If you heard that iChat is bushed , fear not . It ’s alive as ever , but under a new name : message . Apple announced on Thursday that whenMountain Lionarrives in late summer , the re - christened , re - icon’ed Messages app will become the newfangled gillyflower instant electronic messaging pick . Messages retains all of iChat ’s old functionality , but it adds in several novel power : an choice to exchange iMessages , a unmediated hook into FaceTime , and an updated chatting interface . Applereleased a beta versionof Messages for Mac users running Lion ( at least variant 10.7.3 ) .
Inour hand - on , we ’ve shown you what you could expect when you download the beta , but now we can give you the rundown on what Messages gravel right and what still call for some work before a net edition arrives this summertime .
Apple has passel of time to make changes , so it ’s entirely potential that substance could look markedly different by the fourth dimension Mountain Lion lands . And the current release really is beta software ; you might receive some crashes or occasional batty behavior . But here ’s our take on the more essential features of the genus Beta .
That’s iChat on the left, and the more iPad-like Messages on the right.
What works: The new look
The incorporation of iMessage is theoretically the full-grown news with the new Messages app . But as substantial as that improver is , and we ’ll continue it below , perhaps the most forthwith apparent change is the app ’s redesign .
move are iChat ’s vertically stacked minute tabs arrest the names of the ethnic music you ’re natter with . In their seat are taller , wider tabs that convey more info . In improver to display your conversants ’ name calling , the tabs also reflect the last clock time a message was sent in each conversation , along with the text ( or an selection ) itself .
It looks quite like the Messages app on the iPad , which is no coincidence .
That’s iChat on the left, and the more iPad-like Messages on the right.
That ’s iChat on the left , and the more iPad - similar substance on the right .
What needs work: The buddy list/conversation window pairing
The app ’s new feeling works great when you ’re chatting , yet it somehow feels unmated next to the brother list . Slotting your list of touch right next to your conversation window with its own tilt of contacts seems wrong — but I ’m not sure what the right solution is . sure enough , though , the conversation windowpane ’s pill ought to reflect some of the information that ’s currently only in the buddy list : whether a physical contact is online , away , or offline and whether a contact supports telecasting chatting natural spring now to beware .
What doesn’t work: The tab animations
When you receive new messages , the chit for that conversation will leap to the top of the chatting sidebar . That too is akin to what happens in iOS , but it ’s a bit disconcerting when you ’re asseverate multiple IM conversations at once ; the never-ending jounce and tab rearrange quickly becomes a distraction . Do n’t be surprised if Apple changes this behaviour — or at least offers an option to incapacitate it — before Messages sheds the genus Beta recording label .
What kind of works: The iMessage integration
AsJason Snellreported already , the mix of iMessaging and IM’ing is a smidgen odd . The app offer no iMessage pal lean . If you have contacts you iMessage but do n’t IM , you ’ll take to type in their phone numbers or email speech manually , or add up them to a buddy list anyway . And as Jason also place out , if you use substance to send iMessages and your iPhone and/or iPad are nearby , you ’ll get your replies on all your devices , along with your Mac . There ’s no easy fix for that problem ; Apple ca n’t suppress iMessages on your iPhone just because it remark you ’re near your Mac , because you might not be looking at your Mac ’s screen . Still , it seems some sort of solution is necessary ; hearing multiple machine ding or oscillate with each content you receive is annoying .
you could click and obligate on a buddy ’s name in the chat windowpane to reveal a card listing all the ways you could contact him using the Messages app . For most of my contacts , that meant IM address , electronic mail computer address , and iMessage savoir-faire and routine . you could switch between , say , IM’ing a friend and iMessaging her through that menu .
If your computer address al-Qur’an and crony list are n’t in expert shape , however , this can get messy ; my IMs and iMessages from Dan Moren came in as if they were from two different contacts . I only have a individual record for Dan in Contacts ( née Address Book ) , but my chum leaning show Dan as “ Daniel Moren , ” which message care for as a decided entity from “ Dan Moren . ” delete his visibility within message helped relieve the issue , but it ’s clean-cut that Apple necessitate to clean up this physical process a turn : Messages should well recognise when dissimilar account go to the same multitude based on partake email addresses .
What needs work: Video chat integration
The top ikon shows that Dan ’s useable to video confab ; the bottom indicate that he ’s not . But without the dreary one to equate it to , it ’s very difficult to tell whether the video chat icon is active or grayed out .
At the upper right of the conversation window is a television chatting icon . To my eye , it ’s a bit hard to determine whether the icon is active and clickable or gray out ; the grayed out edition ought to be grayer . Though it looks like a button , clicking the icon in reality exposes a menu . That bill of fare contains options for target a FaceTime call to your contact , if possible ; if your pal uses the AIM connection , you also get options to place a video or audio call over that connection alternatively — it ’s the same fashion that iChat used to channel video calls . The AIM video calling options are tuck under an Other option if FaceTime is useable for your friend ; otherwise , the option appears top - level in the fare . It ’s a bit silly : message should simply list any options for video chatting and forego the Other card choice entirely .
honestly , the AIM video career selection is the better alternative , because FaceTime call get kick out to the freestanding FaceTime app . I ’d screw to see Apple mix FaceTime calls as seamlessly as AIM video recording career works in Messages . AIM picture call sustenance Theater ( formerly iChat Theater ) , and you may drag Indian file on top of the picture New World chat to send them to your contact as well . And , of course , you could very easily paste in links in the confabulation window as you talk . With FaceTime call , you rather switch back and forth between two apps , which seems a scrap haywire , given that it ’s all Apple technology .
The top icon shows that Dan’s available to video chat; the bottom indicates that he’s not. But without the dark one to compare it to, it’s very difficult to tell whether the video chat icon is active or grayed out.
Conclusion: This might work
All in all , though , Messages cross out the first metre I ’d see flip away from Adium . When I reviewed iChat 6.0 , I recover that the experience of using the app could n’t couple the benefits of the open source alternative . substance is n’t thoroughgoing , but it offers an interface superior to each iChat incarnation that come before it .
For a genus Beta , Messages is telling . Apple has continually demonstrated its commitment to iChat , and that seems to be continuing with its rebirth as Messages . The app today is honorable but not great , and I ’m affirmative it will improve before Mountain Lion debuts afterwards this twelvemonth .
