Sending free text messages with AIM

First of all, you need an AIM account. Then simply add a contact beginning with +1 followed by their full number including area code. In order for people to send you text messages, you must send them a message, and have them save the incoming number to contact you in the future.

That’s it. You can send a free text message as long as the receiver’s carrier allows you to. Sometimes the receiver must accept incoming messages but its a one time procedure. The only down side is you must be connected in order to receive messages. If you aren’t, you’ll miss the text entirely.

Can I use other clients other than AIM? What about my phone?

Sure why not? Digsby and Adium allow you to text friends. It’s simply a contact according to AIM. Last time I checked, online client imo.im also allowed you to send and receive these messages, while Meebo didn’t. Maybe it’s changed since then?

Many phones support AIM. So as long as you have access to AIM, you can send/receive text messages. If you have access to AIM on your phone, you can avoid a texting plan. Neat isn’t it?

Beejive is worth the $9.99

Sure, $9.99 does sound like a lot. Considering I don’t have a texting plan, I didn’t mind forking over the money. I was skeptical at first but it comes with a great variety of features.

• Connect to Facebook, MySpace, AIM, Yahoo, Hotmail, and more…
• Desktopish type of application – Comes will all types of features you’d expect out of a desktop application
• Apply themes to conversations and the application itself
• Push notifications alerting you of new messages
• No lag and minimal crashing
• Easy to switch over to conversations and preview last message your buddy sent
• Overall, feels slick and sexy. Even the icon looks good on my home bar
• Vertical and Horizontal typing. Your current typing in progress is displayed on a transparent bubble which optimizes your chatting viewing area.

So if you are looking for another instant messaging application on the iPhone/iPod Touch, try out Beejive. So far its been the best looking and working instant messaging application I’ve used.

Adium’s Features

First of all Adium is Open Source allowing anyone to contribute. It has a slick UI with tabbed chats that simply look good. Also contains an extensive system notification with the ability to download custom themes as well.

Adium Impressions

If you are looking for a multiclient instant messenger, Adium is something you have to check out. I’ve been using it since I found out about it and haven’t stopped using it ever since. It’s user friendly, intuitive, and stylish. So what are you waiting for if you haven’t tried it out yet?

Adium Screenshots

Digsby Announcement
Digsby just got better! We released a new build that cuts RAM usage by almost 75%, improves performance, fixes hundreds of bugs, and introduces LinkedIn support!

So what are you waiting for? If you use Pidgin, you must check out Digsby. This multi-IM app is extremely promising. I fell in love with it at first site.

Digsby Screenshots
Digsby Features

Why we love Digsby

The IM interface is your typical messenger with contacts. Talking with a buddy pops up a message window that supports tabbed conversation windows with all your buddies.

If you don’t have the conversation window, and receive a new message, it shows up as a simple status message that fades in a little corner of screen and allows you to reply within and closes immediately.

Digsby Website:
Manage your Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL/AIM Mail, IMAP, and POP accounts right from digsby.

Find out when you receive messages on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Whenver you receive a status message of a new update, simply click and you are taken to the site!

Digsby also offers skins to give it a personal look.

Best of all, Digsby allows synchronization throughout computers. In other words, make a simple Digsby account, and whenever you log in from any computer, your preferences will automatically be transferred! Talk about convenience!

You can also send free SMS messages to cell phones! As well as receive!

With all of these features and more, there is no reason not to use Digsby!

What IM do you use?

Don’t be afraid to share what you use with us. Go ahead. Leave a comment.

The fact that this application works well with EDGE data means that you don’t have to worry about being in a “Hot Spot” ( area with Wireless Internet )! Lets see whats so great about this app…

If you have never used AIM before you might want to head over to their web site to Create an Account. Once you have your account set-up simply log in on the first screen. When you log in you will notice on the bottom of the screen that there are four tabs to choose from. The My Info Tab shows your status. You can customize your personal message and also add a picture directly from your iPhone.

As you can see the tabs are straight fordward… Buddy List takes you to your Buddy List, IMs are your active IMs, and Favorites are your Best Buds!

To compose an Instant Message simply tap on your buddy and IM away. With the iPhone’s full qwerty keyboard it works seamlessly.

So there you have it, AIM on the iPhone. Just Another great app for the iPhone. And don’t forget that these apps are also available for the iPod Touch!

How do I get this app?
This app is available directly from Apple’s App Store so head on over there and download it because it’s free!
( Requires you yo have an iTunes account )