Skype 1.2 for iPhone "unusable" say bloggers

David Swan
Tuesday, 08 September 2009 15:04

Your IT - Mobility

Skype's version 1.2 for the iPhone, released Friday, has been deemed "no good" by a number of users, with reports online that it crashes immediately after dialing.

Skype's official forums are alight with word that the new version of its official iPhone app repeatedly crashes either after logging on or dialing a number, even after users reboot their iPhones or delete and reinstall the software. The problem also affects both users with jailbroken and non-jailbroken iPhones.

One of Skype's forum users, Seorin, noted that "since the update it crashes on login", whilst cweinkove wrote that "Skype crashes when it tries to dial, and manually dialling lead to a crash after the fifth digit is entered. Others seem to have the same problem. It must be the app which is at fault."

The thread in question can be found here.

Reviews of the current version on iTunes include many one star reviews from users similarly frustrated with the new software, including Tjccbbnn who wrote "It's unusable! Constantly crashes since last update", and Habanero-1 who has written "Since the last update I have been unable to call landlines and mobiles. BIG problem!"

Even iTWire's site director Paul Hosking has reported that his iPhone 3GS freezes when he tries to use Skypeout. "It's the first time any app has actually frozen my iPhone," Hosking said.

An official response has come from Skype staff in the form of a rather sparse forum reply, which reads,

"We are working to find the root causes of these issues. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

Further comment is being sought via email, and we'll update the story when a response is available.

Users are recommended to stick with Skype 1.1 if they haven't yet updated, or simply wait for a fix which should hopefully be on the way.

UPDATE: Skype have emailed me a comment, which reads, " Skype is aware of this issue which is affecting a small number of users globally.  We are working to resolve it as quickly as possible."