Best multi IM chat program for iOS?

UnknownSouljer

[H]F Junkie
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I'm looking for a chat program for my iPhone that has
AIM/Facebook/Gtalk. Everything else won't really matter for this (I have ICQ... but no one uses ICQ anymore...)

I've tried IM+ which seems to work pretty well. It NEVER closes which is also kind of a bonus unless you log out, and if you're a techie and you make sure to log out of that and then log in on your desktop and vice versa there isn't much of a worry about overlap/multi sign-on OR missing a message due to iOS closing it out. However IM+ has ads. I hate ads with a passion, however this is the best IM app I've seen so far. If anyone knows of one better I'd like to know. (If there is a paid IM+ option to get rid of ads, I may consider that, but I would of course prefer free. EDIT: yes there is, in app purchase for $3.99).


Trillian wouldn't log into Facebook.
Verbs costs money and hasn't been updated since 2012 (although I like that it looks like iOS)
 
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No one IM's anymore eh?

I was also going to ask which VOIP app everyone uses too, but if these answers are sparse, I can only imagine the sounds of the crickets chirping for that question.
 
I researched this recently and IM+ is probably the best option. I tried it but it didn't really meet my needs.

My friends and I started on ICQ in '97 and started migrating to AIM around 2001. Flash forward to today and IMing has kinda gone down the crapper. I still leave my AIM account signed in on my computer but don't use it on mobile.

I think the biggest hit to the IM platforms has been the increase and ease of texting. So we all text or Skype. Skype replaced Ventrilo for us, which is awesome cause it's so much easier and works great for consoles too.
 
I researched this recently and IM+ is probably the best option. I tried it but it didn't really meet my needs.

My friends and I started on ICQ in '97 and started migrating to AIM around 2001. Flash forward to today and IMing has kinda gone down the crapper. I still leave my AIM account signed in on my computer but don't use it on mobile.

I think the biggest hit to the IM platforms has been the increase and ease of texting. So we all text or Skype. Skype replaced Ventrilo for us, which is awesome cause it's so much easier and works great for consoles too.

I totally get that. It makes sense. I just want a third party program that does AIM and FB primarily (the other ones are just nice to have). FB being the big one. FB Messenger for iOS is 'okay' but why have multiple programs open rather than just one? The reason why FB messenger is particularly useful is mostly because people at work can still chat and use the web interface without having to install a third party program (that is if their company hasn't blocked FB altogether). And people of course filter in and out of FB constantly. Worst case scenario with frequent FB users is that you "leave a message" for them to see later. It's pretty convenient.

I guess I'll stick with IM+ then. Do you have a suggestion for a VOIP iOS program? I'm trying to figure out the best way to make free call on Wi-Fi. So far I'm looking into Talkatone and Viber. I have no preferences on this other than it's easy to use and minimal.
 
I guess I'll stick with IM+ then. Do you have a suggestion for a VOIP iOS program? I'm trying to figure out the best way to make free call on Wi-Fi. So far I'm looking into Talkatone and Viber. I have no preferences on this other than it's easy to use and minimal.

I don't have much experience in VOIP apps. I use Skype for Skype-to-Skype calls all the time and it's fantastic. I used to user Viber for long conference calls... It was OK at best. The quality was pretty sub-par, but I think they have a paid tier. Maybe check out some of the Google Voice apps? There has to be a good one somewhere.
 
So far I'm looking into Talkatone and Viber. I have no preferences on this other than it's easy to use and minimal.

Use the Hangouts app for doing GVoice chat and WiFi calls. It's definitely the best VOIP experience on iOS outside of FaceTime.
 
I don't have much experience in VOIP apps. I use Skype for Skype-to-Skype calls all the time and it's fantastic. I used to user Viber for long conference calls... It was OK at best. The quality was pretty sub-par, but I think they have a paid tier. Maybe check out some of the Google Voice apps? There has to be a good one somewhere.

Use the Hangouts app for doing GVoice chat and WiFi calls. It's definitely the best VOIP experience on iOS outside of FaceTime.

They key with the VOIP calls is that I want to be able to use it to call landlines. Facetime of course can't do that, Skype I think can if you pay for time/usage/whatever. Google Voice appears to use minutes as well (unless you're using it from a computer), not sure about Hangouts.

I basically need a true VOIP dialer, not client to client (like FaceTime to FaceTime or Skype to Skype).

Thanks for the help thus far!
 
IMO is the best program and a very good program. I use it daily for iPhone and iPad. It's free.
 
They key with the VOIP calls is that I want to be able to use it to call landlines. Facetime of course can't do that, Skype I think can if you pay for time/usage/whatever. Google Voice appears to use minutes as well (unless you're using it from a computer), not sure about Hangouts.

