Ever wish you could manage your Skype activities in GNOME Shell without needing to have the app front and centre all the time?
The suitably described ‘Skype Integration‘ extension for GNOME 3.8 and up is on hand to help. It puts some of the VoIP application’s most used features, like microphone muting and status switching, into a drop-down panel applet within easy reach.
The integration also pipes Skype notifications through the native GNOME notification system, and surfaces your Skype buddies in Activity Overlay search results.
The menu displays:
- Status Indicator icon (including alerts of missed calls/unread messages)
- Recent chat view
- Status switcher
- Quick Links to contact list & add contact dialog
- Microphone toggle (only works during call)
GNOME Shell doesn’t support ‘legacy’ applets, such as that used by Skype, in the system tray by default. Using the Skype API this extension works around.
Add the Add-On
Installing ‘Skype Integration’ in GNOME is just as easy as another other add-on; pop over to the extension listing on the official GNOME extensions website in a supported browser (e.g. Firefox or Web), slide the switch from ‘Off‘ to ‘On’, and hit ‘Install’ when prompted.
Then, next time fire up Skype you need to give permissions to the applet. Check the ‘Remember This Selection‘ box, followed by ‘Yes‘, and everything will be good to go!
Skype Integration is a free add-on for GNOME Shell and available from the GNOME Extensions website . It works with GNOME 3.10 and Skype for Linux 4.1 and higher –yes, including the latest release.