Skype for iOS Gains New 'Bots' Feature in Latest Update

During today's Microsoft Build conference for developers, Microsoft announced plans to bring interactive bots to the Skype platform on Windows, Android, and iOS. Starting today, Skype iOS users will have access to Bots that offer expertise, products, services, and entertainment through messaging options in the Skype app.

Today we are introducing Skype Bots--a new way to bring expertise, products, services and entertainment into your daily messaging on Skype.

Each Bot will enhance your Skype experience in its own way, bringing a new dimension into your everyday Skype chats by helping turn your ideas and plans into actions.

Available bots that can be interacted with on iOS include Bing Music, Bing News, and Bing Images. Bing Music is able to search multiple sites to find song information, while Bing Image bot and Bing News bot are designed for web navigation. With the Skype Bot SDK, brands and developers will be able to create bots that work through Skype.

In the future, Skype plans to expand Bot availability to audio and video calling, introducing new bot-based experiences. An example of Skype Video Bots was shown off during the Build Conference.

To access the messaging bots in Skype, iOS users will need to download the latest version of the app. Accessing bots can be done through the "Search" option from the Contacts page, which includes an option to add bots to Skype.

Skype can be downloaded from the App Store for free for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link: iPad, iPhone]