Apple's iChat to gain tabs, integration with iTunes
The next version of Apple's iChat messaging software that will ship with Mac OS X Tiger will likely offer tabbed messaging in addition to iTunes tie-ins.
The next major reversion of Apple Computer's popular iChat instant messenger software will play host to a plethora of new features, including some that have yet to appear in even the most recent builds of Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger," AppleInsider has learned.
Mimicking third party applications like Status Symbol and iChat Status, recent builds of iChat 3.0 have exposed limited interactivity with the company's iTunes digital jukebox software. Via a new option in the iChat menu, users will be able to display the currently playing iTunes track as part of their iChat online status.
Beyond this tie-in, it's unclear how much further the two digital lifestyle applications will gel. The aforementioned feature is new to iChat's ongoing development and is only partially functional in recent builds of the software.
Meanwhile, well placed sources have provided indubitable evidence that Apple will soon add an option to enable tabbed messaging. Although this feature has yet to surface in known builds of iChat 3.0, the foundation is reportedly in place for an implementation that will closely mirror the functionality and appearance of the tabbed browsing interface already present in the company's Safari web browser.
iChat 3.0 is due as part of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger in the first half of 2005. The software will also reportedly deliver improved video quality, three-way video chat, extended audio conferencing, and Jabber support.
The next major reversion of Apple Computer's popular iChat instant messenger software will play host to a plethora of new features, including some that have yet to appear in even the most recent builds of Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger," AppleInsider has learned.
Mimicking third party applications like Status Symbol and iChat Status, recent builds of iChat 3.0 have exposed limited interactivity with the company's iTunes digital jukebox software. Via a new option in the iChat menu, users will be able to display the currently playing iTunes track as part of their iChat online status.
Beyond this tie-in, it's unclear how much further the two digital lifestyle applications will gel. The aforementioned feature is new to iChat's ongoing development and is only partially functional in recent builds of the software.
Meanwhile, well placed sources have provided indubitable evidence that Apple will soon add an option to enable tabbed messaging. Although this feature has yet to surface in known builds of iChat 3.0, the foundation is reportedly in place for an implementation that will closely mirror the functionality and appearance of the tabbed browsing interface already present in the company's Safari web browser.
iChat 3.0 is due as part of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger in the first half of 2005. The software will also reportedly deliver improved video quality, three-way video chat, extended audio conferencing, and Jabber support.
Comments
i know they hired proteus' programmer, justin wood, for the ichat team, which now explains the jabber support, but man, i really liked the way proteus handled multiple chats, using apple's drawer UI instead of tabs.
oh well, maybe apple will surprise me. i just wish they would license the msn protocol, because 85% of my friends are on msn messenger.
Originally posted by rok
so, what, the tabs will spearate the different simultaneous chat sessions? won't that make for an unnecessarily wide chat window, the more sessions you have going?
i know they hired proteus' programmer for the ichat team, which now explains the jabber support, but man, i really liked the way proteus handled multiple chats, using apple's drawer UI.
Hopefully the tabs will come in Tiger Mail-like sidebar form.
I wouldn't mind a sidebar...chat text areas prefer being vertically-large...not horizontally-large.
But frankly...tabs are really stupid for a chat app. How many simultaneous conversations can one have at a time? If the answer is 'less than 5' then let the sessions be in separate windows and let Exposé do the rest.
Originally posted by kim kap sol
Hopefully the tabs will come in Tiger Mail-like sidebar form.
I wouldn't mind a sidebar...chat text areas prefer being vertically-large...not horizontally-large.
But frankly...tabs are really stupid for a chat app. How many simultaneous conversations can one have at a time? If the answer is 'less than 5' then let the sessions be in separate windows and let Exposé do the rest.
But tabs still save space over that.
Originally posted by Zweben
But tabs still save space over that.
Over what?
Space isn't all that precious anymore now that Exposé solves window clutter. I'm on 1024x768...this is pretty damn small compared to today's standard resolutions and I'm managing a shitload of windows just fine.
All the lucky SOBs with iMac 2s and iMac G5s and Cinema Displays are, well, lucky. I can't wait to have a 20" or 23" screen.
I happen to think the Drawer UI is straight from the depths of Hell. It changes the window's basic shape to an awkward one, and makes resizing less intuitive. There is no standard, obvious toggle for the drawer. You can close it by the small "handle" but once you do, you can't open it the same way, and there is no indication that there is a drawer in the window. Then, when you size your windows in relation to each other, each toggle of the drawer effectively forces you to resize the window. I could maybe understand the drawer in some specialized use, especially when it doesn't have to show for long, but IMO it's just bad in iCal, Preview and many others. Looking at that Proteus picture, I'm sure the software would be nicer to use if it incorporated the contents of the drawer element to a rectangular block in the actual window.
Originally posted by kim kap sol
Space isn't all that precious anymore now that Exposé solves window clutter. I'm on 1024x768...this is pretty damn small compared to today's standard resolutions and I'm managing a shitload of windows just fine.
Yes, with Expose the windows *can* be managed reasonably, but there are lots of people who think windows shouldn't ever be on top of each other. I'm one of them. I use Expose all the time, but I still think it's a half-baked solution to a problem many other windowing systems don't really have in the first place.
Edited to add: of course on a small screen you can only reasonably have one window open; this is where Expose shines, also when you have a huge amount of windows. I like Windows' way of window management on a bigger screen, especially if there are only about ten windows or less. I rarely have more than that even on OS X.
