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Historical Document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 In that time the AIM servers have been closed down (2017) and iChat has been superseded by Messages. That effectively make this a sort of Historical Document of how it worked.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: Video Chat PiP

9[15]

9 Video Chat PiP

19-10-2008

This is a Video Chat using Bonjour to my other computer (Which was partly hidden under a shelf).

Your end will be the small Picture-in-Picture (PiP). It will be in one of the four corners and can be dragged to a more suitable one to reveal a hidden parts of the Buddy's picture. Attempts to place it in the middle will end up with the PiP sliding to one corner or another, an amusing distraction can take place trying to beat it.

In iChat 4 your can decide to Hide the PiP but in earlier versions you have to use the Add-On Chax to do this (It does depend on the iChat Version and Chax version though).

The PiP can also be resized from about as small as this picture shows (About 1/16th of the Chat window area) to a 1/4 of the window. In Full Screen mode it can still be dragged corner to corner and be resized but the overall percentage sizes are smaller. The Resizing handles only show when you mouse over the PiP and will be the corner closest to the middle.

The whole Chat window can be resized using the bottom right corner with the graduated diagonal bars on it, like other resizing window handles.

Incoming Invite windows are always top middle of Screen but the Outgoing Chat will alway be where the last one was. iChat on the whole tends to remember where you put a window for the next time you use it. The exceptions are all the Incoming invites (Audio, Files, Video, Group and 1-1 Text chats) which always are in the same (individual) place no matter where you drag the window.

This pic is from iChat 4 so it has the large Effects button

Multi-Chat versions have the + button to Add more Buddies if you are Host.

You then have the Mute Button and the Full Screen Button. This pic has an Extra Button as I run an Add-On called Showmacster. (This adds certain iChat 4 like features via a Pop Out drawer).

Next:- Group Chat Window

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

This picture is to mainly show you the Picture-in-Picture (PiP) part.

The PiP can be resized in normal view and Full Screen view and moved from corner to corner.

The actual Chat window can be resized from the normal handle bottom right.

All the incoming Invite windows open in a specific place on the screen for whatever it is for. The Video Invite at the top Center is about as far left as any appear. Group Chat invites tend to be Top Right with File acceptence windows being slightly lower.

If you get multiple invites (or leave a window open after it has ended) the next is slightly lower than the last - the same as other applications.

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.