I basically need a true VOIP dialer, not client to client (like FaceTime to FaceTime or Skype to Skype).

Thanks for the help thus far!

Hangouts app can use your GVoice account to dial phone numbers. It's free to US (Canada too?) numbers and a couple cents a minute elsewhere in the world. Hangouts is the new official Google Voice app for iOS. There is still a standlone iOS app for Voice but it's no longer updated and generally sucks.
 
Hangouts app can use your GVoice account to dial phone numbers. It's free to US (Canada too?) numbers and a couple cents a minute elsewhere in the world. Hangouts is the new official Google Voice app for iOS. There is still a standlone iOS app for Voice but it's no longer updated and generally sucks.

Ah, I see. I'm trying to get international calling to Japan for my Mom. A shame if it costs any amount. Hrmmm. Still trying to find a 100% foolproof way, but it's a good start.
 
Ah, I see. I'm trying to get international calling to Japan for my Mom. A shame if it costs any amount. Hrmmm. Still trying to find a 100% foolproof way, but it's a good start.

An iOS VOIP client that offers free calling to phone numbers in Japan? I think your only hope there is going to be a Japanese-language app sponsored by some sort of large Japanese ISP or telco, if at all. If you find anything, be sure to let us know!
 
I still vote for Trillian.

They do something huge that none of the other services do. They sync your chats between devices. I have my desktop at home, my iPhone, my iPad, and my browser at work. I love that all my chat windows and 2-way conversations are automatically synchronized at all 4 terminals instantly.

Facebook chat works perfectly fine on Trillian for me. Perhaps you should contact their support.
 
I still vote for Trillian.

They do something huge that none of the other services do. They sync your chats between devices. I have my desktop at home, my iPhone, my iPad, and my browser at work. I love that all my chat windows and 2-way conversations are automatically synchronized at all 4 terminals instantly.

Facebook chat works perfectly fine on Trillian for me. Perhaps you should contact their support.

XMPP/GTalk/Jabber servers support that natively as long as the client implements it. Other protocols don't, which means Trillian is keeping your private chats archived on their servers somewhere, and also means that your chats are being routed through their servers first. No thanks.
 
XMPP/GTalk/Jabber servers support that natively as long as the client implements it. Other protocols don't, which means Trillian is keeping your private chats archived on their servers somewhere, and also means that your chats are being routed through their servers first. No thanks.

I'm aware of that and completely OK with that. There is nothing private going on in my chats anyways. The integration is just too useful for me. I never want to go back to the nightmare of when messages would show up on only 1 device and if I replied from one device I wouldn't see my half the conversation on my other devices or it would be missing half their messages, etc. It goes from basically useless to very useful to me.
 
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An iOS VOIP client that offers free calling to phone numbers in Japan? I think your only hope there is going to be a Japanese-language app sponsored by some sort of large Japanese ISP or telco, if at all. If you find anything, be sure to let us know!

I don't think it's entirely unreasonable considering the flexibility of the internet and the ubiquitous nature of telco companies and if not telco companies Google themselves. Maybe it doesn't exist, but as has been pointed out here with client to client apps we're already most of the way there.


imo.im

I use it too.

Testing it out now. It's interesting how all these services want to add a bunch of other social features (I don't think I'm going to care much about 'following others' on IMO). I think it's semi-unreasonable for them to think that there is going to be mass interest. Too many 'social' things to track and generally it's not worth the time.
 
Testing it out now. It's interesting how all these services want to add a bunch of other social features (I don't think I'm going to care much about 'following others' on IMO). I think it's semi-unreasonable for them to think that there is going to be mass interest. Too many 'social' things to track and generally it's not worth the time.

Its getting difficult to track all these different 'networks' for which I've apparently signed up.
 
I don't think it's entirely unreasonable considering the flexibility of the internet and the ubiquitous nature of telco companies and if not telco companies Google themselves. Maybe it doesn't exist, but as has been pointed out here with client to client apps we're already most of the way there.

For sure, it's just that I've only heard of companies offering this in the US/Canada (due to deregulation allowing "virtual" phone operators like Google) and a couple European countries (where the telco is essentially state-owned and offers this functionality to all users). It's not a technical issue (as you say, all the pieces are already in place) just an issue of regulation and incentive. Google does this as a free service (even though it costs them money) because they collect the recorded audio from voicemails and use it to improve their natural language processing algorithms, so there's net gain for them. You'd have to have a similar legal regime and incentive structure for a company to do this in a place like Japan, I would think. I don't understand any Japanese so I wouldn't even know where to start looking for such a service, but please let us know if you can find one.
 
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