One of the first apps I downloaded on my iPhone 4 was Meebo. I needed a good multi-protocol chat client and Meebo seemed to fit the bill. I know that the iPhone has plenty of single protocol chat clients like AIM, Yahoo!, and Windows Live, but I really wanted and all-in-one app where I could view them all on the same screen. I decided to check out Meebo which I’ve used before from their web interface on my desktop and since I already had an online account setup, I figured might as well.
The one thing that makes Meebo really appealing is the sheer amount of services that it can connect to. It does AIM, Yahoo!, Windows Live, Google Talk, Facebook, MySpace, ICQ, and Jabber just to name a few. There are even networks that I’ve never even heard of before that is supported by Meebo. Another feature that makes Meebo appealing is the fact that it has Retina Display support and support for multitasking.
I’ve been using Meebo since I bought my iPhone 4 two weeks ago and so far its been flawless. I’ve been able to connect to multiple networks at one time and Meebo neatly arranges all my contacts by network and groups. Meebo even shows all the proper status messages for each of my buddies as well as whether or not they are on a mobile device as well.
What’s great about Meebo is how closely linked it is to the Meebo website app. Let’s say you are at work or home and log into the Meebo website. It automatically tells the iPhone app that you are logged in on a computer and stops sending push notifications to your device. It also knows not to send any of the conversation to your device. It all routes to the website. As soon as you log off the site, your device again begins to receive push notifications. Pretty smart.
I know there are other multi-protocol chat clients out there that are comparable to Meebo, but they aren’t free. Meebo is. Meebo does everything those other chat clients do but at the price of zero. Meebo says that it is ad supported on the iPhone app but I haven’t seen any ads yet in it. If there are ads, then I’m probably just not noticing them.
Meebo is available from the App Store and is available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. For a full list of features, check out the Meebo app page here.
Rating: 5/5
[via App Store]Description
Meebo is integrated, all-in-one instant messaging that connects you with your friends everywhere.
Meebo has been the leading platform for multi-protocol IM on the web since 2005. With that knowledge and experience, we optimized Meebo on the iPhone for speed, simplicity, and performance.
Meebo supports all the major IM networks:
AOL / AIM, Yahoo!, Windows Live Messenger, Gmail / Google Talk, Facebook, MySpace, and 100+ other networks!Reliability / Connectivity
– Push notifications even when the app is closed
– Stay connected as you move from Edge to 3G to WiFi
– Meebo’s proven multi-network access protocols
– Automatically reconnect if you lose coverage so you don’t miss a messageAccess / Integration
– Searchable, synchronized chat history on your iPhone and meebo.com
– Get Meebo on the web, your desktop, or your iPhone
– Tap any links to open the built-in browser
– Advanced chat session management lets you go seamlessly back and forth between Meebo on the iPhone and meebo.comChat features
– Swipe to switch between multiple conversations
– Rotate for landscape mode and a wider keyboard.
– Message preview from the Chats List
– Full Meebo emoticon support
– Push notifications
– Searchable Chat History
– Sort chats by most recent or full view
– Support for all the major IM networks, and many moreAccount features
– Buddylist search as you type
– View profile info, status messages, and buddy icons
– Add/Remove individual buddies
– Add/Remove network accounts
– Open and close buddy groups in your Buddy List
– Set custom status messages
– Sign on/off individual accounts
– Set presence to Available/Invisible/Away for individual accounts, or all at once
