Closest thing to Blackberry Messenger?

[yournamepenor]

use meebo!

 

[KrisPeezy]

I am beta testing for LiveProfile which I am sure you have heard of. So far it is great and I am talking to my girlfriend who uses a BlackBerry tour. It too works for all platforms however it is more than just a bbm clone. The best part is they are located in New York and very reputable people.

You can get an invite from their website LiveProfile I received it within 3 hours but I have heard some people waiting 24 hours for an invite email. I guess it depends what time of the day you sign up.

I highly suggest it go take a look you won't be disappointed.

From their website:

"LiveProfile is the best way to stay connected with friends. LiveProfile is a messenger and social utility designed for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone"

"Upgraded from your Crackberry? Having BlackBerry Messenger withdrawal? LiveProfile is your fix with many of the same BBM features and more."

Anyone else have any say on this LiveProfile? I can't find any more info on it other than whats on the front page, cause everything points back to the front page.

 

[Mr. Incredible]

Google Talk is an extension of the XMPP protocol, so it should support most of the features you guys would like if Google wanted to beef up their servers sufficiently.
1) File Transfers
2) Rooms (More IRC like than Group Messaging)
3) Advanced "Typing" notification

Issues:
1) Google talk is not encrypted. It can do SSL login for authentication, but then the actual chats are sent as clear text. (Unless Google has changed this recently).
2) As soon as you allow file transfers, it becomes a Trojan Horse vector. Especially on "open" platforms.

 

[silvrsurfr]

There is an App which is similar to BB - not as good, as i was once a BB owner.

But considering the alternatives, its not bad.
Its called Kik.

Only thing is - the other person must have installed the same app. I tried d/l'ing it to a friends BB (older version) and it doesnt support the phone.

But for those that can d/l it, its a nice bridge until a more seamless -across platform messenger comes out.

 

[codym.cornwell]

google talk has the capability to file share cause its available on the blackberry version. but for some reason they dont include that capabiltiy on the android version.

 

[yournamepenor]

i found one that advertises that it is like bbm works good its called kik messenger. try it out.
didnt see that post up there diregaurd but i agree it works good.

 

[yacoxx]

For me, THIS is the biggest thing I need in a BBM clone.

!!!***Group Chat***!!!
​

Most my friends have BB's and we're always in a group chat room together. Our room's probably been together for over a year with 5-6 of us in it. There's random conversation all day, every day. No other app out there that I can find allows me to start a room on. We can have full on conversations going in the chat room.

I don't care about using the messaging apps to talk to one person, send a file, etc. I can already do that with email or text messages. But if I send out a text message to 5 people, any responses come back to me only.

Anything out there that can do group chat??? Liveprofile looks very promising, but there's no info about it. All I want to know is if it can do group chat :-D

 

[sookster54]

^

I am genuinely curious, what makes bbm so great (or rather what makes it incomparable to other services?)? Does it work differently? Does it have features that other services don't have?

Blackberries run through its own servers (BES/BIS), message delivery are practically instant and emails are pushed the instant they are sent out which is why Blackberry is very popular along businesses (and lawyers, fortune 500 co, etc). Other than that, there isn't much of an advantage anywhere else with Blackberries over other platforms.

A majority of my contacts are BB users, BBM is the one thing I miss when I put down my BB for an Android phone and SMS can take a short while to deliver.

 

[IOWA]

For me, THIS is the biggest thing I need in a BBM clone.

!!!***Group Chat***!!!
​

Most my friends have BB's and we're always in a group chat room together. Our room's probably been together for over a year with 5-6 of us in it. There's random conversation all day, every day. No other app out there that I can find allows me to start a room on. We can have full on conversations going in the chat room.

I don't care about using the messaging apps to talk to one person, send a file, etc. I can already do that with email or text messages. But if I send out a text message to 5 people, any responses come back to me only.

Anything out there that can do group chat??? Liveprofile looks very promising, but there's no info about it. All I want to know is if it can do group chat :-D

Gtalk does this.

 

[Connectz]

This is a REALLY nice app. My wife used to have BBM and it was nice. This is the closest thing I have found to it. Found out about it on another board. Check it out and let me know if you guys think its close to BBM.

PingChat! by Enflick, Inc. 50,000 downloads, 1502 ratings (4.1 avg)

Free

Also, go here for more info. Looks like they have upgraded the app and there is now "read" and "received" confirmations.

http://pingchat.com/

 

[ezetrex]

hey guys try pingchat its simmilar u can also see if some1 has read ur message or if its been delivered

 

[ezetrex]

hmm i think ill start using my gtalk from now on it seems special lol
every android phone has it soo yea time 2 use it xD

 

[snapcallem]

it would be awesome if you could have google talk contacts and BBM contacts all show up in the same place ... and when you change your status on one it changes on both and stuff like that ... then people with blackberries wouldnt have to choose one or the other they can use it all together very easily ... think this is possible ???

 

[staypuft]

This is a REALLY nice app. My wife used to have BBM and it was nice. This is the closest thing I have found to it. Found out about it on another board. Check it out and let me know if you guys think its close to BBM.

PingChat! by Enflick, Inc. 50,000 downloads, 1502 ratings (4.1 avg)

Free

Also, go here for more info. Looks like they have upgraded the app and there is now "read" and "received" confirmations.

