The Daily App: Skype for Android

Skype on Android 3.0 is a free download from the Android Market, and on our tablet it set up in a couple of minutes. It is nowhere near as robust as the desktop version of Skype, but it still provides solid calling functionality over the web. We don’t recommend you try this with 3G connectivity, but only with WiFi that has decent bandwidth – at least 3 Mbps, but preferably as much as possible.

Skype for Android allows for Instant Messaging, voice calling and video calling. It works. It’s worth downloading and keeping on your Android device, whether it’s a tablet or smart phone – but we hope it gets better and comes much closer than it now does to the desktop experience. For example, there is no, single pane that provides access to IM, Voice calling, Video Calling or contact management (although a single dashboard does provide a link to the dialpad, personal profile information and contacts – it’s not as powerful as it should be.)

The opportunity for Microsoft to present a robust, Skype experience on Android is important to the company – because it would give it a hook onto hundreds of millions of devices running software created by its archrival Google. To fully leverage that capability, though, Skype for Android should work on improved navigation – and making it not just a must-download, but a must-use.