Beejive for iPhone – A Feature Packed IM Client
By: Aaron
I have been searching the App Store for the perfect IMing client for my iPhone, so I can still be in touch with my friends on the go. The search has finally ended. What did I find? Beejive IM for the iPhone. It contains a beautiful mix of elements that makes an app great – an easy to use interface, as well as a plethora of features.
Beejive IM for iPhone boasts a large assortment of wonderful features, and supports all your favorite IM services, including: AIM / Mobile Me, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, Facebook IM, Myspace IM, Google Talk, and MSN. It pretty much has all the major services that people use today.
The first thing I did (after downloading Beejive IM) was delete all my old apps that I used to connect to services, such as the AIM and Yahoo Messenger apps. This application does what all of those do, combined. It even has some features that the original service itself does not provide. For example, on my computer, I cannot send a picture on AIM, however, with beejive IM, I can now send pictures to friends on AIM on the go. It’s a very handy feature – saves me time (otherwise I’d have to email the picture to my friend)
One of the very useful features I found in beejive IM was push notifications. This means that I will be notified that I have received a new IM even when I’m not in the application itself, which is very convenient for me.
Beejive features some extra features that I have not seen before. I’ve already shared one of them with you, picture sharing. Some other things Beejive IM has are: emailing conversations, deleting conversations, and voice recording, shown in the “taskbar” at the top of the screenshot.
Beejive allows for multitasking inside the app itself. Talking to multiple people and switching from one conversation to the next is a breeze. You can tap at the top to open the little taskbar, where you can see the pictures of the people that you are currently talking to. You will notice a little red dot next to one of your contacts in that taskbar if they have sent you an IM that you have not read yet.
Another feature I’ve noticed is very helpful is setting your status for all your IM services with the click of one button. This will allow you to go online on all your IM accounts (as long as you’ve added them into Beejive). You also have the option to set your status for each service separately.
Other than all that, Beejive is your average IM client. You can view your buddy list, add favorites, and see all your current chats.
Beejive IM truly appeals to me; it yet to let me down. There are not many downsides to Beejive IM. The only con, in my opinion, is the price. It’s $9.99, which is quite steep for an iPhone application. You should keep in mind that it has had a price reduction. It actually used to be $14.99! Even if you don’t have an iPhone, you can check to see if it’s available for your smartphone on Beejive’s website.
In a nutshell, Beejive IM is perfect for the heavy IM user looking for an all around excellent application. It has an elegant look to it as well as an abundance of features. You may want to think about it a little bit before buying though, since it’ll run you about $10 (maybe try out some other free IM clients first?). If money is not an issue for you, you should go on ahead and buy the application. Personally, I find it worth every penny!
Our Rating: 4.5/5
Developer Link: Beejive IM
