Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
BeeJive Instant Messenger app now available for hefty price
If you used an iPhone before native applications came along, then you may have used BeeJive's web app for instant messaging. BeeJive [iTunes link] has now released a native application for the iPhone/iPod touch. Some of the features of BeeJive for iPhone are:
- 24/7 connectivity, but easy on battery life
- Get notifications via email even if the application is closed (you will need push email for this to work properly)
- Works with AIM, MSN, Yahoo, GoogleTalk, ICQ, Jabber, and MySpace IM (What? There's no FaceBook support?)
- Unicode support for chatting in any language
- Landscape typing supported
- Saves chat history, which you can email
- Send SMS messages through AIM or Yahoo
- Complete management of buddy lists
- Configure alerts, sounds, vibration, etc.
According to the App Store listing, the developer plans to add emoticons, group chat support, and full support for hyperlink text. Here's to hoping this application gets a sale price in the future.
Thanks, Zyber Joe!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
XIV said 10:10AM on 9-29-2008
16$ is way too expensive.
I currently use Palringo, which is free and works just fine.
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anthony said 6:17PM on 9-29-2008
Palringo here as well - love it. Palringo even has desktop versions and chat rooms for those who miss aol. haha
Big John said 10:30AM on 9-29-2008
This is on par with BeeJive's cost structure for other mobile platforms. This only throws into relief the fact that the folks there just don't understand the mobile platform in 2008.
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Pete said 10:30AM on 9-29-2008
I'm really looking forward to the next Mobilechat update. Those developers have had a heck of a time getting an approved update with Apple, but it should be worth the wait. I like the UI (and the price) of mobilechat.
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booticon said 10:39AM on 9-29-2008
Yeah, I think BeeJive for the BlackBerry is about that much, and I won't buy it on that platform, either. Far too expensive.
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autoy said 10:42AM on 9-29-2008
Agreed, Parlingo is just fine, it does some stuff not possible with Beejive and costs 16 $ less, which is not worth just for landscape mode.
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Robert said 10:47AM on 9-29-2008
I like the screen shots, but IM isn't worth much money to me, and it sounds like the vast majority people I've heard from agree. After AIM's official app crashed every time I opened it, I got Plaringo. I don't love it, but I've only opened it a handful of times. Apollo IM on my jailbroken iPhone was only opened a handful of times, too. Even on the desktop, I wouldn't pay very much for a chat app, even if there were no free alternatives.
I wish BeeJive the best of luck. I hope demand is high enough that the price can drop so more of us who aren't on IM constantly will find it worthwhile to buy.
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Tim said 10:49AM on 9-29-2008
There are other free apps out there with the same functionality...
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h said 5:24PM on 9-30-2008
Which one? IM+ crash everytime I write to someone with accents, MC doesn't work AT ALL.
The only one left is palringo, and they admitted on their own forums that they are not very secure (encryption with one unique key is NOT secure, people).
I dunno about Beejive, but if they are secure and works the way it's intended, 16$ is an infinite ratio of cost over functionality better against those apps that just don't work. Considering that I've paid some software around that price doesn't scare me, I'm mainly waiting to see if it fits my need and if it works really as good as it says it does.
Honestly, when is the last time you bought something from Starbucks when you could have coffee for FREE at your house?
my89z24 said 10:53AM on 9-29-2008
I'm quite happy with it, despite the price
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DrWho said 10:54AM on 9-29-2008
Not for $16! $5 tops
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Ryan Ulanowicz said 11:03AM on 9-29-2008
Facebook is supposedly eventually going to support XMPP/Jabber for it's chat service. Cut them a break, Facebook chat is not done through libpurple in Adium. Talk to the people at Facebook to get them roll out a standards compliant service.
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bug said 11:07AM on 9-29-2008
I just purchased BeeJive for the phone. I loved their web app version, and have been using it even since the advent of native iPhone apps like Palringo and MobileChat. (I also purchased MobileChat and have never managed to get it to work correctly.. so.. I'm a bit disappointed to be out the cost of the application.)
Yes, I think it's expensive, and I do wonder (and hope!) if they'll lower the price eventually, but in the meantime, it works very well for me. Their Blackberry version is even more expensive than their iPhone version.
In the short term, this will mean that other applications that I might have purchased for a few dollars each will be skipped, to make up for the price of this one.
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jonathanv said 11:13AM on 9-29-2008
Why has nobody mentioned IM+? It's 100% free and unlike MobileChat - with which I have a morbid love/hate relationship - it works! My wife and I use it all the time.
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Buckingham said 12:49PM on 9-29-2008
Hmm, because it doesn't work.
my89z24 said 1:07PM on 9-29-2008
I tried it but it always crashes. I ponied up the cash because I wanted a multi-protocol chat client with less suck than I've gotten from other apps.
David said 11:14AM on 9-29-2008
I normally like to try apps for fun and not a user. Tried this one from a crack. One problem it looks like it cant run in background so when you press home button,the app closes.
For everyone most of are tempting to try, but don't get to use it. So before you buy try it to be sure. $16 is greedy for IM
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Jonathan Chan said 11:24AM on 9-29-2008
it actually backs up/syncs your session for up to 24 hrs and soon as you open the app back up it picks up where you left off.
David said 11:15AM on 9-29-2008
I normally like to try apps for fun and not a user. Tried this one from a crack. One problem it looks like it cant run in background so when you press home button,the app closes.
For everyone most of are tempting to try, but don't get to use it. So before you buy try it to be sure. $16 is greedy for IM
Reply
cclauset said 11:16AM on 9-29-2008
I'd pay for it if it supported Skype chat...
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