Microsoft seems to have learned its lesson from the Teams disaster
Microsoft-owned Skype is out with a new app update on all of its platforms and it includes one feature that a few Android users might need to be wary about: emergency calling. Yes, the thing that Skype warned you not to do with Skype.
Version 8.80 of the mobile app — including for Android (download via APK Mirror) and iOS — includes an increased time limit of 5 minutes instead of two for voice messages and the ability to pinch and zoom in on a shared screen. In the U.S. (via XDA-Developers), callers can also now dial 911 to reach emergency services and allow the app to use your phone or tablet’s location APIs to pass information along to dispatchers.
You may recall the fiasco in December when a Pixel 3 owner couldn’t complete calls to 911 thanks to a two-pronged bug that basically allowed the Microsoft Teams app to confuse and prevent the operating system from selecting a telephony client to complete an emergency call. The app’s behavior was fixed later that month while an OS-level fix was issued in the January level patch for all Android devices, theoretically removing the threat from any app on devices with Android 10 or later.
If your device lacks that patch and you’re curious if any of your apps could trigger a 911 call freeze, you can download the PhoneAccount Abuse Detector app to find out. Software development is a never-ending game of Whac-A-Bug, after all, and Microsoft isn’t exempt from it.
The above features have also been made available to Windows, Mac, Linux, and web client Skype users.
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