“iChat” via SMS

Reader Keith has asked us to weigh in on AOL’s Mobile AOL Instant Messaging (Mobile AIM) service as an alternative to “real” iChat on the iPhone.

The way Mobile AIM works is that after signing up for a Mobile AIM account (or registering your current iChat/AIM account), you can have any iChat/AIM messages sent to that account forwarded to your iPhone as SMS messages; people can also message your phone directly by sending a message, via iChat, to +xxxyyyzzzz (+ followed by your phone number). When you reply to one of these messages, your reply is also sent via SMS; AOL’s system converts it to a standard AIM message and then forwards it to the recipient.

The arrangement works reasonably well, but there are some significant drawbacks. First, it’s no longer instant messaging. If you’ve ever used SMS before, you know it takes anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes for your recipient to get your message. So you’re no longer chatting in real time. Second, because all your “chat” messages are actually SMS messages, they count against your monthly SMS quota. Fine if you use the feature only occasionally, but expensive if you chat frequently and haven’t upgraded your SMS plan.

Another drawback is that you don’t have access to your iChat/AIM buddy list from your phone, so it’s more difficult to initiate a “chat.” (In fact, you may not be able to initiate a chat at all; this feature is limited to particular carriers and phones, and I haven’t been able to get it to work on my iPhone.) Finally, messages you receive via Mobile AIM won’t come directly from your buddies; rather, they’ll appear to come from various AIM/SMS gateway numbers, such as 265-080, with your buddy’s name included in the body of the message. This means that in the iPhone’s Text app, each Mobile AIM chat will appear in a different conversation entry, each labeled with one of these gateway numbers.

For these reasons, Mobile AIM isn’t much of a replacement for iChat. It can be useful as a way for someone using iChat/AIM on his or her computer to send you a quick message, but if the message isn’t urgent, there’s not much of an advantage over good ol’ email — which is free. Here at the Macworld offices, several of us use Mobile AIM to make ourselves available for urgent messages when away from our computers, but anything non-urgent goes through email.

Category: Musings, Tips & Troubleshooting

Posted by Dan Frakes on Jul 7 2007, 4:55 PM ET

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