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This idea has existed and been implemented for a very long time- Pidgin was the first client I can remember that would try to bridge across various chat network
by kevstev 3y ago
This idea has existed and been implemented for a very long time- Pidgin was the first client I can remember that would try to bridge across various chat networks. You likely are on 14 different chat "networks" already- you might not think of them as chat networks, but as apps with chat functionality.
Just real quick off the top of my head I can name a bunch:
FB
Instagram
Twitter
WhatsApp
Telegram
Signal
Gchat/whatever google calls the chat in gmail these days
kik
sms
Irc
Discord
This is just a matter of keeping all those separate apps, or consolidating them into one single one. Back in the early 2000s when I did indeed have friends across AIM, Yahoo, MSN, etc... I did use an all in one app to consolidate everything.
- theogravity 3y agoTrillian was my first client. It looks like it still exists and now runs on a subscription model: https://trillian.im/ https://trillian.im/ Also looks like it no longer connects to multiple networks, but uses their own now.
- dqv 3y agoYou can still add XMPP accounts, but that's all.
- kevstev 3y agoHa thanks for jogging my memory. I knew pidgin wasn't the first or even the primary one I used but I couldn't recall what else I had used.
- rw_grim 2y agoI believe EveryBuddy was the first multiprotocol client, but then Gaim got revived and took a bunch of the work the EveryBuddy developers did. As time went on Gaim became Pidgin, and EveryBuddy became Ayttm.