Beejive IM Released

[Hls811]

No, because it can't run in the background. No application using the official SDK can, because Apple doesn't want background applications. And if they don't use the official SDK, they can't be sold on the AppStore.

That's actually one of the reasons for the price. To work around the SDK limitation, Beejive had to setup a centralized server. The server handles you IM sessions - it's the one that is logged for 24 hours. That's the server using push email to send notifications - since that's the only notification mechanism that works on the current SDK. The iPhone application merely connects to Beejive server.
In order for that to work, Beejive has to maintain a server that can handle potentially dozens of thousands of simultaneous sessions, each supporting several IM protocoles. That costs money, both in server maintainance and in design and development time...

I'm trying to understand this - what you say makes complete sense, but when(if?) push is enabled, wouldn't they still need some sort of centralized server? I mean, the push wouldn't be coming direct from AOL/Yahoo/MSN/Google, etc - wouldn't the push come from the Beejive server?

 

[Hls811]

So in theory, when Apple releases the Push Notification service there will be no use for BeeJives centralized server, correct? It also would negate the 16 dollar price tag.

and regardless.. the price tag is also for the cost of developing the app, providing updates, etc.. Its either pay for it or eventually it'll be ad-supported. (While there aren't any ads in the Palringo iPhone client, if you've gone to their website you can see that they do run ads to make some money...)

 

[slicecom]

Does this app have an appear offline option? If so, can you send and receive messages while appearing offline?

 

[bytethese]

While I've been waiting for background notification for aim/ichat, you can have AOL send my a txt message when you're not logged into AIM.

http://aolmobile.aol.com/

or

In iChat -> preferences -> aim or mobileme to register your phone -> click mobile forwarding button and follow the directions.

You can even reply via sms.

Call me cheap but I would have bought beejive if it were $5.... everyone would buy it if it were $1.

Guess they don't realize the value of market saturation.

Uh, some of us only have 200 text/month. No WAY would I sign up for this.

 

[slicecom]

Uh, some of us only have 200 text/month. No WAY would I sign up for this.

And some of us have 10,000 text/month.

 

[Hls811]

Does this app have an appear offline option? If so, can you send and receive messages while appearing offline?

Yes - as long as the protocol supports it.

 

[bytethese]

Considering I spent $50.00 for IM+ when I had my Blackberry, and it wasn't even half the app Beejive is, $15.99 is a steal! I would have gladly paid more if they would've asked for it. It simply blows everything else out of the water. All you naysayers really owe it to yourselves to suck it up and buy this app.

Yes, it's a steal, grand theft! Along with the $50 you spent, I'd say you were duped. Sure it has more options, but for some of us, not enough to justify spending money on it. I'm cool with free AIM and free Facebook to chat with friends.

 

[lucasgariglia]

o2 notification

For those in the UK on o2 who want the SMS notifications of new messages, text "on" to 212, you'll then get a reply saying email to SMS service has been activated. Just configure Beejive to send alerts for new messages to +44<your mobile number>@mmail.co.uk, and you'll get an SMS notification instantly (well, almost) of any new messages in Beejive. A decent alternative to those without MobileMe or Exchange until Apple released push notifications for 3rd party apps.


is it free to receive sms?

 

[razorianfly]

After testing Beejive for iPhone, it's the one to beat. Although no photo sending support and/or hyperlink rendering, the UI on this baby is something else.
It's the most polished app I've got in my library, to date. Email Push notifications work through normal e-mail accounts - no need for mobile Me or Exchange.

R-Fly

 

[slapppy]

Hmm, at first I thought...No way will I pay $15. But then I realized, im paying $30 per month for unlmiited text on the family plan. Maybe this will be worth it.

I thought about dropping that too. But I don't think you can get an sms message to AIM from another user. I think you can initiate an SMS chat from AIM or Yahoo, but not the other way around. From what I can understand from the tips and tricks page.

So its great that I can do SMS unlimited, as long as I initiate the chat. But for someone else to SMS me, I would still get dinged if I don't have unlimited plan.

Oh yeah forgot. I love the fact that you can type landscape mode!!!

 

[bbplayer5]

This is BeeJive folks.. its the best IM client out, period. This isnt some crap company doing this.

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

Haha... this came out at exactly the right time. If this came out before Apple changed the feedback rules this would have been hammered by the 'should be free' crowd. Good for them, I guess, except now apps released after that rule are going to get much more positive feedback than apps released before--most of the people buying an application will actually want to use it.

 

[chris3g]

i love how $16 one time for unlimited IM's for as long as you have your phone , and a program the keeps you connected 24/7 and actually works "isn't worth it" or is even a ripoff, but the majority of you all pay at least $5, if not $15 or $20 PER MONTH for txt messages.

1 year of unlimited txts = $240, perfectly fine
1 year of unlimited beejive = $16, ripoff

 

[Digipimp]

I thought about dropping that too. But I don't think you can get an sms message to AIM from another user. I think you can initiate an SMS chat from AIM or Yahoo, but not the other way around. From what I can understand from the tips and tricks page.

So its great that I can do SMS unlimited, as long as I initiate the chat. But for someone else to SMS me, I would still get dinged if I don't have unlimited plan.

Oh yeah forgot. I love the fact that you can type landscape mode!!!

actually you can do it. for example sms your own phone from aim, that number that shows up that youre replying to you can add to your contact and sms that specific number at any time and they'll get the message. you just have to explain it to people that they can sms that number and reach you.

