IM+ For iPad

Let’s face it, people: as a society we’re social by nature; we tend to want to stay in contact with our friends and colleagues as much as possible. We’re either using a geo-location app and checking in, we’re posting a twitpic of the lady sleeping on the plane across from us (I’ve taken that picture before and yes it was hilarious), or we’re simply sitting in front of our computer chatting away on an instant messenger client.

Well, for you iPad owners out there let me tell you about IM+. The IM+ app is nothing new.  It’s been a big player in the instant messaging market for a long time on mobile devices; the user interface has always been clean and straightforward and, above all, the performance has always been good.

Those attributes are still relevant with the new iPad versions of IM+. There are two versions available, the difference in the $9.99 full version and the free Lite version are that the Lite version is ad-supported and does NOT include Skype connectivity. So, if you’re ok with ads and don’t need Skype integration, by all means go with the Lite version. I went with the full version and absolutely love it; IM+ has been promoted to the dock on my iPad !

Check this quick rundown of some of the key features:

  • No cost per message (that’s key – since I’m going broke buying all these apps, I need to save money whenever possible)
  • Email push notifications (Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail)
  • Skype chat (until Skype comes out with their updated app specifically for the iPad this is my tool)
  • Twitter integration (the world lives on Twitter—don’t deny it, folks)
  • Built-in browser (yes, you can click on links within your IM message and launch an integrated web browser)
  • Apple push notifications (this has become more useful than I thought it would—this feature allows you to stay connected and be notified about new IMs after you close IM+. You can change the notification period from never all the way up to 72 hours).

Obviously there are more features, but those are the ones that I use daily and that have made the $9.99 purchase justifiable.

Check it out in the App Store

I’d love to hear your feedback and user experience if you’ve tried the app as well.

James has been in the information technology field for nearly 20 years. He is the founder of HicksNewMedia, a technology consulting firm based in Northern California. He focuses on social media integration, cloud computing and yes, all things Apple (since he worked for Apple for 6 years he's got some good insider information). When not online he's enjoying time with his wife and 2 kids. Follow him online at THE Tech Scoop and Twitter.