The Skype bug that crashes the messaging app on Windows, Android, and iOS devices has been fixed for all affected users. Skype for Windows users simply have to install the latest version, while Android and iOS device users have to update the app via their respective app stores.
Once this step has been made, the offending characters will no longer have the same nasty effect as it had before. Skype administrators assured by saying that it "tested sending the offending characters and they went through fine."
The bug which was guised in a simple string of 8 characters made sending message via Skype impossible and, worst, the chat failed to restart after receiving it.
What works and what not
A Skype user first brought the attention to this issue in the community's forum, where he experienced a nasty bug in the app after sending and receiving the characters with "https://:." Soon after Skype users reported similar experience with an emphasis on the inability to sign in again once the message with the characters is received because the app already crashes.
For users, clearing the history apps would make perfect sense once the issue has manifested. The problem is this does not work, because every time a Skype user downloads chat history from server, it will crash again. That is according to the words of the same user that posted the issue on the forum.
What works according to another Skype user is for the sender of the message containing the characters to delete it so it will be removed from the chat history. Another is to downgrade by installing an older version of Skype. Apparently this is only applicable to Windows devices.
Skype for Mac unaffected?
While Android, iOS, and Windows devices are affected by the bug, Skype for Mac remains unaffected. Venture Beat tested the bug by sending Skype for Windows to Skype for Mac, and the result revealed this: "Skype for Windows crashed while Skype for Mac was unaffected."
Then the process was reversed - from Skype for Mac to Skype for Windows, and the result showed that this does not only crashed the Windows app but completely killed it. Plainly put, there's no luck with re-signing in as the app launches but immediately crashes. The same happens with Android and iOS apps when the message was sent from OS X.
The Skype bug fix addresses the issue caused by bad URL. So far there's no negative feedback yet from users, thus it's safe to assume that this issue has been fixed for good.
Join the Conversation