How to set up a Skype group chat on your smartphone

Microsoft has updated the Skype Android and iOS apps with brilliant new features. On PCs, you can add up to 25 people to group chats and now you can do this from your phone and tablet as well. Even better, you can have a group video call with all these people.

Before you begin, you will need to install Skype on your Android device , iPhone, or iPad.

1. To create a Skype group on iOS, tap the ‘New chat’ icon. On Android, tap the blue ‘+’ icon at the bottom right, then tap the speech bubble icon at the bottom. We’ll first show you how to add your Skype contacts to this group (see Step 2 to add people whose Skype IDs you don’t know or those who don’t have one). Type the name of a contact you want to add in the search field at the top, then tap the correct autosuggest option. Repeat this to add more contacts. When you’re done, tap the tick icon at the bottom right (top right on Android) to see your group.
   
2. Once you’ve created this, it’s easy to add people whose Skype IDs you don’t know or those who don’t have one. To do that on iOS, tap the dropdown menu at the top of the group conversation window, the ‘Chat invitations’ slider, then tap the Invite button. On Android, tap the three dots at the top right, then tap ‘Share chat’. You’ll now see the option to share a group invitation link using email and messaging apps. Select the app you want and send the link to whoever you need to. Once the recipients open it, they’ll see the option to log in to Skype or create a new account. Alternatively, they can add a ‘guest name’ and join the conversation without an account.
   
3. To start a group video call with these members, simply tap the video call icon at the top. To add more people to the call on iOS, tap the ‘+’ icon. On Android, tap the three dots at the bottom, then tap ‘Add people’. Now search for the person you want and tap the correct autosuggest option when it appears. Repeat this to add more people. Tap the grid icon to switch between different screen layouts (these options vary depending on the number of people in your group call). You can also use your main camera. Tap the ‘End call’ icon to leave the video call.