Threema: yet another instant messaging application for smartphones

Threema - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Desktop versions of Threema (e.g. for Windows or Mac OS X) are on the long-term plan.

Looks like security is  a main goal, unknown protocol used – that's definitely not a plus.

"WhatsApp Messenger" does not want to run on my Android tablet

• WhatsApp Messenger - Android Apps on Google Play
• www.whatsapp.com/android/ : "Tablet devices are not supported" – no explanation / justification found
• Q: And what's their business modell at all? A: [link] It is the 2nd largest selling app on Apple Store …

I started using WhatsApp last night

WhatsApp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My 1st device to start the WhatsApp with was my Samsung Galaxy S2. I sat on the bus going through Hamburg St. Pauli, and my mobile phone Internet connection wasn't really all that stable. It changed from 3G (whatever variant of UMTS) through E (EDGE) through G (GSM), and WhatsApp kept saying "Initializing …" for ages. I looked the situation up on the Internet, once I was at my place, and I was a little  worried. I decided to simply end the respective active application, to go through Wi-Fi on the Android device this time,  and start it again. In other words: no I did not attempt to wipe the installation on the device. WhatsApp came back almost instantly and successfully, and I had a registered account from then on.

Is it true, (quoting from the Wikipedia article) "that WhatsApp required users to upload their entire mobile phone's address book to WhatsApp servers so that WhatsApp could discover who, among the users' existing contacts, is available via WhatsApp"? Damn WhatsApp, if they dare to spam my contacts!

From the WhatsApp FAQ: "Is my device supported?" [link]
… We currently do not support tablets, computers, or Wi-Fi only devices, and do not plan to do so in the foreseeable future.

It's hard to say, where WhatsApp is really going to (how they want to make money), and why to prevent non-phones to get involved.

I think, for the time being, I am going to start WhatsApp only on demand.

In theory using "a general XMPP client" is superior over using separate dedicated ones. But WTF why do people use WhatsApp? They don't need to enter passwords, they don't need to find and add their contacts, as their contacts are simply identified by their mobile phone number. Enough "pros"? Not that I really suggest WhatsApp because of these reasons.

Q: what about Adium 1.5rc3 and its Skype plugin? A: the Skype plugin got blacklisted

A couple of minutes ago, Adium popped up this message:

A new version of Adium is available.
Adium 1.5rc3 is now available––you have 1.4.4. Would you like to download it now?

Release Notes:
Version 1.5rc3 …
General

• … 
• Blacklisted the Skype plugin in 1.5, as it's known to be broken. 
•  …

No, I don't want to run Adium without its Skype plugin (any more).
At least they mention now, there is a problem with the Skype plugin, so I don't have to try.
I don't know, what I am missing, if I stay with 1.4.4, but it would be much harder for me to run Adium without Skype.

Adium offers 1.5rcX updates, but they keep crashing on start up and restarting

So I keep re-installing 1.4.4, which causes me no headache.

Update 2011-12-24:
Still the same problem (incompatibility with the Skype plugin) up until 1.5b8.

Update 2012-02-01:

Still the same problem (incompatibility with the Skype plugin) up until 1.5rc2.

being online with 2 Skype accounts in parallel?

Using the same Skype account for work and for personal life is really, really bad.
I would love to have the work account open only for work hours.
Well, the good thing about the new ownership at Skype is, that I expect Microsoft to merge Skype and MSN Messenger sooner or later.
It was always bad, that you have to run the Skype application, even if you run Adium or pidgin or whatever to integrate all your IM, and the implication of that being, that you cannot "work" through 2 accounts at the same time. XMPP / Jabber can do it, and any IM can do it, just Skype can't. But the state owned trojans undermine the security of it anyway. That's so ridiculous.

IRC with Adium: "Join Group Chat…"

You don't immediately consider Adium the right tool for IRC, but you can do that. Set up an account, then "Join Group Chat…"!

I need that, because I have problems installing GoLang on Lion, and there is a channel for GoLang: #go-nuts on irc.freenode.net .

from now on: 24x7 various IM on my phone

Adium/Skype on Mac OS X Lion seem to finally work ("again")

Adium - Xtras - View Xtra: Skype

Should I donate again to the nice developer?

Pidgin IM client 2.10.0 closes holes - The H Security: News and Features

Pidgin IM client 2.10.0 closes holes - The H Security: News and Features

Skype: I like their new "Contacts Monitor"

That's the leanest way to have that list on the screen. They must have introduced that with some 5.x release.

the Adium forum on cocoaforge

cocoaforge • View forum - Adium

here you can search for discussions on the Skype plugin vs. Mac OS X Lion.

the Skype plugin for Adium vs. Mac OS X Lion

Adium - Xtras - View Xtra: Skype

Adium Trac and Wiki

Adium Trac

my GTalk / Adium / Lion problem is gone, and I was the problem

The lesson, I had to learn again:

Be cautious with fake /etc/hosts entry, even if they make sense temporarily!

Adium not working in Mac OS X Lion

cocoaforge • View topic - Adium not working in Lion

Well, some corners work, some don't.
It doesn't function with (GTalk and) Skype so far.

Update 2011-08-01:
Well, my GTalk problem was entirely my own problem, and it was entirely caused by myself. Rather embarrassing.

Skype and concurrent logins with multiple

I love using Skype IM from within Adium. As "everybody" knows, that needs the Skype utility to run itself in the background, and just with Skype itself you can only have exactly one login on a "Desktop" (Desktop session per computer). So if you want to be available for your friends and family throughout your awake time (i.e. also at work) with one Skype ID, you must also allow business contacts to make use of exactly this Skype ID. But then business contacts will also attempt to contact you during off-office hours, and you will have uncomfortable situations during evenings and weekends, if you are not able to serve them as requested.

So Skype / Microsoft are kindly asked to support such concurrent logins. You can have concurrent MSN / XMPP / … logins, so why not concurrent Skype logins?

Cross platform IM client InstantBird goes 1.0 - The H Open Source: News and Features

Cross platform IM client InstantBird goes 1.0 - The H Open Source: News and Features

competition for Adium on OS X?
and for Pidgin of course

my Adium Skype problem

When I try to let Adium connect to my Skype account, it says this after a while:

skype (Skype): Error
Could not connect to Skype process.
Skype not running?

I searched the web for this text, and I found the solution on adiumxtras.com.
Within Skype under Account -> Manage API Clients, I have to check,  that Adium is "Allowed to use Skype". That was certainly checked before, and my combination of Adium and Skype was rather useful and in use for a couple of weeks, but I guess, my attempted upgrade to Skype-5 changed that. I am curious, whether Adium also works with Skype-5. (But I still don't like the Skype-5's huge profile icons.)

Adium, the free instant messaging application for Mac OS X

Adium - Download

It's based on libpurple, and it can also deal with Skype and OKCUPID instant messaging.