Michal Ždanský Whatever the ICQ protocol was, it had one big advantage - in our area, almost everyone used it, from teenagers to seniors, and a person only needed one application to be able to communicate virtually with his contacts, or to switch on Skype from time to time. Later, however, Facebook began to expand massively and we saw Google Talk. In addition to this, there were other protocols, for example, Jabber, which is popular among ajjats, from which, after all, Facebook chat is based.
While on the Mac, I am assisted in the mess of IM protocols by the already somewhat aging one Adium, on iOS I managed to replace most of the applications from those worth talking about. From now discontinued, great looking Meebo, though less known palringo, after Imo.im or Beej. In the end, I settled on IM+, which never met my requirements for the appearance of the application, but the well-laid out UI, reliability when connecting, massive protocol support and frequent updates made me stick with this application.
Last week, a new version for iOS 7 was finally released. It follows the trend of releasing new apps instead of free updates, which I don't condemn, developers have to make a living. However, the new IM+ Pro is worth the money. The developers at SHAPE have finally managed to combine great features with a minimalistic and good-looking design, resulting in the best multi-protocol IM client to be found on the App Store.
After the first launch, the application will ask you which IM protocols you want to connect. The offer is really wide and you can find most of the existing ones here, for example Facebook Chat, Google Talk, ICQ, Skype, Twitter DM or Jabber. For each of the services, it is then necessary to fill in the login data or use the authentication dialogs of the services (Facebook, GTalk). After completing the settings, you will find all your contacts clearly in the appropriate tab (the application also has a Czech localization). IM+ groups them by protocol, which can optionally be collapsed to show only the ones you're interested in. Grouping can also be turned off and have one long list.
The availability status of the user is also always displayed for avatars. I'm a little surprised that SHAPE didn't go for circular avatars, instead they show squares with rounded corners, while Facebook contacts tend to be rectangular as well. Some standard is missing here, which may be material for the next update. You can directly select a contact from the menu and start a conversation with them. The application also allows you to add new contacts to the list for certain protocols, for example Skype, ICQ or Google Talk.
In the messages tab you will find an overview of all the conversations you started in IM+. The thread of the conversation is quite clear, you will always see the participant's name and avatar for each new message, consecutive messages from one of the participants are grouped together, although I would appreciate more spacing between paragraphs. You don't only need to send text and emoticons to your contacts, but also, for example, images, location or voice messages. As for that, IM+ sends the coordinates as a link to Google Maps, and the voice message as a link to an MP3 file on the SHAPE server. The application also supports group chats in Skype and ICQ.
After a few days of use, I can confirm that all protocols work reliably and without problems, including Skype. Rather oddly, however, Twitter treats @Replies and DMs as two conversations where it collects all messages from all users. DMs can be replied to by clicking on the icon next to each message, which adds a parameter and the user's name to the text field. IM+ even offers a proprietary Beep service that works like Whatsapp, only for users of this application, but as an In-App Purchase for 0,89 euros.
You can add additional accounts or manage existing ones in the accounts tab, if you forgot to set the chat history. IM+ can save the history of your conversations and synchronize them across devices, and they are also available in a web browser, of course under a password. Otherwise, you can replace the third tab with a list of favorite contacts, which you can set according to your preferences. In the Status tab, you can then set your availability, make yourself invisible or disconnect from all services and thus not receive any messages.
IM+ will offer relatively detailed options for setting sounds, both for regular notifications and for notification sounds directly in the application. In the list of sounds you will find several dozen jingles, most of them are very annoying and unfortunately there is no option to set the default sounds of iOS 7.
After spending a few days with IM+ Pro 7, I can confidently say that it is clearly the best multi-protocol IM client available on the App Store. Most services today offer their own application solution, which has some advantages, such as better synchronization of conversations, see Facebook Messenger or Hangouts, but constantly switching between applications is annoying and unnecessary. Even though I've eliminated the chat protocols to two, I can still appreciate the ability to have everything under one roof, and in a great looking environment, which was not the case with IM+ for a long time.
Some users may see the move to charge for the new version as rash, but given that IM+ has been supported for free for 5 years, the move is understandable, plus the old version is still functional, although it probably won't get an update. It is also available free version with ads and some limitations (e.g. Skype is missing), so you can try the application before buying. IM+ Pro 7 is a universal app by the way, and the iPad version looks just as great.
[app url=”https://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/im+-pro7/id725440655?mt=8″]
I used im+ pro... and I would like to use it, but one thing bothers me. when someone writes to me on facebook, a notification pops up on fb, fb messenger and even im+ pro... it would be ideal if the program, if it is running, was able to ensure priority. It annoys me so much when I have every message in three places...
Since the release of Facebook for iOS 7, I have deleted Messenger (still used to switch Facebook to Messenger when I wanted to go to messages, now it's all in one app), and I suggest you try the same thing, Messenger has lost its meaning with this new version. :)
FB messenger has one advantage. Because it doesn't load as much data, it works better in places where data is very slow due to great coverage. So if I just want to send someone a message or read one, it's more comfortable for me to launch FB messenger. In addition, as you wrote, the FB application also switches to it, so isn't it better to just let it go?
If there is no Messenger in the iPhone, FB doesn't switch anywhere, that's how it was intended :) it's true that I don't deal with data, I don't know FUP..
But it's not about FUPm, it's about the fact that if I'm not on 3G, it simply takes much longer to load the FB application against FB messenger. So, if you want to text someone and not see the wall, I think it's still better to use FB Messenger.
So wouldn't it be better to decide which application you use and then set it to not notify you when you only want to notify from one?
I have notifications turned off for many applications, because it pissed me off ;-).
IM+ is fine, I also tried 7cka, but so far they haven't been able to add integration with system contacts to it. I don't even respond to the question of how it looks with the promised function anymore and filter the forum :/ After such an approach, I am not willing to give them money for the Pro version again.
Can you turn on iCloud Sync there? Or is it only for the PRO version? I keep turning it on and nothing.
I suddenly found out that I had IM+ installed on my iPad and that I don't use it at all ;-).
Sometimes I open Skype because I want to make a video call, and otherwise I only occasionally use iMessage from the iPad.
So I don't really need such an application anymore. Well found for my wallet or credit card :-).
The synchronization between devices doesn't work for me either, not even in the PRO version. I.e. when I write something on the iPad, I can't see it on the iPhone. And if I write something outside of IM+, it doesn't either, but I don't know if it's supposed to work at all.
The application is super functional, but there are fundamental errors that I now miss in the new version, unfortunately I couldn't find a change in the background image to the old version, it was possible to choose a wallpaper or an image from the library, and another thing that really bothers me is that when I switch the message preview so it notifies me only the sound and I don't get a notification that someone has written to me, it should be the case with the old version it showed me a notification that someone is writing to me but it won't show me the message even from the content, it was the advantage of the old version with this new one, when I turn off the preview, I only get a sound and a notification on the display about the fact that someone writes to me, I don't need someone to listen to my messages on the locked display. So, my opinion is that they still have something to improve, but I'm sorry. If they were innovations, I would understand, but what I don't understand is that they didn't copy this new version from the old one that was already tested to perfection and they would rather kill the old one and make a new one with errors that they will keep improving for about 5 years and then they will cut this and make a new application and they will do everything again and again pay for the packages that I have already paid for such as Beep which works for me in the old paid version, I understand that I want to earn what I approve, but they could have done it much better and not kill the perfect application and accept it with an unasked failure :-(
Well, it went from home. That is, from the desktop. Synchronization doesn't work for me, I only stay with (FB) Messenger.