# iChat in Tiger



## RGrphc2 (Sep 11, 2004)

okay so other than the new H.246 video compression and 3-way chatting what new features are we to expect in iChat AV when Tiger comes out???  I hope that Steve includes a way to change screen brightness of the iSight from the mac itself.  I noticed that with iChat the camera image is dark, but i've recently downloaded a demo of EvoCam and well the image is gorgeous.


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## btoth (Sep 11, 2004)

I'd probably use iChat if it would at least let me set a profile.  And while iChat does look nice, it'd be nice if it didn't take up so much of the screen.  Though, if the iChat status menu would show all my buddies that are online and not just the ones that are available, maybe I wouldn't care.


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## adambyte (Sep 11, 2004)

Dammit. There's still no perfect AIM client. The official AIM client has thet best file transfer and profile features, Adium has the best interface, and iChat has the Audio/Video. 

Now if we could just do some application gene splicing...


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## jobsen_ski (Sep 11, 2004)

well i heard on macosrumors.com that "Major unannounced features still in the works for Tiger version of iChat could include cross-platform audio chat with Windows AIM users, as well as support for MSN, Yahoo, and Skype chat networks among others."(direct quote) that would be GREAT!!! msn and yahoos! mac versions are uterly disgracefull aftreal if aMSN can aloow me to have a display picture and send more than 1 file at a time surly microsofts version could! the 4.0 revision was a total scam - the only real diference was the newemoticons that move etc. - and aparently thats worth a whole number upgrade - emmm dnt think so! i would say thats a 3.6 upgrade or a 3.5.1 upgrade not a whole point!


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## kanecorp (Sep 11, 2004)

ichat lets you make a profile and also lets you view your buddies in groups like in AIM (not like in ichat right now, were you can only view one at a time)


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## MBHockey (Sep 11, 2004)

If only Adium had Video chat...


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## pds (Sep 11, 2004)

The new compression will give the possibility of 20 simultaneous connections. Nice, but will I be able to voice chat cross-platform? I don't have 20 mac-friends that I want to voice chat with, but I can't speak to my Windowed relatives. Without the ability to go cross-platform iChat is disappointing.


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## MBHockey (Sep 11, 2004)

I'm not really up on all of this...there's no way to cross platform audio chat right now?  (thru iChat i mean)


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## kanecorp (Sep 11, 2004)

MBHockey said:
			
		

> I'm not really up on all of this...there's no way to cross platform audio chat right now?  (thru iChat i mean)



yea you can.  I video chat with a windows person, works poorly tho, well, for the windows guy, and their picture always looks like crap for me, not smooth either.


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## pds (Sep 11, 2004)

Yeah, video seems to be the key, you have to have cameras in order to get voice. So there is no cross-platform audio chat. Why is that? It needs to be fixed in the Tiger upgrade (if not sooner).

I tried and tried, but I don't have cameras on both ends and I can't get it to work. Does anyone here know a way to fool AIM / iChat into thinking it has a camera attached?


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## Ripcord (Sep 11, 2004)

Is it a firewire camera, or USB?  I believe USB cameras aren't supported by iChat without a hack.


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## mightyjlr (Sep 11, 2004)

kanecorp said:
			
		

> ichat lets you make a profile and also lets you view your buddies in groups like in AIM (not like in ichat right now, were you can only view one at a time)


explain how to make a profile in iChat...  didn't know you could...


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## kanecorp (Sep 11, 2004)

mightyjlr said:
			
		

> explain how to make a profile in iChat...  didn't know you could...



truthfully i dont have tiger installed anymore...ummm

it may be under "view"

Its there i made one, and asked a friend if he saw it, and it did work.


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## mightyjlr (Sep 11, 2004)

kanecorp said:
			
		

> truthfully i dont have tiger installed anymore...ummm
> 
> it may be under "view"
> 
> Its there i made one, and asked a friend if he saw it, and it did work.


ohh, you mean in Tiger... I thought you were talking about Jaguar...


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## bobw (Sep 12, 2004)

Invite a PC friend to a one-way video chat and then you can talk to each other.

 If the PC initiates the audio chat, it will work that way.


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## pds (Sep 12, 2004)

bobW - are those two different suggestions, or one? Do you have personal experience with this? I tried to have the pc initiate and to have the iBook initiate, connected via lan, but it didn't work either way when neither computer had a camera. (we don't have a camera at all)

If I have a camera and the pc doesn't (mom won't deal well with extra equipment ) and I intiate the chat, we can talk? 

If mom (the pc) initiates the chat, does she have to have a camera?

Getting this to work would really make my day. Getting it to be a reason to convince the missus to get an iSight would be nice too.


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## bobw (Sep 12, 2004)

Using iChat with friends in the US and UK, I have no problems with either video or audio from another Mac or PC.

 If you want to talk to someone using a PC, invite them to a one way video chat and the audio should work, even if they don't have a camera attached, it works for me.

 One friend on a PC doesn't have a camera, and I can audio with him this way.

 I don't use it on a LAN, just outside, over the Net.


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## pds (Sep 12, 2004)

Are you using an iSight or another camera?


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## bobw (Sep 12, 2004)

I have a FirewireDirect firewire webcam.


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## pds (Sep 12, 2004)

Thanks- 
My friendly neighborhood Apple man wants $220 for the iSight, so it's off to the pc bargain basement to see if I can find a reasonably priced camera. 

China, don't fail me now!


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## Charlie (Sep 14, 2004)

pds said:
			
		

> Thanks-
> My friendly neighborhood Apple man wants $220 for the iSight, so it's off to the pc bargain basement to see if I can find a reasonably priced camera.
> 
> China, don't fail me now!



CDW had the iSights for $129.00


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## pds (Sep 14, 2004)

And the Cairo tax man tacks on another $100


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## sur (Sep 15, 2004)

what about doing audio chats on skype instead ichat? the whole profile thing really spoiled it for me. but then i am also using icq... but apple doesn't seem to care about us european weirdos who are not into that whole aim thing....


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## fryke (Sep 15, 2004)

AIM's perfectly compatible with ICQ by now. Just use ICQ numbers instead of AIM nicknames when adding a person. So you could, if you wanted, open an AIM account (free) and tell your ICQ-buddies to add your new AIM name instead of the ICQ-# - if you wanted to use iChat instead of ICQ. I have done that some time ago, because the ICQ application is a bit too much for me. Only 2 things I'm really missing - where ICQ just rocks: Invisibility features and offline-messaging (for those who don't know ICQ, that just means you can leave a message if someone's offline...).

I think AOL should add those features to the AIM protocol and further merge ICQ and AIM.


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## texanpenguin (Sep 16, 2004)

Yahoo! Has offline messages, and Invisibility, and cross-platform webcam, plus an account is free, webcams aren't software-blocked under a certain MHz or bandwidth threshold (like iChat).

It's lacking Audio, though, and it's a coding mess (on the Mac, not at all on the PC) which often crashes completely, but usually on predictable events like unexpected internet disconnections.


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## texanpenguin (Sep 16, 2004)

Alternatively give iVisit a go.


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## fryke (Sep 17, 2004)

AFAIK neither Yahoo nor iVisit are compatible with iChat, AIM, ICQ etc., so they're niche solutions, basically. What I meant was that ICQ and AIM are interoperable, but that I don't understand why AOL, who owns both AIM and ICQ, doesn't give AIM the advanced features of ICQ, namely invisibility and offline messages.


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