Microsoft Could Not Resist, Skype Rips Off Snapchat With Filters

It really says a lot about the success of Snapchat and its appeal to the younger generation that it’s being copied left and right. The latest to join the score is Microsoft, which recently unveiled filters for Skype. While Snapchat isn’t exactly the first social media platform to feature a face or environment changes via augmented reality, the similarities are still uncanny.

Calling the new feature Highlights, it’s basically part of Microsoft’s efforts to rebrand Skype as a social media platform rather than a simple messaging service for business or personal use, TechCrunch reports. The new service is basically Snapchat Stories, which brings the updated camera feature to the present.

Apparently, the tech giant has been working on these changes for over a year, which brings about the biggest remodel to the service since its inception back in 2006. As such, the result can’t exactly be called cloning since Microsoft has been at it for a long time and seems to indicate quite a bit of thought put into the project.

As to how it works, users simply need to swipe the screen to bring up the new interface. From there, the users are free to take pictures and then decorate the succeeding images with texts or stickers. After doing so, the edited photos can then be shared with a contact or via a group.

Now, it should be noted that there are also some other additions that came with the Skype revamping efforts. There’s the introduction of new bots, for example, which PC World notes are more helpful than those provided by rival messaging services.

By tapping on the new section called “Find,” users gain the option to get help from bots in order to get information that they might be looking for. It’s best to think of them as virtual assistants with a finger in multiple pies.