MAY 20, 2020
FlexiSPY vs. Mspy Android Which Is Best The For Spying on Skype?
With the popularity of instant messaging on smartphones it makes sense that instant messaging conversations would be something you want to eventually spy on in some way. This is why FlexiSPY and Mspy both offer Skype capturing as part of their impressive feature list.
If you take a look at the Mspy website they advertise capturing 5 IM services in total – Skype, Whatsapp, iMessage, Social Network and Viber. In the case of IM capturing the term ‘Social Network’ refers to capturing Facebook. So that is a total of 5 IM services captured, 3 of which are for Android specifically, including Skype compared to 12 IM services captured in total and 10 specifically offered for Android – this also includes Skype.
This means that, like for like, on paper, FlexiSPY offers far more options if you want to spy on IM services for Android, and this is not limited to just Skype. But you also need to consider the quality of captured IM conversation too. Do you just get the IM conversation text or do you get the IM conversation rich media also (rich media includes elements such as picture, videos and audio files shared between the IM participants)?
Getting just the IM text only can make a big difference in terms of how the overall IM conversation is interpreted because rich media now plays arguably an even more important part of an instant messaging conversation than the actual text itself.
Mspy falsely advertises Skype capturing on their website
If you look at the specific page Mspy have created on their website to advertise that they capture Skype you will notice two interesting things. First is the phrase ‘track Skype calls’ which is used to infer that you can listen in to Skype calls that take place on the TARGET phone (false) and the other is the line at the bottom stating that ‘this feature is for iPhone/iPad only’ which refers to Skype capturing so why is it that, on an Android phone, we got captured Skype IM data when testing Mspy?.
Furthermore, inside the Mspy online account for our Android account we can click Skype and then see a tab stating ‘ALL ACTIVITY/MESSAGES/CALLS’ which seems to suggest that Android user of Mspy should get Android Skype call capturing but the website states otherwise – confused?
We contacted Mspy support for more information (the chat transcript is included at the end of the article) who confessed that ‘track Skype calls’ actually means the call logs.
It does not mean that you can listen to actual Skype calls that took place on the TARGET device. Mspy also were at a loss to explain why our Android account had the option within the Skype tab to view calls when this was supposedly not a feature only for their support team to then confirm that it was available on Android as well (capturing Skype messages and call logs).
The truth about what Mspy really captures when it comes to Skype IM capturing.
Below, in full, is our chat transcript with Mspy support staff. From this chat Mspy support staff clearly were at a loss to fully explain my issue or to answer my question fully. They eventually confirmed that on Android you can capture Skype messages and calls even though we only get messages when we tested it so it seems that they do not entirely know their own product features.
Chat started on 19 May 2014, 05:26 AM (GMT+0)
(05:26:22) *** Visitor 89665726 joined the chat ***
(05:26:22) Visitor 89665726: Hello
(05:26:27) Sales Team: If you are an existing customer and require assistance, please log into your account and click “Help”
(05:26:28) *** Karen joined the chat ***
(05:26:32) Karen: Hello ,my name is Karen. I will be more than happy to assist you today !
(05:27:32) Visitor 89665726: Hello Karen. I have one question please. I was looking at your website and your advertise ‘tracking Skype calls’ for iPhone and iPad. I am a customer with an Android phone and I just want to know why, inside my Android account, I can click Skype and then Calls (top bar) when I am not supposed to have this feature?
(05:29:07) Karen: Have you installed mSpy on Android phone ?
(05:29:17) Visitor 89665726: Yes, I have.
(05:29:31) Visitor 89665726: It captures the Skype text messages from Skype chats I just wanted to know what the ‘Calls’ tab was for 😉
(05:30:31) Karen: Where do you see Skype calls tab please ?
(05:31:01) Visitor 89665726: In my account I click Skype and then the bar across the top says ALL ACTIVITY / MESSAGES/ CALLS
(05:32:02) Visitor 89665726: That to me tells me on an Android phone, for Skype capturing, I expect t track calls – is this false?
(05:32:08) Visitor 89665726: *to
(05:33:48) Karen: You can track Skype messages not calls
(05:34:51) Visitor 89665726: Okay. So this is an issue with the online account. You should make sure the option is not displayed for Android users as it is confusing. Also, when you say ‘track Skype calls’ (say on iPhone) does this mean actually listen to the calls?
