The number one reason to install mobile voice, video, and chat app Fring on your smartphone was to be able to make and receive Skype calls on platforms that don’t have fully functional Skype apps. Even though there’s a Skype app for iPhone, for instance, it doesn’t support video chat. Fring does… or rather did.
A few days ago Fring launched an updated iOS app with support for 2-way video chat over the Skype and Fring networks. But due to network congestion issues, Fring announced it would temporarily disable Skype.
Today, Fring issued a few statements suggesting that Skype had blocked Fring from accessing the network altogether — something which Skype denies. It’s turning into a he said/she said kind of story. Skype says Fring was violating its terms of use, and Fring says Skype has shut the door on “openness.”
But here’s the bottom line: You can still use Fring to make voice and video calls — but not over the Skype network. And if you don’t have a number of contacts already using Fring, that means there’s not really much reason to install the app on your phone anymore.
Unfortunately this means there’s still no official Skype app for most Android users (except for those on the Verizon network). And there’s no official Skype app for any mobile platform that supports video calls.
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