PingChat! 2.0 - Instant messaging used by millions.

i love pingchat

 

[Connectz]

Cnectd is really good too!!! Its actually closer in functionality to bbm than ping chat but I don't think it's as popular.

 

[yacoxx]

Okay, a few of my friends (2 on BB curves and 1 on an HTC Evo) all tried out a few of the options yesterday.

Google Talk: none of us could figure out how to do group chat. The interface and operation was really nice though. Looked just like BBM did before the recent updates where it put each person in their own colored bubble. This seems like it might be the way to go down the line, since it has the resources of google behind it. I assume it will quickly add features to be the same as BBM. IOWA... you said gtalk does group chat. None of us could figure out how to do it? If I'm in a conversation with a friend, how can I invite more people into that conversation so it acts like a chat room? Another nice thing about Google Talk was that it showed a notification at the top of the BB home screen when new messages arrived (just like BBM). It also showed up in my inbox, just like BBM does.


Cnectd: this one allowed group chat, but it's very bulky to work with. The nice thing with BBM is within a 1-on-1 conversation with someone, you can invite more people and it instantly turns into a group chat. In Cnectd, I had to go to the group section, create a group with a name, choose the settings for that group, then tell all my friends the group name. I couldn't invite them to the group and have them automatically in the room. They had to manually search for my group, request to join it, and then I had to approve them to join. Also, Cnectd didn't have any notifier of new messages/chats on the home screen or in the inbox. Not sure if it's a problem just with my Curve, or if it's like that on all phones.


Paltalk Messenger: Again, couldn't figure out how to do groups. It was very glitchy as well, showing friends being on and offline (constantly changing). The new message notifier was just a mail/text icon, and it showed up in the inbox as a constant stream of new texts. Clicking on them in the inbox sometimes would take me to the conversation, and sometimes it would tweak out and take me back to the home screen.


Pingchat: This looks the most promising, but sadly I could not put it on my phone. Went to the site from my BB Curve 8330, and it says it is not supported on my device. Looking at the website, it looks JUST like BBM. You can do group chat, it has different colors for different people, AND the best part is you can send media through it INSIDE of groups (can't do that in BBM).

 

[sookster54]

There's word that CrossTalk would be able to communicate with BBM users, that'll be nice.

 

[theajm]

pingchat, an iphone/android/soon to be bb bbm.

 

[bsmac02]

^

I am genuinely curious, what makes bbm so great (or rather what makes it incomparable to other services?)? Does it work differently? Does it have features that other services don't have?

I recently rid my blackberry for the lovely DX but I must say that I too miss BBM because it was just a very simplified way to share pics and chat it up without paying the price. I'm still looking for an app that is comparable to BBM as well so don't let Mike make you feel bad... sometimes it's hard to let go of one of the few things us ex-blackberry users truly loved... R.I.P BBM

 

[Connectz]

I think with RIM falling behind someone or some company is going to figure out a way to make a service just like or better than BBM. I wouldn't mind paying a small fee to use such a program. Something like $5-$10 once would be ideal for security and functionality like BBM. I would like to see Google do it. Or better yet, have RIM sell it. I read somewhere that we wouldn't get the same security if it were cross platform.

 

[IOWA]

You start a chat with someone.. you don't even have to say anything just open the window. Then press menu > add to chat...

 

[yacoxx]

You start a chat with someone.. you don't even have to say anything just open the window. Then press menu > add to chat...

I'm thinking it might not be something available in the Blackberry version? I don't have that option for my Curve 8330. I know I've read on the Google Talk website (under the news section) that they have added group chat functionality. But everything I see there just refers to the PC version.

For me, I open a chat with a friend, hit the menu button, and get these options:

Help____________
Paste___________
Check Spelling____
Add Smiley
Switch Chat
Clear Chat
Copy Chat
Email Chat_______
Friend Details
Block___________
Email 'user name'
MMS 'user name'__
Edit AutoText
Show Symbols____
Switch Application
End chat
View Friends List

​

On a side not, though, I just realized a great feature for using Google Talk. Lots of airlines are starting to add wi-fi capabilities to the planes. You still have to turn the cell phone send/receive fuctions off, but you could be on Google Talk on your laptop and still communicate with your friends using the mobile version.

 

[breezy12]

There is an app called PingChat that has all the same features and functions as blackberry messenger, and it's completely free. The app is available on android, iPhone, and blackberry devices. I work for Sprint and I use it on my Evo. Its great and it even gas the delivered and read notifications!

 

[tempest7]

I started trying the Whatsapp beta for Android. The interface seems a bit lacking, and response time seems slow on my Galaxy S. Quite a few of my iPhone friends use this app, but since they're moving to a paid service, I've been trying to find an alternative.

I'm going to try to convince some of my friends to try pingchat with me. It seems like a good option.

 

[Macmee]

There is an app called PingChat that has all the same features and functions as blackberry messenger, and it's completely free. The app is available on android, iPhone, and blackberry devices. I work for Sprint and I use it on my Evo. Its great and it even gas the delivered and read notifications!

This but pingchat doesn't vibrate on my N1 if I leave the app open.