Hooking external speaker to earphone jack on tablet helps me hear sound but sound cuts out for other person when we use Skype or facetime.

Sound cuts out for other person on Skype and Face Time when I use an external speaker hooked to earphone jack on tablets (iPad and surface 2).

I can't speak about the MS Surface, but on an iPad the audio jack is actually used for both earphones and an external microphone. So when you plug a speaker into that jack the mic that is built into the iPad is cut out, which is why others can't hear you through Skype or Facetime.

Ebaines,Yes, that's how this works on Surface 2 and IPad 2. Everything is OK if I don't plug in the speaker. If I do plug it in there is feed back on the other end when using Skype or Facetime. The sound cuts out intermittently on both ends also.The sound on my end is hard to hear at high volume.