Mac OS X Lion iChat supports Yahoo Messenger video and voice chat

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Apple has added support for Yahoo Messenger to Mac OS X Lion's iChat app, reportedly enabling text, voice and video chat over Yahoo's instant messenger protocol.



Apple introduced iChat as an IM client for AOL's proprietary chat protocol, later adding support for Jabber/XMPP, an open IM standard supported by Google Talk and Apple's own iChat Server.



For Lion, Apple has added Yahoo as an account type. Yahoo operates its own proprietary protocol that can't interoperate with AOL or Jabber type accounts.



The other primary chat protocol is Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger, which is also proprietary and does not support cross chat with AOL or Jabber, although Microsoft and Yahoo have created a gateway between their two networks.



News of the new Yahoo client working with video and voice chat was initially reported by blogger iMarck90.



After Android, Apple has increasingly worked to minimize its dependence upon Google as a partner, adding Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo search to Safari on both the desktop and iOS. However, adding new video support to iChat is an interesting addition, given Apple's push to promote FaceTime as its video calling solution.



The company has even renamed its iSight cameras as "FaceTime," and now develops and distributes FaceTime as a standalone app in the Mac App Store, wholly independent from the iChat AV app it bundles as part of Mac OS X.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 55
    Now we know what Steve Jobs and Carol Bartz talked about at the dinner with President Obama.



    How about letting third parties add hooks to communicate with their own systems: cellphone SMS messages via bluetooth, IRC, and maybe even Chat Roulette. oh wait... never mind.
  • Reply 2 of 55
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    I like iChat; it does a whole lot more than just simple video calls. Glad to see it’s still being improved! I had feared it might stagnate with FaceTime. (I do think they should just roll FaceTime into iChat, at least as one method of using it.)
  • Reply 3 of 55
    Integrate Facetime into iChat---that would turn iChat into a one stop solution for most people's chat needs. And it is simple. Why confuse people with two chat app? Simplicity my friends, simplicity
  • Reply 4 of 55
    Until iChat integrates different IM accounts/protocols into a single window view I can't imagine switching from Adium.
  • Reply 5 of 55
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    I am surprised they are still improving/working on iChat. I had assumed that it would not be worked on any more now that Facetime is out.
  • Reply 6 of 55
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Logisticaldron View Post


    Until iChat integrates different IM accounts/protocols into a single window view I can't imagine switching from Adium.



    The new iChat does support a single window for all contacts regardless of how many IM accounts/protocols (one of the best features of the iChat plugin Chax). It's incredibly handy, and works as expected.
  • Reply 7 of 55
    Facetime only works for video chats.
  • Reply 8 of 55
    now pls make the same for windows live messenger in iChat... i hate to use windows live app for mac which sucks and through jabber account in iChat which sucks too...
  • Reply 9 of 55
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jamesbull View Post


    The new iChat does support a single window for all contacts regardless of how many IM accounts/protocols (one of the best features of the iChat plugin Chax). It's incredibly handy, and works as expected.



    i have used Chax too but i think what he meant is iChat should support this natively.
  • Reply 10 of 55
    This move.... I can't understand it. At all.



    Why? what for? An why in this world they didn't fusion FaceTime into iChat? That was what I though it would happen in Lion. That's the obvious move. Now we'll have iChat A/V and FaceTime. Excuse me, but that's stupid, like a Microsoft kind of thing. Now iChat competes with FaceTime. Clever!



    Beware Apple, what the heck are you doing in there? are you beggining to get too big and fragmented with all your app teams? That could be seen in the system's apps UI's, like Mail, Preview, Safari and iTunes. Those 4 apps seems to be made by 4 different developer companies that don't talk to each other. Now it seems that this thing is getting worse.



    How this thing can make sense when they are promoting FaceTime? The only way I could think this could make sense is if at Lion's launch keynote Apple announces that they acquired Yahoo! Messenger. Oh! maybe that's it!! I don't thing so, not even for a minute...
  • Reply 11 of 55
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cutykamu View Post


    now pls make the same for windows live messenger in iChat... i hate to use windows live app for mac which sucks and through jabber account in iChat which sucks too...



    I have found that the best solution for using MSN messenger is not to use MSN messenger. Most of my friends and family on MSN already have FaceTime and/or moved to GMail.
  • Reply 12 of 55
    iChat is great piece of software.
  • Reply 13 of 55
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cutykamu View Post


    i have used Chax too but i think what he meant is iChat should support this natively.



    It does. The new version of iChat (6.0) included with 10.7 beta includes a unified contact window. It displays ALL contacts from ALL accounts in iChat.
  • Reply 14 of 55
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lvidal View Post


    This move.... I can't understand it. At all.



