With XMPP, all you can do is use Jabber and Google Talk, which is pretty good.
However, the best option is to add the same support from OSX and allow the user to log into Networks A, B, C and D directly.
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Mobile OSs Why are we ok with Apple still not providing a built-in IM to chat with other phones?
- Thread starter Calidude
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However, the best option is to add the same support from OSX and allow the user to log into Networks A, B, C and D directly.
This actually is an important point. I've seen some bloggers talk about this recently.
IM assumes you can set a 'here/away' status and people are used to waiting for a reply as you might not get the message for awhile.
SMS assumes you are always on and if you don't reply there must be a reason.
Thus, the way I choose send a message indicates the urgency with which I expect a reply. There are certain messages you would only send one way but not the other way.
Is there a way to deal with this within a single program? Maybe. Or do we just have to get over this as society soon moves to treat ALL forms off communication like the text...we know you have a smart phone, so we know you got it! IM, email, texts...they're all the same now.
Maybe that's the real answer. Those differentiations are going to go away so this problem solves itself.
Interesting to think about, anyway.
Honestly I think the future is going to be a system very similar to Whatsapp for all phones.
- We're moving towards a celluar system that is going to be VOIP and data based anyway
- SMS assuming you're always available is outdated. You should have a status for ALL messaging.
- We shouldn't have to pay extra to text anyway. It should be a flat rate for data.
- Having the double checkmarks or Sent/Received system is essential for IM communication these days like it was on BBM
- You can't do advanced stuff like send a location or audio or a contact via SMS
- Nobody wants to pay extra for International messaging like we are charged for on SMS anyway
- SMS is slow. Ever watch that progess bar on your iPhone? Compare that to Whatsapp.
- Group messaging is the future and SMS doesn't work for that.
- Why the hell should any phone IM have PINs or usernames?
- We should have the ability to block SMS from certain users with the the touch of a button like we can block other users with Whatsapp, instead of calling our carrier.
Except that was my point. At least in the US, the move has started to include text messaging with the data plan. Most people won't need to pay separately for messaging in the near future.
Why not?
Again, the new shared data plans introduced by Verizon and AT&T include unlimited messaging. No extra charges.
I wouldn't say "no extra charges" when you can get cheaper data plans without unlimited messaging, even in the US. For example, in Germany data plans start as low as 7 a month, while the ones including unlimited messaging are usually at least 15-20.
It's a fact that SMS have always and probably will always be overpriced judged by the actual data traffic / network load they create. It's not US carriers giving unlimited texts away for free all of a sudden, it's just their excuse for not significantly lowering data plan charges (compared to the rest of the world).
A follow-up question might be: Why are we ok with Google allowing built-in IM chat to only happen between Google Talk users?
We wouldn't be ok with it if that were the case. As it stands, Google Talk is simply a XMPP network. I use iChat to talk to Google Talk users all the time.
iMessage rocks because it is totally transparent, and falls back to SMS if the data network is not available. You need to do nothing to use it.
It "just works".
If you want an IM client for the iphone, plenty are available.
It "just works".
If you want an IM client for the iphone, plenty are available.
There's no Google Talk app by Google for iPad nor is there a Whatsapp app for iPad!
Basically out of luck if we want a decent cross-platform messaging experience when we have iOS and something else. The mrs and I both have iPads but Android phones. We have to switch between email/SMS/iMessage.
Basically out of luck if we want a decent cross-platform messaging experience when we have iOS and something else. The mrs and I both have iPads but Android phones. We have to switch between email/SMS/iMessage.
Your answer is Imo. Works for iPhone and iPad perfectly, connects to Google Talk and many other networks.
Multi-network clients tend to be quite messy. I don't need all those different social networks; I just want to use ONE that is cross-platform.
What? No. Imo can function as a Google Talk client alone. You don't need to sign up for their Imo Network. All you have to do deny their offer to get an Imo account and then just sign in to Google via Imo. It works like Pidgin or Adium. It works flawlessly and is your best bet for a functional Google Talk client on iOS.
That's what I need, another app built into my phone that I will never use and can't remove.
You can disable iMessage...
IM chat is a dinosaur.
Between iMessage, Facebook messenger, Instagram and twitter, and SMS, there are already a glut of options for communicating.
Even when I had Google Talk it was never used because more of my contacts were in the aforementioned solutions.
IM chat is a pointless endeavor.
Between iMessage, Facebook messenger, Instagram and twitter, and SMS, there are already a glut of options for communicating.
Even when I had Google Talk it was never used because more of my contacts were in the aforementioned solutions.
IM chat is a pointless endeavor.
Whatsapp is an excellent cross platform solution that changes your phone number into your identifier.
If it worked for iPad it would be perfect.
Okay, but who cares? I don't mean that in a snarky way, but literally. Who the hell cares?
IM was huge 10 years ago. It's dead now. Yahoo Messenger, MSN messenger, AIM...they are ghost towns.
A prime example is Google Talk. It has the best market penetration of any IM platform on the planet. Every GMail, GTalk, G+ and android phone user has access, and most users simply dont care.
I do; I want an app where I can talk to people on either of my devices, and it stays in sync with either of their devices. Is that too much to ask?
First of all, we're talking about modern IM built into smartphones, not AIM garbage. Google Talk is still a viable platform that simply needs improvements in order to work better for people. It's already built-in on most people's smartphones since Android is the top-used platform right now, so all Google needs to do is make it more like iMessage and it will be used even more than it is today.
I dunno about you, but GTalk is the still one of the main ways people chat today simply because its built into Gmail, so just powering it up with iMessagey features is all that is left to make that platform great.
Second, IM is not dead. Look at people's enthusiasm for iMessage, Whatsapp, Kik and BBM, all forms of advanced IM. That's what people REALLY want instead of a dinosaur like SMS. Your thinking is simply backwards, IM isn't the past, its the future, and the success of these platforms shows that. The only thing getting in the way are carriers.
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Yeah, to suggest that IM is dead when whatsapp is one of the most popular apps on Android (not only in terms of number of downloads, but also in terms of 5* ratings), is absurd.
Yeah, and let's not forget Facebook Messenger, which is big now and people use even more than the crappy Facebook app, and the dozen other smaller IM companies competing for Whatsapp's spot on iPhone like Kakaotalk, Line, Viber, etc.
Web-based messengers like Imo. Ebuddy and IM+. Meebo being bought by Google. Trillian and Pidgin for Windows, people still using Adium and iChat on OSX.
And lets not forget that one of the big reasons people STILL stay on Blackberry is because of BBM.