I'd like to point out that it cannot "only be used on the Verizon network". It works just fine on any network in the UK, however, they limit which handsets you can download the installer on. There's nothing stopping you getting the APK from someone else and installing it, but I wouldn't bother. The app really is terrible.
Artificially limiting their market aside, here's some of the highlights:
There are no options. Seriously. None. Good luck configuring anything about the behaviour of the app.
It's huge. I don't have it installed right now but I believe it takes up more than 20MB, which is seriously bloated for a glorified IM application.
You can't view just your online contacts, or order by status. I have a LOT of contacts, and at any given time maybe 10 to 20 are online. Finding them is a complete pain.
If you open an IM with someone, it populates the window with your last chats, just like the other clients. However, it loads a very large amount of your history with them, which takes a long time to populate the window, and it does this every time you switch to that IM "window", making the IM completely unusable.
I grabbed a hacked version of Skype that works over wifi and mobile data connection regardless of carrier from an Android forum (I need it because I'm on China Mobile and it's not available in my app store at all). If you want the apk, please let me know and I can email it to you.
I don't understand. I downloaded skype on a nexus s using a canadian carrier without issue. It seemed to work fine. Is it somehow different for other android phones?
No, there is Skype for Android (which is available for any carrier), it's just "wifi only" in the U.S., but most people should be able to get their hands on the non-U.S. version if they know how to use google.
The sheer suckiness of US networks never ceases to amaze. For a supposed 'technology' country it's amazing how backward they are, and just how much they have customers by the balls. And the customers don't seem to mind.
I've been thinking about doing this for a while. There's so many times when I want to play a game of chess with a friend online, but don't want to take the time to register an account at any of the big chess sites.
My idea would have been a service where you click "New Game", it generates a unique link which you then give to your friend.
