An instant messenger that does it all!
September 21, 2015 8:36 PM Subscribe
My friends and I are sick of Skype, and need a new instant messenger for our RP group. It needs to be mobile friendly, capable of group voice calls (and preferably video), and it needs to keep an archive of all text messages. Is there something out there we haven't heard of yet? (Complications under the cut.)
So Skype has become too buggy for us to deal with any longer, AIM doesn't support group chat well and Steam's IM doesn't have a reliable archive, so far as we can see. Both my friends have smartphones but I am stuck with one of those ancient Nokia things - they have suggested LINE, which I am told needs to be installed on a phone. I do actually have a smartphone which I can't afford to use day-to-day, but I could install the app, I'd just rather not have the hassle.
Can anyone suggest anything simpler?
So Skype has become too buggy for us to deal with any longer, AIM doesn't support group chat well and Steam's IM doesn't have a reliable archive, so far as we can see. Both my friends have smartphones but I am stuck with one of those ancient Nokia things - they have suggested LINE, which I am told needs to be installed on a phone. I do actually have a smartphone which I can't afford to use day-to-day, but I could install the app, I'd just rather not have the hassle.
Can anyone suggest anything simpler?
Slack would be perfect. You can start Google Hangouts right from the channel, it's all searchable and the mobile app is very nice. It won't work on your phone though, sorry.
posted by barnone at 9:18 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by barnone at 9:18 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Slack is perfect for this. I have a group of friends I hang out with in a Slack channel during the day, and we love it. The iOS app works great for me (I haven't checked out the mobile non-app experience though).
posted by naju at 10:14 PM on September 21, 2015
posted by naju at 10:14 PM on September 21, 2015
Slack search on the free plan will only allow you to see the most recent 10,000 messages. You have to have a paid account to see all messages.
posted by namewithoutwords at 11:57 PM on September 21, 2015
posted by namewithoutwords at 11:57 PM on September 21, 2015
Zoom or WebEx do most of what you're after. Both run a freemium model, you get either limited time or limited participants before you have to start paying. Both are really solid solutions.
If you want to use your old Nokia phone, Zoom allows you to call a number that will hook you into a group voice call, but that's about it, definitely no IM functionality.
posted by KirkpatrickMac at 5:21 AM on September 22, 2015
If you want to use your old Nokia phone, Zoom allows you to call a number that will hook you into a group voice call, but that's about it, definitely no IM functionality.
posted by KirkpatrickMac at 5:21 AM on September 22, 2015
Response by poster: Slack sounds great, I'll have to see what the others say! Thanks!
Also, KirkpatrickMac, I think you misunderstand me a little - I am a sad little Luddite who would really rather not have to run up my phone bill with this. My friends are the ones who are much further ahead than I am, and would like to be able to text chat via their smartphones while I am on my laptop. Thankyou for the recommendation, though.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 10:15 AM on September 22, 2015
Also, KirkpatrickMac, I think you misunderstand me a little - I am a sad little Luddite who would really rather not have to run up my phone bill with this. My friends are the ones who are much further ahead than I am, and would like to be able to text chat via their smartphones while I am on my laptop. Thankyou for the recommendation, though.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 10:15 AM on September 22, 2015
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Whatsapp is probably better for straight text chat but doesn't have video or group audio chat.
posted by GuyZero at 8:51 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]