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Slack adds Microsoft Teams video call options
More of us than ever are relying on video calling apps to chat with friends, family and colleagues. Slack, for example, has seen a huge increase in calls made and received through its app in the last month amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting today, the app will give you more options. For instance, you can now hop into a Microsoft Teams call directly from the productivity app, which said last week it was working on such an option.
iOS code hints iChat functionality coming to mobile
Developer John Heaton found some code in the latest version of iOS that hints iChat functionality could finally be coming to the mobile operating system. The code mentions various chat services like Jabber and AIM, and while it doesn't specifically mention iChat, there's certainly some strings in there that aren't yet included in any of Apple's standard apps. We've heard rumors of something like this before -- the revamped iMessage in iOS 5 is essentially iChat for iOS, though it still doesn't directly connect to the IM services mentioned in this code. Apple may not bother calling it iChat, but it's clear that at some point, the company was at least testing more functionality on mobile. We'll have to see -- it would be nice to have the messaging app on the iPhone send messages out to a number of different services, but obviously Apple hasn't announced any of this just yet.
How to: Facebook chat in iChat or Adium
Last week, the fine Facebook folk let us know (via the Facebook Help Center) that you can now sign in to Facebook's chat service using iChat. Of course, the free Adium client has directly supported Facebook chat since version 1.3 (released in 2008), but this step opens up a much wider range of clients for the service. Facebook's chat service is powered by the Jabber/XMPP open source chat protocol. Many networks (such as Google Chat) rely on Jabber, and for this reason chat clients like iChat and Adium allow for the setup of a generic Jabber account to facilitate the widespread use of Jabber. The process is simple. First, create a new generic Jabber account pointed at Facebook's Jabber server. The username to use is your Facebook username (which you can find on the Account Settings page) and the password is the same as your Facebook login password. Next, point the server to "chat.facebook.com," configure the port to 5222 and un-check the box for "Use SSL." After it's all said and done, you should be able to communicate with your Facebook friends using iChat without being logged in to Facebook with a browser. [via Cult of Mac & 9to5Mac]
Walk and talk feature added to Agile Messenger for iPhone
There have been some important upgrades to Agile Messenger [iTunes Link] since I last wrote about the multi-client chat app. Notably: a "walk and talk" feature that uses an iPhone camera to give you a view in front of your phone if you want to chat and walk at the same time. That's useful if you're going to type and walk around, but the under-the-hood upgrades are worth a mention as well. The biggest update for me was the ability to search contacts. If you have dozens of contacts, being able to search by name is essential; scrolling a huge set of lists is a chore. Searching works great in Agile Messenger, I'm happy to report. Push notifications work exactly as they did before. There are some cosmetic tweaks and performance tweaks, and I noticed the performance seemed snappier overall. Still, BeeJive recently added (somewhat limited) chat room support, which Agile still lacks. The iPhone IM wars are still on! Agile Messenger is only $1.99 for the next couple of weeks, which is a steal for the normally $9.99 app. If you use IM a lot, it's a great experience.
MobileChat now available in the App Store
Today Twenty08 released a new instant messaging client for the iPhone/iPod touch. MobileChat (iTunes Link) allows you to connect to multiple IM services, including: AIM/ICQ/.Mac/MobileMe Windows Live/MSN Yahoo GTalk Jabber In many ways, this application for the iPhone looks like a cross between Adium and AIM for iPhone. This application is feature rich, allowing you to take and send images or IM a phone number from any of your 10 supported IM accounts, Most notably, MobileChat allows you to use Apple's forthcoming "Push Notification" system for notifications when the application is closed. This feature is built into this release, but will not be active until Apple "flips the switch." You can download MobileChat today from the App Store for $2.99 (USD).[via MacRumors]
iPhone feature rumor round-up: Jabber and iTunes control
All sorts of little gems are turning up in the iPhone firmware 2.0 code; first we had scraps of GPS support being tracked down, and now we have another pair of goodies that are sure to turn at least a few heads. First up, sister site TUAW is reporting that the latest release makes reference to some sort of remote control for iTunes installations that Apple appears to be billing as "iControl," allowing iPhone users to browse and play iTunes libraries from afar -- presumably over WiFi.TUAW's also got the lowdown on code suggesting support for XMPP, the protocol that underpins Jabber, and most famously, Google Talk. It seems that access to the XMPP framework is being kept solidly out of third-party developers' hands, though, meaning that Apple -- and Apple alone -- will be using it to support on-device iPhone chat. At this point, both of these features need to be quarantined in the "rumor" category, because even if the code does exist as TUAW's tipsters are claiming, there's certainly no guarantee it'll make the cut for firmware 2.0, iPhone 2, iPhone 3, or iPhone 10. Looks promising, though!Read - iControlRead - Jabber support
Rumors: Jabber support spotted by iPhone insider
Our anonymous iControl tipster has returned and tells us that a new XMPP framework has been spotten in the latest iPhone firmware. XMPP refers to the open source standard developed by the Jabber community for instant messaging. Remember back in March when Apple announced it would support native instant messaging? In a nutshell, it looks like Apple's new iPhone-based chat will be built on Jabber/XMPP.Unfortunately, we're told that this XMPP support remains in a private framework and will not be available to 3rd party SDK developers. Apple has made a strong commitment to sand-boxed development, allowing developers little access to the underlying OS and frameworks. Single-purpose apps like games should thrive in this development environment while less bounded utilities like social networking apps may struggle--or at least have to depend strongly on web-based servers.
Peering inside: changes coming to SL's group IM interfaces
Second Life viewer version 1.19.0 isn't all that far away, though there's still some things blocking the progress so the exact timing is in doubt however Joshua Bell from Linden Lab provided some insights on the upcoming changes on the public Second Life Developer's Mailing list. The most standout item on that summary was a change to the way group IM sessions work. Right now, you're automatically connected to a new group IM session for one of your groups, and a tab pops open for it as soon as the first message for that session is sent. Disconnecting from that session has been a little problematic lately, with session tabs popping back open again. All that was pitched to change.
Ask TUAW: What's your favorite multi-network IM client?
TUAW reader varun submitted a good question for an Ask TUAW session on the topic of multi-network chat clients. varun has tried out the likes of Fire, Adium and Proteus, but hasn't come up with a compelling reason to use one over the other. I thought this would be a nice opportunity to ask you readers to sound off on which multi-network IM client you prefer, and why. When commenting, be sure to mention how the client fits into your workflow, what you like about it and why. The more clients you can bring to the table above and beyond the ones already mentioned, the better.So what say you, TUAW readers? What is your favorite multi-network IM client, and why?
Proteus is now free
Proteus, the chat client for the Mac by Defaultware, is now free! With Proteus, you can simultaneously connect to AIM, Yahoo!, MSN , ICQ, Jabber (including Gtalk), Bonjour, Gadu Gadu and Sametime chat services. Plus, it sports a customizable, Mac-like UI and plays well with Address Book.When you download the current version 4.12, you will have to go through the registration process, but there will be no charge. Defaultware has stated that a new version that does not require any sort of registration will be made available soon, as well as a universal binary.
