Skype is usually the first choice to keep in mind when it comes to video call app, since it is exclusively dedicated to this function, offering a higher image quality than many competing apps.
Among all these functions, Skype offers us the possibility to modify the focus of the background of our video window. This ability is particularly useful when it comes to concentrating the attention of your interlocutors, avoiding distractions in the background.
Next, we will teach you step by step how to use this useful Skype feature to optimize your productivity while on call, in addition to many other services provided by this video conferencing application.
What is Skype portrait mode and what is this functionality for?
Although it is known as portrait mode, the reality is that this is a function that blurs the background of the Skype flame window, thus concentrating the attention of the members of the call on the speaker. This function, focused rather on the aesthetic section, it is also really useful when it comes to improving the productivity and efficiency of virtual meetings, by considerably reducing the potential distractions that could be in the background of the chat window.
Learn step by step how to activate Skype portrait mode and blur the background during a Skype video call
This feature is available for the desktop version of Skype for a relatively short time, and it was released for mobile versions even more recently, so it is not available for all versions Android. While the feature is enabled for most versions of iOS, We can only use it if our mobile device has Android 6.0 or higher.
Versions earlier than this will not have the background blur feature available:
On Android
If your Android operating system is updated to the first supported version, being in this case Android Marshmallow, then all you have to do is install the Skype application and guide you through the following procedure to activate portrait mode:
- Open the Skype app on your Android terminal.
- Open the contact list and select the one you want to call. Pressing on the phone or video camera icon will allow you to make a voice call or video chat, respectively.
- During the call, press the options icon, marked as three dots.
- Active the option “Blur background.”
On ios
The portrait mode activation method on iOS follow the same procedures as in Android, since in both operating systems the application works in the same way.
However, iOS has a broader support for this function, which has been available since 2022:
- Enter the Skype app from your iPhone or iPad.
- Access your contact book and select the person or group you want to contact. To make the video call, click on the camera icon.
- While on the call, tap on the three dots to open the options.
- Select the option “Blur background “ to activate it.
In Windows 10
Being a widely used application in the field of teleworking, Windows is one of the most common terminals from which Skype is used. Also, since the portrait mode feature was first released for computers, it is considerably more polished in this version than in its mobile versions.
To activate it, you just have to follow these steps:
- Open the Skype program on your computer.
- Log in with your user credentials.
- Opens your contact list and Enter the contact or group with whom you want to start a conference.
- Click on the camera icon to start a video chat.
- While on the call, click the camcorder icon which will be seen at the bottom of the chat window.
- A preview will appear of what can be seen in your window.
- Right in this preview, at the bottom, you will see the option “Blur my background”. Click this function to activate it.
On macOS
The operating system for Apple computers was, along with Windows, the first to enjoy the portrait mode option, so in both cases the steps to activate the similar ones, and they are very simple to perform.
It consists solely of the following steps:
- Find the contact or group with which you want to start the video call.
- Click the camera to start with the conference.
- During the call, tap on the camera icon which you will see at the bottom of the window.
- A preview will then jump modifications in your chat window.
- Click on the option “Blur my background “, which you’ll see at the bottom of the preview.
We teach you to perform other functions during the Skype video call easily and quickly
In addition to the portrait mode function, Skype has a variety of possibilities that every user must know to function fluently in this important communication application:
Record video call
This feature allows the user to keep a recorded record of the conferences he holds.
It is a really useful function to keep track of the points discussed during meetings:
- Open Skype on your computer.
- Initiate a call from your contact list.
- During the call, click on the three points to open the options.
- Choose the option “Start recording ”.
The process to record the call on the mobile is very similar, since it only requires pressing the record icon.
For this, just follow this procedure:
- Opens the app of Skype
- Login to you list of contacts and start a call.
- Click on the options icon, illustrated in the shape of three points.
- Choose the icon “Start recording ”.
Share screen
This function is available for both computers and mobiles, and allows the transmission of information between the members of a conference, through the display of the computer screen through the chat window.
To do it on the computer, these are the steps:
- Login to Skype.
- Start a video conference from your contact list.
- Open the chat options, marked with the icon three points.
- Choose the option “Share screen”.
The procedure to share the screen in the Skype mobile application is done through a similar process, which consists of the following steps:
- Open your contact list and start a video call.
- Click on the button call options.
- Select the option “Share screen”.
React live
The reactions on skype, as well as in many other courier services, consist of the use of emojis to express a reaction on a comment or element of the conference.
The method to access this function is as follows:
- Open Skype on your computer.
- Enter your contact book and start a call with a contact or group.
- click in the emoji located at the bottom of the call window.
- Choose the desired reaction emoji. When you do it, you will see an animation in the call window, corresponding to the selected reaction.
Enable subtitles
Captions are a feature of Skype that allows the user to read what is said in a video call. In this way, even with audio problems, it will be possible to get the full context of the conference.
This function is available in the Skype settings and it can be activated both for the current call and permanently for all calls, through the following process:
- Open Skype and start a video call.
- During a video call, select the options icon, illustrated with three dots on the menu.
- Choose the option “Activate subtitles ”.
To activate subtitles as a permanent setting for all video calls, the procedure is different, since it is done from the application settings, not from the call settings:
- Within the application, select your profile picture.
- Enter the option “Setting”.
- Enter the section “Calls ”.
- Select the option “Call subtitles ”.
- Active “Show subtitles for all calls ”. If you don’t want to see your own subtitles, select the option “Only show subtitles for other participants ”.