Skype 5.0 for Android now uses your phone number to connect to and find friends.

In an update published to the Play store, Skype announces the option to connect Skype to your phone's address book in the coming weeks. I guess the update lays out the foundation for the deployment of the new feature.

Initially announced back in July, Skype admitted it can be a challenge to find your friends among the 300 million people who use Skype. The solution is for Skype to tap directly into your contacts on your phone. You will be prompted to verify your phone number after installing the update. When done, Skype will match contacts in your address book to your existing Skype contacts. The contacts will then show up in your list and will eventually grow as more people installs the update and register their phone numbers. Worried about privacy issues?

Skype says you do not have to worry about privacy, they will not spam you or your friends. In fact you are in control and can choose whether you want to be found by your phone number or not. It's all there in the settings for you to activate or deactivate. Plus your phone number is never made public. If you logon to Skype with a Microsoft account, the new feature will automatically connect to your Outlook.com and Windows 8 address list.

As written above, this new feature will be deployed to Android in the coming weeks. Skype is working to deliver the same feature to other mobile platforms.

Look into the Play store for the update or click here to download Skype 5.0.