It amazes me how I am unable to see problems until Apple gives us the solution. Having a ton of iChat windows open, buried under other windows, not knowing who responded so having to switch through the windows to find the person who last responded....what a mess.
I welcome Tabs. I am very excited about Tiger. It keeps looking better and better.
(I just hope Apple gets serious with iCal. It's the weakest link in the chain.)
Originally posted by rok
i know they hired proteus' programmer, justin wood, for the ichat team, which now explains the jabber support
I'm pretty sure they hired Justin into a QA position and that Proteus uses Libgaim for jabber support as opposed to something created by Justin that could be leveraged by Apple...
Originally posted by BWhaler
It amazes me how I am unable to see problems until Apple gives us the solution. Having a ton of iChat windows open, buried under other windows, not knowing who responded so having to switch through the windows to find the person who last responded....what a mess.
Others have seen the solution to this problem for quite a while now. Gaim has had tabbed IM for a very long time, and Adium as well on the mac side.
After using tabbed IM for so long I don't understand how you guys can live without it in iChat. I wonder if Apple will let you drag to re-order tabs and pull them off into separate windows like you can in Adium...
Originally posted by crees!
Notice the blue iChat icon in the top right of the graphic? It looks like it's part of the menu bar. Just an observation.
iChat has always allowed for a menu icon. You may just need to enable it on your system.
Well it's not like they invented the idea of having tabs in a chat windows. Adium has done it forever, but it is nice they're listening to us and giving us the features we want.
I agree. Adium has a superior implementation of tabs.... they look similar to Safari's, but you can rearrange them, drag them off into a separate window, or combine multiple windows into a single tabbed window. Really slick. I hope Apple approaches the developers with a sweet deal, because stealing that implementation would be sad. Adium deserves the recognition for it, even if Safari inspired the tabs' appearance.
Originally posted by coolfactor
I agree. Adium has a superior implementation of tabs.... they look similar to Safari's, but you can rearrange them, drag them off into a separate window, or combine multiple windows into a single tabbed window. Really slick. I hope Apple approaches the developers with a sweet deal, because stealing that implementation would be sad. Adium deserves the recognition for it, even if Safari inspired the tabs' appearance.
That would be a really tricky situation, the entire Adium codebase is under the GPL meaning if Apple hired say Adam Iser Apple would need to release the tabs source code under the GPL too wouldn't they?
The Camino guys wanted to use the Adium tabs but they wanted them to move over the Mozilla licence. So Adam and the guys must have done something really right
Originally posted by westonm
Interesting... in the leaked pic buddies are listed under the heading "AIM buddies". In the current version it is just "Available buddies". More evidence that iChat will support multiple protocols?
Yes, I noticed that too, and thought it was strange. iChat will support Jabber, so maybe that's the difference? Please bring MSN to iChat... I like iChat integration much better than having to launch a separate app just for MSN users.
Essentially these provide the same functionality. Let the user decide! Let this be an option!
Tabs, Sidebars and Bookmarks
Yesterday I said that Mail should get Tabs. But now I see that we could add Tabs, Sidebars and Bookmarks in most applications. Like Tabs in Finder, Mail and iTunes...
Just putting ideas out there...
Cheers Daniel
Originally posted by dahacouk
Tabs or Sidebar?
Essentially these provide the same functionality. Let the user decide! Let this be an option!
I used Proteus for chatting for a while, and the sidebar wasn't nearly as convenient as the tabs in Adium. Whether it's a drawer or a sidebar, it takes up way too much screen space for what it does. Now, that's different in Mail where a drawer of folders makes sense. I'm curious how the new sidebar version of Mail will weather.
As for iChat, I say bring on the Adium tabs and give them full credit and reimbursement (in some form).
iTunes integration.. Just like iChat Status but weaker. I know David (author of iChatStatus) have spoken frequently with the iChat team so.. this might not be a coincidence. Hopefully they have provided some means for customization so you're not locked to just displaying iTunes.
Originally posted by dahacouk
Yesterday I said that Mail should get Tabs. But now I see that we could add Tabs, Sidebars and Bookmarks in most applications. Like Tabs in Finder, Mail and iTunes...
Just putting ideas out there...
Cheers Daniel
I don't think tabbed finder would be a good idea. I mean I guess sure why not, just so your not limiting people, but I think most of the time you'll just have one finder window open, and when you have two it would be to drag or copy something somewhere. Now sure you could implement this so you could just drag over to the tab, but I just don't see it as being very useful.
Of course that is just one man's opinion, I know tons of people who have said yes to a tabbed finder.
That said, I love adium's tabs. I think it's just such a clean way to organize messages. I don't think i'd mind the drawer though.
Originally posted by Gon
Yes, with Expose the windows *can* be managed reasonably, but there are lots of people who think windows shouldn't ever be on top of each other. I'm one of them. I use Expose all the time, but I still think it's a half-baked solution to a problem many other windowing systems don't really have in the first place.
Edited to add: of course on a small screen you can only reasonably have one window open; this is where Expose shines, also when you have a huge amount of windows. I like Windows' way of window management on a bigger screen, especially if there are only about ten windows or less. I rarely have more than that even on OS X.
That's because Windows isn't a multitasker's OS and you're not a multitasker. I am however...I like to be able to see things going on in multiple windows at the same time.