Slack Chat Platform Finally Gets Custom Status Message Feature

[MacRumors]

Team chat platform Slack got a long-awaited feature on Thursday with the addition of status updates, finally allowing users to customize their status message beyond the default "away" setting.

The new "set a status" feature includes five Suggested statuses including In a meeting, Commuting, Out sick, Vacationing, and Working remotely, as well as an input field for typing a custom message - allowing users to display a return time if they're away, for example.

Each status can be up to 100 characters and users can display an associated emoji to communicate their circumstances, but if an emoji isn't chosen a speech ballon is shown instead. The emoji appears alongside the username in the chat window, the sidebar, and the chat room members list, while hovering over the emoji or tapping it brings up the full status message.

Some third-party apps can also modify the status message. For example, Zenefits syncs user status with its Time Off Tracking system, while Meekan shows when someone's in a meeting (and when they'll be free). Statuses also automatically update when a user is on a voice or video call in Slack.

Statuses can be set from the browser, desktop and mobile versions of Slack. Mac users can click their name in the upper left corner of the sidebar, then select Set a status. On iOS, users should tap the More items icon (...), or edit their status directly from their profile.

Slack is a free download for Mac on the Mac App Store and available for iPhone and iPad on the App Store.

Article Link: Slack Chat Platform Finally Gets Custom Status Message Feature

 

[rjtyork]

Come to think of it, I would probably enjoy and use a "status" feature built in to iMessage. Would be useful to automatically tell people I'm driving before they even text me, or if I'm in a movie, meeting, etc.

 

[maflynn]

Wow, welcome to 2006 (or something). I was using custom status features since the Yahoo IM days. I'm shocked that such a basic and useful feature was not even available in Slack until now.

 

[C DM]

Wow, welcome to 2006 (or something). I was using custom status features since the Yahoo IM days. I'm shocked that such a basic and useful feature was not even available in Slack until now.

It is kind of interesting that somewhat basic things like that that were around back in the IM days from more than a decade ago aren't really there in a lot of today's messaging services. Hopefully this will give it all a bit of a push to make a comeback.
[doublepost=1492192253][/doublepost]

Come to think of it, I would probably enjoy and use a "status" feature built in to iMessage. Would be useful to automatically tell people I'm driving before they even text me, or if I'm in a movie, meeting, etc.

Given how far we've come along with text messaging and similar mobile messaging services you'd think something like this would be incorporated into it all by now.

 

[6836838]

Long awaited is the still ever-missing smart notification option in iOS. There is still no way to quick-reply on an iDevice. With all the updates to this excellent app, this is the only one I'm still waiting for.

 

[mlody]

kind of a side point but Microsoft recently unveiled Teams. After playing with Teams for few weeks, I can confidently say that Microsoft killed Slack for majority of the businesses and use cases. The level of integration with other Office 365 products is beyond unreal and on top of it, the Teams is free to basically anyone who has Office 365 subscriptions.

 

[Michael Scrip]

The return of the AIM away message:

"In the shower... brb..."

Everything old is new again!

 

[maflynn]

aren't really there in a lot of today's messaging services

We use skype and that has it. I think its just slack that had tha feature

 

[Rafagon]

They just now added this feature?

They're slacking!

 

[sudo1996]

We use Slack for work. Not a fan of this app. It feels like they mostly render webpages with WebKit, and I do see WebKit render processes running for Slack. Very unresponsive, especially when scrolling up to old messages. Besides that, the search UI is absolutely horrible. iChat + AIM was a lot nicer.
[doublepost=1492322139][/doublepost]

Wow, welcome to 2006 (or something). I was using custom status features since the Yahoo IM days. I'm shocked that such a basic and useful feature was not even available in Slack until now.

I think that's only because back then, your status mattered a lot. Now that we have multiple PCs and phones using one messaging system, and you're randomly checking messages on the go, it doesn't make as much sense.

 

[maflynn]

, it doesn't make as much sense.

I still can see the value in custom messages, with skype you can have it on multiple computers and your phone, and I still see till the advantages of custom statuses.

 

[RedGala]

Come to think of it, I would probably enjoy and use a "status" feature built in to iMessage. Would be useful to automatically tell people I'm driving before they even text me, or if I'm in a movie, meeting, etc.

Where good ideas are born. I hope Apple employees are scouring MacRumors comments for ideas...

 

[sudo1996]

Come to think of it, I would probably enjoy and use a "status" feature built in to iMessage. Would be useful to automatically tell people I'm driving before they even text me, or if I'm in a movie, meeting, etc.

I used to carefully set my AIM statuses, and it didn't really work because I'd inevitably forget a few times and leave one up forever, causing everyone to stop paying attention to them.

 

[mxmgodin]

Come to think of it, I would probably enjoy and use a "status" feature built in to iMessage. Would be useful to automatically tell people I'm driving before they even text me, or if I'm in a movie, meeting, etc.

I had a friend who had a Windows Phone. It had a "driving mode" that was automatically activated when connected to his car's Bluetooth, and it would sent automatic replies "I'm driving, I'll get back to you later" to all incoming messages. Neat feature.

Long awaited is the still ever-missing smart notification option in iOS. There is still no way to quick-reply on an iDevice. With all the updates to this excellent app, this is the only one I'm still waiting for.

I wonder if that may be on purpose. As Slack is used mainly in work-related environment, it could be understandable that many employers may not want people to be able to reply to a message from the notification, without unlocking the phone. Some companies can be really serious about security on personal or work-provided devices.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Remember when AOL added this back in 1996?