Skype for Windows Phone No Longer a Beta, but Still Missing Some Key Features

Microsoft is taking the beta tag off its version of Skype for Windows Phone.

With the move, Microsoft’s Internet calling service is now no longer as much of a second-class citizen on Microsoft’s own devices.

Microsoft completed its $8.5 billion purchase of Skype last October, but until this February’s Mobile World Congress there wasn’t even a beta version of the software for Windows Phone.

As of Sunday, Skype for Windows Phone has earned the official 1.0 moniker.

That doesn’t mean that the software is necessarily on par with its Android and iPhone counterparts, however. A key limitation, as noted by the Verge, is that Skype can’t run in the background. So you can’t stay on a call — or even receive one — unless Skype is the application in the foreground of the phone.