chats are all in one place. That way, I'm not having to shuffle through two programs to keep up with everyone.
I apologize if this may come off as cumbersome to some of you, but from someone who, once again, uses Skype on a daily basis, I will not keep using it in its current state. Thank you to everyone who understands.
UPDATE: Alright, so after spending enough time with two more chatting programs, I think I can safely say that between Hangouts, Telegram, and Wire, Hangouts is the best of the three.
Telegram and Wire have very nice looks, and the fact that Telegram is so accessible is a great thing. Plus, IT HAS STICKERS!!! USER-CREATED STICKERS!!! Telegram also has nice app support and customizable quick replies for the Apple Watch. But the only thing that really holds Telegram back from being a fantastic Skype replacement is that it requires your phone number in order to start up. It's used as your log-in, and even though you can give yourself a username, it doesn't change the fact that your phone number is required for signing up, and for saving contacts, so that piece of information, one that I find very private, is out there, even if it's just your contacts that see it. Wire, on the other hand... only has looks really going for it. It's very pleasant to the eye, but it is severely lacking in features. It's backed up by one of the co-founders of Skype, along with a team with loads of experience in popular companies, but after being out for more than a year, I was expecting to see more out of Wire, and there isn't.
With that said, Hangouts is the better option. While it doesn't have the Apple Watch support I can really get enjoy from Skype or Telegram, it doesn't matter when at the end of the day, I can still respond to messages when they pop up on my Apple Watch, and see the entire message which is more than what I can say for Skype and I hope that made sense.
However, do not misunderstand me: I am not completely quitting on Skype. I am merely using Hangouts as an alternative chatting solution until Skype can get their act together and fix these issues that, apparently, we all have. Should you still wish to chat with me, you can still send me a note asking me for my Google account information so that we can link contacts.
Hangouts is available through Google+ on your browser, the Chrome browser, or for free through the App Store for iOS, or the Google Play Store, unless it's your native messaging application for your phone or mobile device. I don't think it's available for Windows Phone, although I do believe IM+ is your best workaround.
Hiya, it's your not-so-average Yoshi, and after posting pretty much nothing for the longest time, I reappear with a journal entry of all things. Yeah, I know; with how inactive I've been on this site, I can only imagine that the amount of watchers I have now have moved on or don't pay attention to my stuff anymore, but I can be hopeful.
The reason I'm writing this journal today is to specifically address something to anyone who has contact with me over Skype.
There's an issue that has me already considering leaving Skype once again for someplace different. Allow me to explain: to put this in perspective, I use Skype in multiple places. I have it available on my laptop, my Mac, my iOS devices (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad), and an Apple Watch. Last night, while at work, I was receiving messages from my friends in a small group chat (three people, including myself). I was able to receive the messages being sent by one of the two people in that chat, but when I was able to use my iPhone and check the full chat, the messages were not there. I sent about four messages and none of them were showing by the other two participants. Later that night when I got home, I sent a good 25 messages of some kind into the chat, and the other participant didn't see any of those messages appear. I then proceeded to wait until morning to see if the issue was fixed, and it was... for only a short while. Not only that, but messages fail to appear when I get some coming in. As in, I would be doing whatever on my iPhone or iPad, a notification would pop up saying a message came in, I would tap on it, but half the time, the message was not there. I would have to wait either a good minute or two for it to finally appear, or restart the app to try and get it to appear.
During the testing with this issue, I used my iPhone, iPad, and Mac, was on Wi-Fi and cellular during this time. I tried signing out about twice, and deleting and reinstalling the app at least once, as well as trying to send messages from my end from three different group chats with the same users: one that we've used for the longest time, one that was set up to be used as a back-up (so very little usage), and one more that was set up new. The issue was still present, and one of my friends said I was going offline and back online randomly. So I'm to believe the issue is not with the app itself, but with my account or something, because after having to deal with this problem for two days, I and my other group participants went to Hangouts and we have yet to have a problem.
But all three of us have had some sort of problem with Skype and Hangouts, but at the moment, Hangouts is becoming my more preferred option. Yes, I am giving some things up because of it, but I'd rather have something that's stable than something that I can use some of the time. Have any of you had issues with Skype before?
