Skype for Android and iOS gets video filters, 3D Touch support on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus

Microsoft today updated its Skype for Android and iOS apps with video message filters and 3D touch support on the new iPhones. You can download the new apps now directly from Google Play and Apple’s App Store (iPhone, iPad).

First up, the apps are getting video message filters, which are essentially video effects that you can add on top of your Skype video messages. Skype has had video messages — short clips you can send to your Skype contacts to be viewed at any time — for a while now, but you couldn’t do much with them beyond recording and sending.

Now, you can tap the filter wand at the bottom left of the video message window, choose a filter to see it in action, and then hit the record button. You can add balloons, change the appearance of your face, or even apply a negative filter.

iOS users are getting the bigger update. Skype has added a bunch of iOS 9 features for the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus:

• 3D Touch the Skype icon on your home screen for quick access to our most used features — search your Skype contacts, start a call or chat, and access the Skype dial pad. Clicking any of these options takes you to that task in Skype instantly.
• Once you’re in the app, you can 3D Touch a Recent conversation to Peek the latest instant messages or live video if you’re on a call. Swiping up reveals more actions and a harder press will Pop the conversation into the foreground.
• If you’re in a conversation and someone shares their location, a photo, URL or contact, you can 3D Touch to Peek it, then swipe up to reveal more actions or harder press to Pop it into the foreground.

Skype for iPhone and iPad now also lets you hide and delete chats by swiping the contact or tapping Edit — you can also delete the entire chat history from within any conversation by using the chat menu. Lastly, you can now share a Skype contact by tapping the contact card icon in a conversation to open your contact list.

Unfortunately, Skype once again has apparently excluded Windows users from the mix (keep in mind that Microsoft is integrating Skype into Windows 10 Mobile). We’ve asked Microsoft for more information on when Skype for Windows will get these features.

Update: “Windows users remain a top priority for Skype,” a Microsoft spokesperson told VentureBeat. “We are focusing our efforts on integrating Skype capabilities into Windows 10 communications apps to deliver great experiences to Windows users. We’ll have more to share in the future.”