ralphjohns.co.uk/

Historical Document

These pages have sat here since 2008 with no update. In that time the AIM servers have been closed down (2017) and iChat has been superseded by Messages. That effectively make this a sort of Historical Document of how it worked.

I will make attempts to renew and refresh Links to either the most current site or use the Way Back Machine Archive so that people can at least look at what was used. I will make Edit Notes on this and on those where I can find no link to replace the older one as I go through the document.

iChat Windows

iChat In Pictures >> Your are in Folder 4_iChat Windows >> Page: Status Message List

11[15]

11 Status Message List

19-10-2008

This Picture is from iChat 4 but you can see the word "Invisible" looks different. When you click whichever word or phrase you have here at the top of the BUddy List then the List of Status Messages you have slides out from under the Header bar of iChat.

The initial list can be quite short in early version relying on you to create your Own. iChat 4 has a few simple common Mesasages to also choose from.

You can type a message as long as you want but iChat will tend to only display 42 characters of it, even if you drag the Buddy list Window wide enough to display them. As you can see from one of the lower Away messages Smileys also work here. You have to type the Smiley such as :-) for instance and it will be turned into a Smiley on display to your Buddy (and to you only in later versions of iChat). Up to iChat 3 the typed Smiley would appear that way at your end but would show to your Buddy as a Smilie. Later versions showed Smilies at both end once typed.

If your Buddies Message is longer then mouse over it in the Buddy List and a Yellow Tooltip box will show the whole message for a while

In between Available options you have or create and the Away ones iChat 3 and 4 have the iTunes option. This runs an AppleScript that reads what iTunes is playing and writes it somewhat dynamically as the Status Message.

At the bottom of this iChat 4 picture you can see that Version can be set to Invisible.

It is also where the Edit button is that brings up the Edit window (Coming Up Next).

Important Note: These Messages are stored in the com.apple.ichat.plist along with everything that you can change in the Preferences. It is the only thing I know about iChat that is stored in the .plist that is not controlled by the Preferences. If, though, for any reason you have to delete the com.app.ichat.plist then you will lose these as well.

Next:- Edit Window for Status Messages

Upward Arrow saying Top Top of page

Created with JAlbum 4.0.6

© 2005 Ralph Johns: Edited 24/9/2005, 5/5/2006
Updated September 2006
Updated October 2008. Reviewed and Updated to HTML 5 October 2024

Information Block

This site is about iChat from Version 1 through to iChat 5.x.x
Mostly this is kept as an Historical Document. Some small tense changes have been made but the content is by and large untouched.

It has a mixture of basic info and problem solving help.

The sections below will change for Specifics about info on the page on view

Options to This Page

To the right you can resize or colour the page as well as choose one of three Fonts.

About This Page

iChat can display a message called the Status Message as it will inform people as the the exact state of you Availability or Awayness.

The basic choice is "Availabe" or "Away" and a chance to Edit/create your own in early versions, with iChat 4 having some more common options.

iChat 3 and later have the option to display what iTunes is Playing.

In iChat 4 and later you can set your Status to Invisable. You see all your Buddies in their Statuses but you appear Off Line to them but as you are not really you can still Message them.

Compatibility

Much of this page has been altered to be as HTML 5 compatible as possible. This may cause issues with any of the Browser below.

I have tested in Safari 18.1, Firefox 130.x and 131.0, Vivaldi 6.9.3447.48 and iCab 6.2.3 (All Mac Browsers) I don't have access to a PC let alone multiple browsers to test on.

Previously confirmed to work with Win/IE 5.5 and later (should work in 5.0, but not confirmed), Firefox 2, Safari 3, Opera 9, iCab 3.02 and later, Mac/IE 5, Netscape 6 and later

Old browsers (IE version 4 or earlier, Netscape 4 or earlier) may only see a text-based page which, while not the prettiest option, is still entirely usable.