    Why? what for? An why in this world they didn't fusion FaceTime into iChat? That was what I though it would happen in Lion. That's the obvious move. Now we'll have iChat A/V and FaceTime. Excuse me, but that's stupid, like a Microsoft kind of thing. Now iChat competes with FaceTime. Clever!



    Beware Apple, what the heck are you doing in there? are you beggining to get too big and fragmented with all your app teams? That could be seen in the system's apps UI's, like Mail, Preview, Safari and iTunes. Those 4 apps seems to be made by 4 different developer companies that don't talk to each other. Now it seems that this thing is getting worse.



    How this thing can make sense when they are promoting FaceTime? The only way I could think this could make sense is if at Lion's launch keynote Apple announces that they acquired Yahoo! Messenger. Oh! maybe that's it!! I don't thing so, not even for a minute...



    Why you want FaceTime and iChat merged together?!



    There is a difference between the two. iChat requires that you keep the app open to receive IMs, video, and voice call. On the other hand, FaceTime uses push notifications and there is no log in required (beyond the initial setup) and no buddy list to manage. Also FaceTime is not chat service.



    It seems that Apple wants to market FaceTime as a device service for Macs and iDevices and they want it to be built into Mac OS like they did with iOS (this is late for Snow Leopard though).
  • Reply 15 of 55
    haggarhaggar Posts: 1,568member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NasserAE View Post


    Why you want FaceTime and iChat merged together?!



    There is a difference between the two. iChat requires that you keep the app open to receive IMs, video, and voice call. On the other hand, FaceTime uses push notifications and there is no log in required (beyond the initial setup) and no buddy list to manage. Also FaceTime is not chat service.



    It seems that Apple wants to market FaceTime as a device service for Macs and iDevices and they want it to be built into Mac OS like they did with iOS (this is late for Snow Leopard though).



    Should iChat be 3 different applications instead of one? After all, not every computer has a camera or microphone.



    In iChat, you can enable the menu bar icon and have it automatically set your status to Available and also to stay online even if you quit iChat. Then you can receive messages without keeping iChat open.
  • Reply 16 of 55
    I don't understand why Apple can't integrate Facetime into iChat. Seems like a no-brainer instead of having Facetime as a separate app.
  • Reply 17 of 55
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NasserAE View Post


    Why you want FaceTime and iChat merged together?!



    There is a difference between the two. iChat requires that you keep the app open to receive IMs, video, and voice call. On the other hand, FaceTime uses push notifications and there is no log in required (beyond the initial setup) and no buddy list to manage. Also FaceTime is not chat service.



    It seems that Apple wants to market FaceTime as a device service for Macs and iDevices and they want it to be built into Mac OS like they did with iOS (this is late for Snow Leopard though).





    But there's only a difference because Apple has designed them like that, the question is why have they been designed like that?



    iChat could easily have been integrated to the iPhone with an indefinite log-in and push notifications. The FaceTime video chat could have been easily added to the iChat application in OS X.



    Furthermore FaceTime is certainly imperfect at the moment. My wife's iPhone 4, when FT calling to our MBP, uses the temporary number that Tesco (MNVO) assigned to the phone before her own number ported across. This is a number I don't know or have recorded in our contacts - why would I? I dislike that people have to know my AppleID to call me. I dislike that I can't readily set the system to ignore calls as I can in Skype or iChat - FT just fires up the iSight camera and reminds me I haven't checked myself in the mirror yet today. I dislike seeing all my contacts listed - only two have FT compatible devices to my knowledge out of 200-odd contacts. On the iPhone Contacts app, at least the first time, I have to remember which of my contact's email address is their AppleID from the two or three addresses I have for most. Although it is nice these can be added as favourites easily in the Phone app.





    I think Apple are going to go in strong marketing FT when the iPad 2 comes out but they really need to consider these basic usability issues.
  • Reply 18 of 55
    The question is does it support video and audio chat with Windows Yahoo Messenger or is it like with AIM i.e. not?
  • Reply 19 of 55
    Apple can't really merge the two, because they have 2 incompatible use concepts:



    iChat connects you to a network at a given time, and you remain available there for as long as you want, publicizing your status and showing yourself to you contact list (as available or whatever) until you log off.



    Facetime is like a phone call: you get a call, you can pick up or not, there's no status nor publicizing of it.



    How do you make such different concepts work together elegantly, in a simple fashion?
  • Reply 20 of 55
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    They should also add Microsoft Messenger. MSN is huge in Europe and no one uses Yahoo! Messenger. I use neither, personally, but it's not about me - it's about everyone else.
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