Just out of interest, do you know of a better alternative? Skype is pretty popular and I use it with my girlfriend when she is away. But it seems to be one of the worst pieces of software on my Windows machine so I'd appreciate it if you knew of something better.
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Skype for iPhone Updated to Support Multitasking
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Just out of interest, do you know of a better alternative? Skype is pretty popular and I use it with my girlfriend when she is away. But it seems to be one of the worst pieces of software on my Windows machine so I'd appreciate it if you knew of something better.
SIP-based iPhone apps are the best VoIP apps -- search "SIP" in the app store. You will likely need an ITSP account, if you don't already have one.
Just tried it, and it works. So you can be out and about and leave a message for someone in, say, Australia to call you back on Skype and your phone will ring no matter what you are using the iPhone for at the time unless (based on my testing) you are on a cellular call, in which case the Skype caller receives a 'no answer' response.
Normally, when i'm at my house (connected to my wifi network,) the iPhone will disconnect wifi and move to 3G after being put in sleep mode for about 30 secs. I can tell because when i hit the wake button, the 3G icon makes a brief appearance before changing to my wifi bars. However, it appears that, with skype in the background, the phone stays connected to wifi even in sleep mode!
Can you guys test this out on your phones and give me your results? I am very concerned about the impact on battery life because of this.
Thanks!
Can you guys test this out on your phones and give me your results? I am very concerned about the impact on battery life because of this.
Thanks!
yep, i can verify that. ugh
Thanks for verifying, glad it's not just my phone. Guess I'll report it to the skype folks.
-kap
I just did a Skype survey and they were asking how much I would be willing to pay to use Skype mobile I filled out all the answers with $0 but the point is they are thinking about charging a monthly fee just to use Skype mobile.
So no charge for calling over 3G but a monthly fee just to use.
I actually WANT this behavior. I ditched AT&T and only use skype and this allows me to leave the phone active to receive calls all day since I don't have a constant 3G connection.
I believe it should do either or though, using wifi only if there's no 3G connection.
This is good for me since I work in the basement and don't get a cellular signal. I occasionally make Skype calls because I don't want to be tied to my office phone.
So, I downloaded the update, signed in and had it running in the background for a little while.
I come back after about an hour - my desk, where I left the phone, is incredibly hot for a wooden desk and the battery is completely drained on the phone.
Anybody else having these issues with Skype?
I come back after about an hour - my desk, where I left the phone, is incredibly hot for a wooden desk and the battery is completely drained on the phone.
Anybody else having these issues with Skype?
But it will not wake up the phone. You can't receive a call if you are not "using" the phone already...
It does however I find it is slow to receive calls when iPhone is locked.
I got tired of waiting for Skype, so just last night and this morning set up a SIP account with voip.ms ( which is slightly cheaper than skype). I tried a few soft phone options and ended up with fring for incoming because of multitasking and media5 to place calls because of higher voice quality.
In the end I'll probably stick with skype be aides of better quality even thou it is a little more expensive.
Its working 100% as advertised for me. I put it on my iphone and my wifes - made a call from one to the other - with the app in the background and with the phone in sleep/locked mode. The call went through pretty much instantly. I also used chat in the background to my friend - its working perfectly as well.
To the people who don't see the use - att to att (US obviously) calls are free so I likely wont call another iphone with it. BUT imagine being out of the country and calling home to another smart phone/computer for free. Or calling another smart phone on another carrier (does android have a multitasking skype yet?). My brother in law is in Spain studying abroad - he has his iphone over there and just turns off cellular and 3G to avoid international charges (nice new feature in iOS4, can be done by the user btw) but can call us for free with Skype. It has a lot of uses, and this is a pretty significant upgrade.
Side note, someone asked above but no one seems to know yet - I wonder how long it will run in the BG... Obviously turning the phone completely off will prob sign you out. But I wonder if after a certain amount of time you need to sign back in, say every 24 hours even if you never fully turn your phone off?
To the people who don't see the use - att to att (US obviously) calls are free so I likely wont call another iphone with it. BUT imagine being out of the country and calling home to another smart phone/computer for free. Or calling another smart phone on another carrier (does android have a multitasking skype yet?). My brother in law is in Spain studying abroad - he has his iphone over there and just turns off cellular and 3G to avoid international charges (nice new feature in iOS4, can be done by the user btw) but can call us for free with Skype. It has a lot of uses, and this is a pretty significant upgrade.
Side note, someone asked above but no one seems to know yet - I wonder how long it will run in the BG... Obviously turning the phone completely off will prob sign you out. But I wonder if after a certain amount of time you need to sign back in, say every 24 hours even if you never fully turn your phone off?
What would be the use? Some people are so unimaginative.
Imagine that someone traveling on business abroad, which is often the case with me, has one number that works just the same, so his daughter or wife can call and get him any time they want, by dialing the same number. The same would of course be invaluable for other friends and business associates.
Not to mention that most people could drop down to the minimum minutes on their phone plan with a service like this.
Also, imagine that someone has put a data only sim in their iPhone, from say some other device that has an unlimited data plan. Someone could hypothetically cancel their AT&T service all together and have a full service iPhone for the price of the data only sim.
Imagine that someone traveling on business abroad, which is often the case with me, has one number that works just the same, so his daughter or wife can call and get him any time they want, by dialing the same number. The same would of course be invaluable for other friends and business associates.
Not to mention that most people could drop down to the minimum minutes on their phone plan with a service like this.
Also, imagine that someone has put a data only sim in their iPhone, from say some other device that has an unlimited data plan. Someone could hypothetically cancel their AT&T service all together and have a full service iPhone for the price of the data only sim.
I am confused - are you disagreeing with me? If so I am not sure you read my whole post. I gave an example that was exactly what you said. I see the use lol. We are saying the same thing
Seriously.
I live in Japan. My family and friends are in the States. Many of them have iPhones; those who don't have iPhones have Skype installed on their computers. As of today, I can get calls from any of them for free. By comparison, I once rang up a $10,000 phone bill with Verizon after using my cell phone to call Japan from Seattle for a single month. Gee, I wonder which route I'll take this time. Skype for free, or cellular network for $$$$.
I am confused - are you disagreeing with me? If so I am not sure you read my whole post. I gave an example that was exactly what you said. I see the use lol. We are saying the same thing
LOL, no agreeing with you. Joining you.
Yep happening to me too, pretty crappy as I use the lock controls quite often to restart the last podcast I was listening to.