(05:35:03) Visitor 89665726: Or is it really the Skype Call Logs?
(05:36:16) Visitor 89665726: If it is just the call logs then your website page below is false advertising. https://www.mspy.com/skype.html
(05:39:22) Visitor 89665726: Is anyone there?
(05:40:05) Karen: Karen here
(05:40:23) Karen: You can track Skype messages and call logs
(05:40:37) Visitor 89665726: But only Skype messages on Android – correct?
(05:43:42) Visitor 89665726: Wow. No response.
(05:43:46) Visitor 89665726: This is not very good
(05:44:26) Karen: Right
(05:44:39) Karen: On Android phones
(05:44:53) Karen: You can track Skype messages and call logs on rooted Android phones
(05:45:29) Visitor 89665726: So why does the Skype page say ‘iPad and iPhone only’ and why does it give misleading information?
(05:45:51) Visitor 89665726: ‘Tracking phone calls’ is obviously a better way to get sales than ‘track call logs’ – I get it
(05:45:54) Visitor 89665726: But it is false
(05:46:47) Karen: You can track Skype messages and cal logs on iPhones and iPads as well
(05:47:46) Visitor 89665726: But I can do it on Android too from what you said but your website says different?
(05:47:51) Visitor 89665726: Do you see what I mean?
(05:48:59) Karen: I see one minute please
(05:49:30) Visitor 89665726: I just want confirmation, that’s all
(05:51:46) Karen: I confirm that you can track Skype messages and call logs on rooted Android phones , iPhones and iPads
(05:52:30) Visitor 89665726: Okay, That is all I need. Thank you.
(05:53:31) *** Visitor 89665726 left the chat ***
So it seems that even Mspy themselves are not entirely sure of what they capture when it comes to Skype and it turns out that they do not actually capture that much.
Mspy actually captures the Skype IM text only
So what does Mspy actually capture when it comes to Skype? You can see from the picture of our sample data that capturing rich media is very important for spyphone software. In the sample data there were quite a few pieces of rich media that is integral to the overall tone and flow of the conversation such as the profile details of both parties and the shared rich media.
Not only that but the way that the IM conversation is presented on the phone itself plays a big part in how the chat is interpreted and understand. This means that spyphone software that offers IM capturing must also make sure that not only is as much of the IM conversation captured but that, once inside the online account, it can be easily read and understood.
Based upon the above requirements for successful IM capturing Mspy only really offers a very basic level of Skype IM capturing and only gives you the text of the conversation. No rich media is actually captured but, not only that, inside the Mspy online account the captured IM data is presented in a way that actually makes it harder to read than it should be because the IM text is stacked on top of itself instead of being spaced out as you would expect to see it on the TARGET phone itself.
FlexiSPY captures the text & rich media of every Skype IM conversation
As you can see from the picture inside the FlexiSPY online account not only did FlexiSPY capture the text of the IM conversation, the same as Mspy, but it also captured the rich media and profile information as well.
Furthermore the captured Skype IM conversation was displayed in a format that is as close to what you would see on the actual phone itself which means that it can be very quickly understood.
Rich media that is captured is also captured as part of the overall conversation instead of in a separate place as some spyphone software so you can quickly and easily see the entire Skype conversation and you can choose to save the rich media to your computer for further viewing as well.
These factors all combine to illustrate why FlexiSPY gives you the best experience for capturing Skype IM conversations in their entirety.
FlexiSPY provides the best coverage for spying on Skype
The evidence here speaks for itself.
Mspy only really captures half the conversation because they miss out on capturing the rich media and instead focus on just capturing the text. FlexiSPY solves this. Mspy also present the captured Skype IM text in a way that is not easy to understand or interpret. FlexiSPY solves this too.
FlexiSPY also makes sure to present the captured IM data properly inside its online account so you can easily see at a glance just what they have been talking about on Skype as well as the rich media they have been sharing with each other.
To see why FlexiSPY offers the best features and compatibility for IM capturing take a look at the table below which shows which IM services are captured by FlexiSPY versus that captured by competitors.
