6 ms·

I'm on OSX and it magnetically snaps windows together as they get close. Makes it easy to divide ad hoc. As for messengers, what would be revolutionary is if y

by tnone 9y ago

I'm on OSX and it magnetically snaps windows together as they get close. Makes it easy to divide ad hoc. As for messengers, what would be revolutionary is if you could actually use all these fragmented messengers in a single app.

ronjouch 9y ago
> "As for messengers, what would be revolutionary is if you could actually use all these fragmented messengers in a single app." http://meetfranz.com/ http://meetfranz.com/ does this in a maybe user-friendlier way than Pidgin (at the cost of a more shallow "integration" due to most of the supported services being non-standard, basically you're running all the clients in one place). It doesn't "remember which of the messaging apps each of my friends prefers, and routes messages appropriately" as requested below by marcus_holmes, but maybe it can start scratching your itch.
wwfrn 9y ago
I have slack (via their irc gateway), facebook messanger, and google chat/hangouts unified in pidgin. I could pay pushbullet to get sms in there too!
marcus_holmes 9y ago
This. So much this. I want an app that remembers which of the messaging apps each of my friends prefers, and routes messages appropriately. If I block someone, it blocks them on all the apps I've ever talked to them on. I think I use over 5 messaging apps (including sms) on a regular basis. Too many.
- brianwawok 9y ago
  Considering most apps these days are a closed api that sounds terrible to code.
  - oblio 9y ago
    Terrible to code? Possibly. Terrible to maintain? Definitely! Look at Pidgin's struggles.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  I second this. And no, just because on mobile those messengers are all "apps" doesn't make it any more bearable. In fact, switching between messaging apps all the time is simply annoying.
JustSomeNobody 9y ago
Until messenger apps start using the same, open, protocol, we won't see this.
- kbenson 9y ago
  That is, until they go back to using similar and open protocols, we won't see this again. That's the sad part, there was a concerted push away from this by quite a few of the major players (either initially, or in response to others, or for technical reasons, or a combination thereof). :/
  - pbhjpbhj 9y ago
    "Technical reasons" such as vendor lock-in ...
jasikpark 9y ago
I mean... there is Franz. https://meetfranz.com https://meetfranz.com
- alexvoda 9y ago
  Or if you don't trust it and want an open source alternative compatible with more services try Rambox: http://rambox.pro/ http://rambox.pro/ And maybe even donate.
pierrebeaucamp 9y ago
> As for messengers, what would be revolutionary is if you could actually use all these fragmented messengers in a single app. That's what Matrix is trying to address. https://matrix.org/ https://matrix.org/ Try it out with https://riot.im/ https://riot.im/
kbenson 9y ago
> what would be revolutionary is if you could actually use all these fragmented messengers in a single app. We used to have this. There were multiple clients that could do this (including Pidgin, an open source one). Then some major players entered using or shifted to proprietary and harder to decipher protocols, and others responded by doing the same lest they be at a disadvantage. Now it's just as bad as it was two decades ago. So much for progress.
mikestew 9y ago
As for messengers, what would be revolutionary is if you could actually use all these fragmented messengers in a single app. Since you're on macOS, that would have been the built-in iChat app that could do Jabber, AIM, Yahoo!, and some other protocols I've forgotten. It might still work in modern day Messages, dunno, pretty much no one uses them anymore so I can't check.

by tnone 9y ago

ronjouch 9y ago

> "As for messengers, what would be revolutionary is if you could actually use all these fragmented messengers in a single app." http://meetfranz.com/ http://meetfranz.com/ does this in a maybe user-friendlier way than Pidgin (at the cost of a more shallow "integration" due to most of the supported services being non-standard, basically you're running all the clients in one place). It doesn't "remember which of the messaging apps each of my friends prefers, and routes messages appropriately" as requested below by marcus_holmes, but maybe it can start scratching your itch.

wwfrn 9y ago

I have slack (via their irc gateway), facebook messanger, and google chat/hangouts unified in pidgin. I could pay pushbullet to get sms in there too!

marcus_holmes 9y ago

This. So much this. I want an app that remembers which of the messaging apps each of my friends prefers, and routes messages appropriately. If I block someone, it blocks them on all the apps I've ever talked to them on. I think I use over 5 messaging apps (including sms) on a regular basis. Too many.

brianwawok 9y ago
Considering most apps these days are a closed api that sounds terrible to code.
- oblio 9y ago
  Terrible to code? Possibly. Terrible to maintain? Definitely! Look at Pidgin's struggles.
TeMPOraL 9y ago
I second this. And no, just because on mobile those messengers are all "apps" doesn't make it any more bearable. In fact, switching between messaging apps all the time is simply annoying.

JustSomeNobody 9y ago

Until messenger apps start using the same, open, protocol, we won't see this.

kbenson 9y ago
That is, until they go back to using similar and open protocols, we won't see this again. That's the sad part, there was a concerted push away from this by quite a few of the major players (either initially, or in response to others, or for technical reasons, or a combination thereof). :/
- pbhjpbhj 9y ago
  "Technical reasons" such as vendor lock-in ...

jasikpark 9y ago

I mean... there is Franz. https://meetfranz.com https://meetfranz.com

alexvoda 9y ago
Or if you don't trust it and want an open source alternative compatible with more services try Rambox: http://rambox.pro/ http://rambox.pro/ And maybe even donate.

pierrebeaucamp 9y ago

> As for messengers, what would be revolutionary is if you could actually use all these fragmented messengers in a single app. That's what Matrix is trying to address. https://matrix.org/ https://matrix.org/ Try it out with https://riot.im/ https://riot.im/

kbenson 9y ago

> what would be revolutionary is if you could actually use all these fragmented messengers in a single app. We used to have this. There were multiple clients that could do this (including Pidgin, an open source one). Then some major players entered using or shifted to proprietary and harder to decipher protocols, and others responded by doing the same lest they be at a disadvantage. Now it's just as bad as it was two decades ago. So much for progress.

mikestew 9y ago

As for messengers, what would be revolutionary is if you could actually use all these fragmented messengers in a single app. Since you're on macOS, that would have been the built-in iChat app that could do Jabber, AIM, Yahoo!, and some other protocols I've forgotten. It might still work in modern day Messages, dunno, pretty much no one uses them anymore so I can't check.