In recent months, together with the changes that we have undergone in our society, a form of communication has been prevailing that, without being new, has never received so much attention. Video calls have now become the most practical way to connect with people from anywhere in the world, alleviating our loneliness, and facilitating group work. And because of this spike in interest, competition has gotten tougher than ever.
Everyone wants to take advantage of this wave of notoriety, for this reason, each new function, each differentiating point, is essential when it comes to winning users over the competitors. And Microsoft, with technologies such as Skype or Microsoft Teams, does not want to be left behind compared to other alternatives such as Zoom, FaceTime or Google Meet. Not even on iOS devices. For this reason, the Skype app for iOS has just received a novelty that was really missing.
There are many occasions when we do not want those with whom we make a video call to see our background, either because it is real chaos, or simply because we want them to focus on our faces. So the ability to automatically blur the background is really useful. Thus, it was not acceptable that Skype offered this feature in its desktop app and not on mobile devices, although that is something that has just changed.
Thanks to the latest update for Skype for iOS, which you can now download from the App Store, it is possible to blur our background without using green screens. Simply press the More button during a video call and tap Blur the background. Thus, the only thing they can see clearly will be our face, so we better keep it in the best possible condition. And beware of showing more than you should.