Filed under: How-tos, Internet Tools
How to set up Google Talk on your Mac
So Google Talk is real. Check out Jordan's review of it over at DownloadSquad. You all know, I have a few problems with Google failing to release Mac compatible software, and I had doubts very similar to Jay's upon hearing about Google Talk tonight. There is no Mac client, but it does work in both iChat and Adium. I've had several convos with my Mac friends, but unfortunately, there seems to be some bugginess in the iChat / Adium to Windows client department. I want this to be cool and work really well. I hope Mac and Google come together to make this really shine and soon.In any case, if you have a Gmail account and want to give it a shot, head on over to this post for the how to. The basic setup is: server: talk.google.com, username: youremail@gmail.com, and password: yourgmailpassword. The connection port should be 5222, but with SSL on, iChat only wants to allow 5223. To fix this, I went into my Airport Admin utility and then forwarded all private requests for 5223 through public 5222. Check it out.
UPDATE: You can audio chat over Google Talk with iChat too. Cool.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
John Mc said 11:59AM on 11-08-2005
I just got got iChat 3.1 (v417) logged in, though not at first. I tried various permutations and then it burst into life. The only difference from the instructions above is that iChat is using port 5223 not 5222 as instructed.
Reply
Neil said 6:18PM on 11-16-2005
For google talk in iChat, I can connect to someone on a mac using iChat, but can only type to someone using google talk on a mac. Anyone know how to allow the "talk" part of google talk from iChat to google talk?
Reply
paul said 5:43PM on 11-23-2005
I would like to use iChat with Gtalk. Could anyone invite me to join Gmail? My current email is nolanp19@yahoo.com
Reply
matias said 12:23PM on 11-25-2005
please. I would like to have a gmail accoaunt.
Thank you
Reply
Laurie said 9:48PM on 8-23-2005
"Could not connect to server: talk.gmail.com"
If I switch it to just gmail.com, I appear to connect (albeit very slowly), but my buddy list is empty and the add button is grayed out. Think we're overloading them a bit tonight? :)
Reply
Dan Udey said 9:32AM on 8-24-2005
On OS X, it's trivial to set up Adium (http://www.adiumx.com/) to work properly. Go into Preferences -> Accounts and add a new Jabber account. Jabber ID is your gmail address, Connect Server (in the Options tab) is talk.google.com, and check off 'Use TLS enccryption if available.' That's it. Click Ok, check the checkbox next to the new account, and you're online.
Reply
C.K. Sample, III said 10:15PM on 8-23-2005
talk.GOOGLE.com
Reply
Steven Andrew Miller said 10:24PM on 8-23-2005
I've been trying to get this to work with iChat for nearly an hour. No dice. I don't know what I am doing wrong....
Reply
Thomas said 10:25PM on 8-23-2005
I got it to work in iChat no problem, but I can't get it in Adium. Anyone know how?
Reply
C.K. Sample, III said 10:37PM on 8-23-2005
Thomas, follow the Adium specific instructions in this post: http://www.smashsworld.com/2005/08/im-on-google-talk-right-now.php
Reply
LD said 10:34PM on 8-23-2005
It seems to connect for me on Adium. I had to check TLS encryption.
Reply
ALD said 10:58PM on 8-23-2005
Steven, I'm having the same problem. No matter what I try, iChat won't work for me.
Thomas, can you tell us if there's ANYTHING unusual you have to do to set up the account in iChat?
Reply
rafa said 10:44PM on 8-23-2005
connects just fine on ichat...
Reply
Laurie said 10:52PM on 8-23-2005
It's a bit scary that i was staring at talk.gmail.com and swearing it said talk.google.com for a good half hour before i realized what i was doing. The power of google's brad? or just me going insanem blind - or all of the above?
Anyway, we're all chatting away using iChat/Google Talk and C.K. and I tested the audio chat too. All works swell. Life is good.
Reply
lgc90 said 10:49PM on 8-23-2005
iChat setup: [url=http://209.172.55.14/img.php?loc=loc168&image=0f2_Picture_1.JPG][img=http://209.172.55.14/loc168/th_0f2_Picture_1.JPG][/url]
Reply
Bill Bradford said 10:54PM on 8-23-2005
Works just fine for me with SSL enabled and iChat.. I'm mrbill@gmail.com
Reply
DeflatorMouse said 11:02PM on 8-23-2005
I THINK I"m online now. I'd appreciate it if someone could try to IM me at DeflatorMouse.Online . Thanks!
Reply
ejr said 11:28PM on 8-23-2005
Another one that fell for the talk.GMAIL.com error even after configuring Adium to work
Reply
Thomas said 11:27PM on 8-23-2005
The site is live now. I have connecting in Adium only it doesn't seem to send/recieve messages. :(
Reply
ALD said 11:39PM on 8-23-2005
Steven, I'm having the same problem. No matter what I try, iChat won't work for me.
Thomas, can you tell us if there's ANYTHING unusual you have to do to set up the account in iChat?
Reply