While contemporary smartphones are capable of many things, they’re still primarily communications devices. With that in mind, it isn’t surprising how Android developers are still pushing out new communications solutions in the form of mobile apps. In fact, one such product just appeared on the Google Play Store yesterday, and to make matters even more interesting, it’s being developed by the Skype team. The app in question is called Skype Mingo and is currently in an alpha stage of development, i.e. the app hasn’t been officially launched. Nevertheless, Skype Mingo seems like a good indicator of things of to come.
The app itself borrows a lot of design concepts from the standard Skype Android app but improves on it by offering more than just a solution for instant messaging and audio and video calling. Namely, Skype Mingo has also been designed as an alternative to the default messaging app. As it turns out, Skype Mingo features the same “Recents” and “Recent Calls” screens present in the main Skype app. However, in addition to Skype calls and conversations, these sections now also showcase your SMS and regular calling history. Furthermore, this prototype also boasts support for SMS which you can send directly from the “Contacts” screen. In addition to that, it seems that Skype Mingo will serve as a testing ground for the SMS Relay feature recently introduced in the Windows 10 preview of Skype. This feature allows you to send SMS messages to mobile users using the Skype desktop client.
Last but not least, it’s worth noting that while the app is officially called Skype Mingo on the Google Play Store, the installed app is simply dubbed Mingo, which may indicate that Microsoft is looking to launch another Skype-powered service for people looking for a comprehensive communications hub. Of course, this could also suggest that Skype is getting rebranded, but that doesn’t seem likely seeing how its brand is too strong to give up. In any case, Skype Mingo is currently only available in select territories and on a limited number of mobile devices. You can see whether the app is available in your country by following the Google Play link below or refer to the gallery beneath it to see Skype Mingo in action.
