Well, I for one would like to have my iPhone constantly connected to said IM Service so people can get hold of my via IM while I'm out and about - a really good feature on a mobile phone in my opinion.. Just a shame that nobody will be able to call me while it's signed in.. Herein lies the flaw :-/
How do you know you won't be able to take calls while you're using an IM client? None of the third-party applications developed using the official SDK are out yet.
maybe apple would allow them to make it so when youre on wifi the app could run in the background. But I know they said that no apps can run in the background.
er.... Battery life anyone? Even on wifi, being permanently connected to the net would surely prohibitively drain the battery... Another flaw to the plan
on edge you can either use data or voice, but not both at the same time... 3g would solve this though.
Yes, I'm aware that Apple hasn't allowed third-party applications to run in the back ground. Actually, most of the built-in applications on the iPhone don't run in the background. The only ones that run in the background are Phone, Mail, Safari, and iPod. If you've noticed, I haven't mentioned the SMS application. Why? Because actually, it doesn't run in the background. Surprising, eh?
Not really surprising. SMS is like email in the sense that you can send one to a recipient without them being available at that moment. The SMS is pushed to the phone when it becomes available, but the phone isn't polling a server to see if there's anything new for them constantly. I wonder if a similar approach could be taken with IM? Instant messaging requires a connection to a server and the user to be authenticated, sure, but all the major services offer offline messaging to be received when the user is available again. Say you have an IM conversation going in a chat client on the iPhone. You're connected and polling the server, but when you switch away to the iPod app, Safari, etc. it stops the constant polling and instead checks less frequently. Of course, this could all be solved by having IM chat work on a push basis instead of pull. At least, I think so.
personally, i'm not ready to take the step into 'instant messaging everywhere, anywhere, anytime'. if i'm out (or in class ) and want IM, i'll sign in and use it... i honestly don't mind if it can't run in the background. my only gripe would be if i couldn't run it in the background of the same usage session... for example, go into ipod and switch an album, or go onto safari and look something up, or use another app etc. but then go back to IM and still be signed in without having lost any messages.
Just because an IM app is always "connected" doesnt mean a constant flow of data has to go back and forth. Maybe a "keep alive" signal sent every so often. There are IM apps on other devices that allow you to get messages anytime (unless you sign out). I had one on my palm a couple years back that would give the option to get an IM via SMS or Data. If the SDK allows some sort of hook to monitor incoming data or what-not, then the IM app could work. Otherwise, it will be no better than the web based apps such as jive talk.
the sidekick and other phones do it and with edge no less. they will find the way. they can rebuild it, they have the technology...
IM is push. The problem is that you need to keep a TCP connection open in order to receive messages. This is actually very similar to IMAP IDLE/PUSH, and Exchange Push. It is also interesting that it isn't having this connection open that prevents incoming calls, it is data flowing over the lines that prevents the calls. But, with IMAP IDLE, or Exchange Push, if you receive a lot of mail, the odds you miss a call will go up. The same will happen with any similar IM service. And a developer attempting to make the server connect to the client won't always work, as how addressing with phones work is a bit wonky.
Code: # ps uxc USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TT STAT STARTED TIME COMMAND root 1 0.0 0.3 272956 328 ?? Ss 6Mar08 0:59.49 launchd root 14 0.0 4.1 564832 4812 ?? Ss 6Mar08 8:08.22 CommCenter root 17 0.0 1.0 275864 1236 ?? Ss 6Mar08 29:32.68 configd root 18 0.0 0.3 273404 384 ?? Ss 6Mar08 0:00.37 crashreporterd root 19 0.0 0.3 272968 304 ?? Ss 6Mar08 0:02.23 cron root 21 0.0 0.6 273764 728 ?? Ss 6Mar08 2:14.96 mDNSResponder root 23 0.0 0.2 274000 276 ?? Ss 6Mar08 7:11.68 syslogd root 24 0.0 0.1 264644 116 ?? Ss 6Mar08 2:18.57 update root 28 0.0 0.3 273456 368 ?? Ss 6Mar08 1:17.17 notifyd root 4071 0.0 0.7 284208 804 ?? Ss Thu01AM 0:36.39 lockdownd root 4660 0.0 0.4 273148 416 ?? Ss Thu08PM 0:16.30 SCHelper root 5254 0.0 1.0 274168 1168 p4 Ss 10:35PM 0:00.08 -sh root 5257 0.0 0.3 272876 332 p4 R+ 10:35PM 0:00.02 ps # su -c "ps uxc" mobile USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TT STAT STARTED TIME COMMAND mobile 5271 9.0 0.3 272876 324 p4 R+ 10:39PM 0:00.07 ps mobile 20 0.0 0.0 0 0 ?? s 6Mar08 0:00.00 iapd mobile 25 0.0 0.0 0 0 ?? s 6Mar08 0:00.00 ptpd mobile 13 0.0 0.0 0 0 ?? s 6Mar08 0:00.00 BTServer mobile 5127 0.0 0.0 0 0 ?? s 6:26PM 0:00.00 mediaserverd mobile 5133 0.0 0.0 0 0 ?? 6:30PM 0:00.00 MobileSafari mobile 5159 0.0 0.0 0 0 ?? 7:38PM 0:00.00 MobileMail mobile 5270 0.0 0.0 0 0 ?? 10:39PM 0:00.00 MobileTimer mobile 4536 0.0 0.0 0 0 ?? Thu05PM 0:00.00 MobilePhone
I've never really used IM, but isn't texting much the same? What does IM give you that texting doesn't?
Well I guess that's a risk that IM users will have to take! Battery life isn't a 'flaw to the plan'. How is it a flaw in any sense at all?
Battery Life shouldn't be too bad, but why stay connected 24/7 anyway? Just log off when you're done talking. (I do not see the point in staying logged on for days at a time..can anyone help me with that?) I know with my Sidekick 3 and current LX you can stay logged on and receive phone calls, but it temporarily drops the I/M client (i.e. disconnects you for some 30 seconds) but after the phone call is over, it re-establishes the connects your up and ready to chat (usually 30-60 seconds.) Somebody should be able to pull that with the iPhone.
From my understanding on ATT when you are on EDGE you can either use data or voice but NOT both. I don't know if it works this way on all carriers. This pretty much makes IM useless on an I phone.
If it's possible on a Sidekick using EDGE, it's possible on an iPhone. Nothing to worry about people, these guys know what they're doing.
People can contact you if you're always online.. Perhaps not when asleep, but I'd get left connected because I wouldn't bother to disconnect before going to bed. Also as I mentioned earlier, there are many services I use through Jabber.. Jaiku for instance - I suppose they may be the main reason to stay connected. This isn't a hurdle a developer can jump. The problem is with EDGE not being able to use data and alert to a voice call. If I am browsing via EDGE, my calls go staright to voicemail. If I was connected to IM 24/7, I'd never be alerted to an incoming call.