Bye-Bye AIM, Hello Palringo

On July 11th, the iPhone (finally) gained access to native instant messaging. There were a number of services immediately available. The one I chose–  AIM.

It’s a simple app that works well enough. In fact, the biggest issue with AIM is the inability to run in the background- but that is Apple’s fault not AIMs.

This morning, however, Palringo, another IM client, was updated.

Palringo is a “rich” messaging service which means

not only can you send text-based messages to your contacts, but also pictures and vocal instant messages.

Since it works with tons of services, including iChat, AOL’s AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Gadu Gadu, ICQ, Jabber and Windows Live Messenger, Palringo sounds like a one-stop IM shop.

Best of all, Palringo’s iPhone client apparently remains connected for a short period even if you navigate from the app. This means, for example, you can check email or take a call and return to Palringo without losing your connection.

?The update makes it even more powerful and includes some of the following additions–

– Unread private messages now saved on exit
– Progress bars when sending/receiving voice/photos
– Reduced network usage = faster
– Spam filtering for non-Palringo services
– Ability to disable predictive input
– Ability to set the default status to ‘Away/Busy’ when leaving Palringo
– Remembers your status on all services
– Ability to send high-resolution album photos
– Improved reconnect feature
– The ‘invisible’ button works again
– Stability fixes and more

It all seems like a compelling IM package that is worth a try.

So off comes AIM and on goes Palringo.

I’ll use it for couple of days and then decide which IM client stays going forward.

Get It Yourself Here In The App Store