Windows Phone 8 Skype app updated, given some improvements

Microsoft has managed to push out a small update to their Skype app on Windows Phone 8, giving us some welcome improvements. The new version number 2.9.0.129 ushers in some layout enhancements as well as general (and much needed) fixes.

So what’s new? According to the changelog, a filter is now applied so you can find People in your lists more easily, there is a new and improved layout to see even more favorite contacts at a glance, and there are a number of general fixes and speed improvements:

Now with the People List Filter, you can see either all your contacts, just Skype contacts, or only available contacts.
The Favorite Contact tiles are now smaller, fitting three across on the screen so it is faster for you to contact the people you care about most.

One thing I noticed is that while Skype does appear to be faster, it has also improved synching between devices. After updating, I asked a friend to call me. When he did, I received the call on both my computer and my Lumia 810, but when I answered on my computer, the call stopped ringing on my Lumia. Before the update, my Lumia would continue ringing until I manually ignored it, even if I had already accepted the call on my computer. This improvement doesn’t seem to have been carried over to the messaging, but that could be partly due to my crappy university WiFi. I’ll follow up on that later.

Here’s hoping that we can see larger updates soon for the Skype app, such as deeper integration within Windows Phone 8, and a Video Messaging feature.

Head over to the Windows Phone store to pick up the update.