Looks like it is turning out to be an ok chat IM. (Credit: CNET/Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt) However, there's nothing terribly offensive about Astra either, and it does have that invaluable ability to contact friends on a wide variety of IM networks going for it.Īstra's Halloween theme, cut 'n' reformed. Yes, I know, Yahoo's IM has the distinct advantage of being a full-fledged application and not a private beta, but then again, Cerulean Studios has had three years to focus on design. Top features: Free Windows, Mac, and Linux desktop clients Free iOS and Android mobile clients Optionally chat right in the web browser Send messages, images, and files Chat with friends individually or in groups Send fun emojis and share screen captures Extend with third-party services like Olark and Jabber Individual Pro 3. From an IM standpoint, Astra beta lacks Yahoo Messenger 9's visual luster. It's somewhere between these poles that my real attitude and recommendation resides. It could also be that the thorns and snarls I first cursed have blunted as they became normalized as a result of continued use. This more congenial view could be the result of giving the app's features a chance to permeate and charm. Ten days later I like the free, multinetwork instant messenger better than I did in the first few hours after downloading it. Leaning on the simple journalistic knowledge that one's impression of a product changes after a week of constant use, I attempted to empty my head of first-impression snap judgments and give Trillian's Astra (screenshots), now in (seemingly open) private beta a fair, unprejudiced shot as my primary chat application. You can sign up for the Astra beta here-let us know if you don't get an invite, because it seems that Cerulean is taking all comers. Learn more about sending and receiving text messages, photos, personal effects and more with the Messages app on your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Competition from more frequently-updated services like Pidgin, Digsby, and Adium has drawn away fans, but now there's a private beta of Astra that seems to be accepting invitation requests from everybody who wants one. On the heels of Trillian 3.1, Cerulean Studios announced that Trillian 4, code-named Astra, was in development, and would finally port the service to Mac and Linux.Įxcept for the occasional minor announcement, that was the last big news about Trillian. Digsby is a multiprotocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends. It was included in the Google Pack, a collection of freeware that Google was supporting. Adium is a free and open source instant messaging application for Mac OS X. The first of the multi-protocol chat clients, Trillian got its start nine years ago and had been updated with some regularity through 20.
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