 

[iblastoff]

4) IM notification badge on the icon. Palringo just added this – it would be a nice feature and save me the few minutes from signing in to check if theres anything waiting. (I don’t use the email push notifications)

ummm no they didnt. notification badges for palringo only appear if theres an unread message waiting for you WHILE you were still in the actual app. this is what beejive currently does as well.

 

[OneMike]

you people crack me up...it's $15. i guess we're all spoiled now on iphone apps...look how much apps cost for any other platform. I had to pay $9.99 for 3 months of IM'ing with agile messenger on windows mobile (or pay $40 for lifetime). IM+ for windows mobile was $30, i'm sure they'll be charging for iphone too if they can get a working app. It's normal to pay $10 for lunch these days.

I think the major issue that people fail to realize is that this is NOT another platform.

I've had a blackberry as well as several treos and I purchased IM+, pocktunes, etc.. All which alone cost almost as much as all the apps I have combined for iphone. Quality free apps on those devices are few and rarely updated or non existent. Also depending on the app it just may be one or a couple paid types of an app so your option is buy or don't buy. Price is just one aspect. You can't say an app cost $40 on this OS so you shouldn't complain about $16 on this OS when there is a lot more to it then price.

That's like me saying I paid $129.00 for Leopard so a $40 app is a steal. One thing has nothing to do with next.

Dev has the right to charge whatever they want so I think it's not right to say app should be $0.99, but as a consumer you also have the right to decide whether or not something is worth it to you for price. It's not always about the person being cheap. Being able to pay for something doesn't mean it's worth it.

 

[RoboCop001]

Dev has the right to charge whatever they want so I think it's not right to say app should be $0.99, but as a consumer you also have the right to decide whether or not something is worth it to you for price. It's not always about the person being cheap. Being able to pay for something doesn't mean it's worth it.

tealc: Indeed.

O'neill: Quiet tealc.


I fully endorse this statement.

 

[Hls811]

ummm no they didnt. notification badges for palringo only appear if theres an unread message waiting for you WHILE you were still in the actual app. this is what beejive currently does as well.

EDIT:

Ok - I just saw thier change log, this is what they added in 1.22

We've also added a couple of features:
* Palringo now displays the number of unread messages per contact in the Palringo popup menu
* The Palringo icon will display a badge with the number of unread messages when you exit Palringo


When I saw it on my springboard icon I must've closed the window without realizing I had a message waiting for me... (anyway Badge notification would be nice - if its possible)

 

[Lictor]

No you are incorrect. Beejives centralized server will still be needed to maintain the connections to each IM service when the app is closed. This is a common misconception of Apples Push Notification service which is yet to be released.

Exactly. Apple Push Notification, if it is ever released, will still need someone on the other end of the tube to speak its language. MSN, Skype, AIM and the like are not. The Beejive server can act as a proxy to translate the protocoles of half a dozen IM service to notifications the iPhone can understand. Which is exactly what it is doing right now : it translates IM notifications from x protocoles to email push notifications the iPhone understands.

I don't think people realise that it *is* actually a complex piece of software with some clever ideas about how to work around the limitations of the SDK. And the limitation will still be there once APN is delivered (if ever) : the only thing APN will do is let application some code to answer to specific notifications. This will mostly benefit the end user, with better integration and a more seamless experience. But from the developer point of view, this only means more complexity and the need for some server side code. The programming on Beejive IM is as much server side as it is client side.

 

[odelay]

For those in the UK on o2 who want the SMS notifications of new messages, text "on" to 212, you'll then get a reply saying email to SMS service has been activated. Just configure Beejive to send alerts for new messages to +44<your mobile number>@mmail.co.uk, and you'll get an SMS notification instantly (well, almost) of any new messages in Beejive. A decent alternative to those without MobileMe or Exchange until Apple released push notifications for 3rd party apps.


is it free to receive sms?

I've had a dig around, and can't find anything "official" on this, nothing on o2's website!, but looks like you may actually get charged for this, so use with caution, or try calling o2 to confirm.

 

[diesel]

well despite some of the people's complaints about beejive's price, it is now ranked #60 in the paid apps section (of the US store) and with its 4.5 star rating (from actual purchasers and users......thank goodness), i'm sure it'll continue to climb up the app store sales ranking

 

[razorianfly]

Why use SMS notification? - Type your email address into the settings panel, and bejive sends instant push notifications to that address when or if you receive a message.

I've only had the application for 6 hours, and out of my 118 app library, its easily becoming my favorite.

R-Fly

 

[odelay]

Why use SMS notification? - Type your email address into the settings panel, and bejive sends instant push notifications to that address when or if you receive a message.

I've only had the application for 6 hours, and out of my 118 app library, its easily becoming my favorite.

R-Fly

True, but without Exchange, MobileMe or Yahoo push email, the email will not then be "pushed" to your iPhone. You'd have to wait until the iPhone is scheduled to next "fetch" new mail. So, for some people, this might not be quick enough, they may want "instant" notification of new messages.

Not an issue for me, as I use MobileMe "push" with Beejive, but I though for some it might be useful

 

[TheSpaz]

Can I ask... why do people want IMs pushed to their EMAIL? Does that mean your mailbox is getting flooded with instant messages? That seems weird to me. Wouldn't it be better to get SMS notifications so the message just pops up in front of whatever you're doing?

 

[razorianfly]

Can I ask... why do people want IMs pushed to their EMAIL? Does that mean your mailbox is getting flooded with instant messages? That seems weird to me. Wouldn't it be better to get SMS notifications so the message just pops up in front of whatever you're doing?

Yes, but without Apple's Push Notification Service, that's a distant dream.

R-Fly