So while it hasn't been much time since this issue began, I'm not expecting it to be fixed anytime soon. So that's why I'm saying for now, I wish to not return to Skype, not because of someone, but because of the program's inconsistency with quality. With how much I use a chat service to communicate with my friends (and family, when the time comes to it), I want something that is reliable and works. Because I've had my problems with Skype, and this is the breaking point for me. It shouldn't be this hard to make something work without a problem, especially as something so universally used like Skype.
At this point in time, if you or I communicate actively on Skype or you would still like to keep in touch with me, I always have [deviantART and] FurAffinity open in my browser, so Notes is always an option. Otherwise, I am using Hangouts until I see this issue is resolved. I need to remember how to add contacts with Hangouts, but should you have a Gmail account, that should be the way to go.
However, I'm not saying that I want to just use Hangouts from now on. Like I said, I'm giving this and that up for switching back to Hangouts. For one, I liked Skype for how universal it was, you can find it on pretty much everything, and it's something everyone has. Hangouts is essentially universal too, but you use it through your browser and to me, it feels a bit awkward. Either Google+ has to be open, or Chrome does. I'd rather to just have a dedicated window program for Hangouts like Skype does.
Right now, I'm looking into chat alternatives, but I'm not just looking for any chat service, no. I want something that I can put on my mobile devices and computer, not one or the other. I don't want to use something like Yahoo! Chat, even though Hangouts is kinda the same; I guess the reason is that Yahoo! hasn't put any sort of attention into it for years. I've already been suggested Telegram, which looks to be a promising chatting service, but I want to know from you guys: is it any good?
What I also wouldn't mind knowing is if there's any sort of chat clients, or a service that can also import other chat services. Something like IM+, which has its own chat services, but if you have something like Skype, Google, or Yahoo!, you can integrate those services too so your chats are all in one place. That way, I'm not having to shuffle through two programs to keep up with everyone.
I apologize if this may come off as cumbersome to some of you, but from someone who, once again, uses Skype on a daily basis, I will not keep using it in its current state. Thank you to everyone who understands.
UPDATE: Alright, so after spending enough time with two more chatting programs, I think I can safely say that between Hangouts, Telegram, and Wire, Hangouts is the best of the three.
Telegram and Wire have very nice looks, and the fact that Telegram is so accessible is a great thing. Plus, IT HAS STICKERS!!! USER-CREATED STICKERS!!! Telegram also has nice app support and customizable quick replies for the Apple Watch. But the only thing that really holds Telegram back from being a fantastic Skype replacement is that it requires your phone number in order to start up. It's used as your log-in, and even though you can give yourself a username, it doesn't change the fact that your phone number is required for signing up, and for saving contacts, so that piece of information, one that I find very private, is out there, even if it's just your contacts that see it. Wire, on the other hand... only has looks really going for it. It's very pleasant to the eye, but it is severely lacking in features. It's backed up by one of the co-founders of Skype, along with a team with loads of experience in popular companies, but after being out for more than a year, I was expecting to see more out of Wire, and there isn't.
With that said, Hangouts is the better option. While it doesn't have the Apple Watch support I can really get enjoy from Skype or Telegram, it doesn't matter when at the end of the day, I can still respond to messages when they pop up on my Apple Watch, and see the entire message which is more than what I can say for Skype and I hope that made sense.
However, do not misunderstand me: I am not completely quitting on Skype. I am merely using Hangouts as an alternative chatting solution until Skype can get their act together and fix these issues that, apparently, we all have. Should you still wish to chat with me, you can still send me a note asking me for my Google account information so that we can link contacts.
Hangouts is available through Google+ on your browser, the Chrome browser, or for free through the App Store for iOS, or the Google Play Store, unless it's your native messaging application for your phone or mobile device. I don't think it's available for Windows Phone, although I do believe IM+ is your best workaround.
the less information you post somewhere in the web, the more freedom you have, atleast in my opinion.
Id rather want the devs reading my chitchat instead of some marketing-agenca selling this for gold.
also is there a way to get in touch with you? I feel abit ignored but its fine