Suddenly Skype to Shut Down Qik Video Messaging App on March 24

The mobile video messaging app was launched in 2014 after Microsoft acquired real-time video startup Qik for a reported $100m.

However, since most of its features are already available on the main Skype app, it’s being shuttered on 24 March.

We’ve got some bad news for users of Skype Qik. It downloads messages before notifying users that they have been received so that they can be played back right away without waiting for them to download.

Company said in a statement, “Shutting down Skype Qik video messaging app should not be much of a worry for users as the majority of its features are now included in the VoIP service’s core app. After March 24, users won’t be able to send or receive any messages from the app”. Some of the features we’ve added might look familiar, and for good reason. To send a video message in Skype today, simply look for the video message icon in the media bar… As a result of this, iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone users who had come to rely on the tool to keep in touch will have to seek out an alternative and take steps to save any messages they want to keep. Videos can not be saved locally or shared with others, and each video is automatically erased after two weeks.

Skype recently started rolling out group video calling on iOS and Android smartphones, which should be available worldwide by next month. If you have anything in it you need to save, do so before then. Like that app, Skype Qik had an array of filters for video messages, a feature now ported over to Skype proper. With this app, one could pre-record up to 12 short videos.