MobileColloquy
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IRC on the iPad: Colloquy and Linkinus
I was originally going to do a "TUAW Smackdown" for iPad Internet Relay Chat (IRC) clients, but after testing both mobile Colloquy and Linkinus, there's not a lot of smacking to do. Both apps are well-written, solid offerings that I can wholeheartedly recommend. They allow you to set up your connections, enter your credentials, and easily hop into and out of chat rooms as needed. Using IRC chat is a big deal for Mac and iPhone developers. It's a great way to find peer-to-peer support. Sites like Freenode and OSX86.hu give you access to hundreds of other developers to consult with in real time. Engineers from a major fruit-named corporation frequent popular chat rooms, offering unparalleled technical access. Having a useful IRC client on the go can be golden, so it was important to me to find a good one for the iPad, and both of these clients are excellent. When it comes to price, Colloquy is the clear winner. The iPad version of Colloquy sells for US $1.99 at the App Store. Linkinus costs about four times more at $7.99 for its iPad version. In terms of bang for your buck, both are good buys, though. I don't think you'll be dissatisfied with either one. %Gallery-93852%
First Look: Mobile Colloquy
I've used the IRC for at least 10 years, if not more, and I've utilized a range of clients starting with the stalwart mIRC for Windows. When I migrated my home system to a Mac, the IRC client of choice quickly became the open-source Colloquy. It was simple to use and easy to integrate scripting via AppleScript. I could easily join chat rooms across multiple serversSo, it should be no surprise that Mobile Colloquy [link opens iTunes] shares many of the same features as its desktop kin. We first saw Mobile Colloquy back in 2007 when it was made available via the Installer.app and it very much the same on the surface as its jailbroken predecessor. It's taken the promise shown back then and has turned into an excellent and stable release that's now available through the App Store.One of the unique features is a built-in browser that will open links transmitted in a chat room or private message. The some of the pages opened through the link are not iPhone-optimized version, but the regular Web sites. I accessed the optimized versions of CNN and Google just fine through the built-in browser, but TUAW came up as the normal site. The button on the bottom right of the browser will take you into Mobile Safari. There is no bookmark tool, you'll go into Safari to take care of that. The "Done" button closes out the built-in browser and returns you back to your chat. It's a very nice feature, but I wish you could bookmark links without having to open the same web page again in Safari - something that could be extremely tedious over the EDGE network. Another drawback is when you do choose to go into Safari, you will be knocked off the servers you were logged into. Give the client a few seconds for the servers to reconnect, then tap the name of the chat room you were in. You will get a prompt asking you if you want to rejoin it.Another very nice feature is completion pop-ups for basic IRC commands, including user names of other people in the chat room. You can also use specialized commands, such as /google query and /wikipedia query, which will bring up results in the built-in browser. All chat rooms and private messages are gathered under one screen. You can set specific words to be highlighted and turn on an optional vibration when the word is used, such as your nickname. Colloquy can be used either in portrait or landscape mode as well.Mobile Colloquy is available in the App Store for $1.99, and it's well worth the money.%Gallery-42866%
iPhone 101: You've got iPhone or iPod touch jailbreak! What next?
You've run the TIFF exploit jailbreak and your iPhone or iPod touch now has Installer.app on your main page. So now what? Here are some tips and ideas for you. Add Community Sources. Most third party applications are found under Community Sources in Installer.app. Until you add this feature, you won't see most of the dozens and dozens of available applications from repositories like SMXY and Conceited Software. Try out some great apps. My personal favorites include my own Voice Notes recorder (for iPhone only), Apollo IM instant messaging client, and Mobile Colloquy for irc. There are productivity apps, games, and utilities, all available for your mobile device. Add direct file access. Install the BSD subsystem and (in Community Sources) Open SSH (both from NerveGas). Once you've installed ssh, you can use any sftp client to transfer files onto and off of your unit. On the Mac, you can also install MacFuse and sshfs to gain Finder access to your units. Remember that the new iPhone and iPod touch 1.1.1 password is "alpine", not "dottie". Many GUI sftp clients may not see the entire directory tree. In this case, you may want to enable afc2. Know when things go wrong. The latest Installer.app has been hammered by new users. If you get a "package" error when trying to install, just do a re-install. You may need to uninstall first, depending on the progress when things failed. If you touch an app icon and it launches, pauses and quits, make sure you've installed the BSD subsystem. Failing to install BSD is the number one reason most app launches fail. Know about restoring. If you ever change your mind about a jailbreak, just restore your iPhone or iPod touch using iTunes. Assuming you haven't unlocked, your iPhone or touch will be identical to one shipped from a factory.When things slow down A number of people have reported system slow-downs after jailbreaking. Unfortunately, a roughly equal number have reported the same problem without jailbreaking. If this happens to you, just restore your iPhone or touch and re-jailbreak.OMG, OMG, OMG restore failed This isn't that uncommon. Try restoring again once or twice. If iTunes fails to see the iPod or iPhone, google for iphuc dfu mode.
Colloquy for iPhone Debuts
%Gallery-7199% A new IRC client debuted on the iPhone today and is available for download from Installer.app. Like many other iPhone projects, Mobile Colloquy is still in its early days, taking baby alpha release steps, but it shows excellent promise. It allows you to create server profiles, enter your user information and, of course, connect to those servers and chat. Although Mobile Colloquy uses the same core as Mac OS X Colloquy, the two projects are not affiliated. For any issues with Mobile Colloquy, the developers request that you please file reports at the Mobile Colloquy Google Code site and not at colloquy.info.
