Hey Guys! Today I am doing an app review for the £1.19 ($1.99) application ‘Colloquy – IRC Client’. ‘Colloquy for the iPhone and iPod Touch puts the power of the most popular IRC client for the Mac, in the palm of your hand’. Some of you may have used the desktop version of Colloquy, unfortunately, I haven’t (I run Windows), but , after using this app, I really want to!
Wow! I can talk to my mates on IM now, in an application that costs less than BeeJive IM… can’t I?
No, you can’t. IRC (Internet Chat Relay) is a way to connect to a chatroom that is hosted on a server (e.g Wyldryde). However, this application could be used for an IM conversation if you did this:
- Tweet/let people know that you are in the IRC chatroom, and invite people to it.
- Give the URL of the chat
- Start having a conversation!
But I don’t want the hassle of using Wyldryde!
Go to UStream.tv then! Ustream is a hassle-free live streaming website, however, they provide you with an IRC chatroom, there are plenty of tutorials on how to connect to this chat room, on the internet (including this one: it doesn’t matter that this person is using a different IRC client, the settings are still the same).
Why am I saying this?
I am saying this because some people think that IRC is a way to connect to friends via IM clients such as MSN.
So, onto the app review.
When you tap the icon that looks like this:
You should see a screen that looks like this:
When you tap the ‘+’ symbol (top left), you will be asked to put in all of the information that the app needs to connect to the chatroom, for Ustream this is:
Host Name: chat1.ustream.tv
Description: (anything that you want the connection to be called)
Nickname: (anything that you want to be called in the chatroom)
Real Name: (your name)
Connection at launch: (do you want to connect automatically?)
Join rooms: the name of a chatroom (#…..), however, when I did it this way, it created problems (another way will be given soon)
When you have put all of the information in, tap ‘Connect’
Then, at the bottom of the screen, tap ‘Colloquies’, you should see your Chatroom that you entered with all of the other settings.
What to do if you didn’t add your chatroom with the other settings
Tap ‘+’, then tap ‘Join a Chatroom’, then enter the chatroom name (#….), then tap ‘Join’
To enter a chatroom, just tap it, you will then see the chat.
To type, just tap the white box towards the bottom of the screen, and a keyboard pops up, this application also works in landscape. To send the message, just tap ‘Send’, on the keyboard.
I am an operator in the chatroom, what does this app allow me to do?
To access your operator settings, tap the icon with the three people on it (top right). This then gives you a list of all of the people in the chat. If you want to do something to someone in the chat called, say, ‘Nick’, tap Nick’s name, then, ‘Operator Actions…’ You then have quite a few choices:
- Kick from room
- Ban from room
- Promote to operator
- Premote to Half-Operator
- Grant Voice
Of course, if Nick is an operator, these options would be slightly different.
What else can I do with this app?
You can send them a private message within the chat, all you have to do is tap the icon with the three people on it, in the top right hand corner, then ‘Send Message’.
Anything else?
Yes, you can get some information about that user, such as how long they have been connected for and their host name.
You can also be connected to different rooms at once, just add them in the ‘Colloquies’ menu.
What about if I put something like ‘:D’ in the chat?
If you put that into the chat, the actual emoticon would come up on your screen, if the other people were in an IRC client, such as Colloquy, they would see the emoticon as well.
Have you had any problems with this app?
None, whatsoever! This app has run very well!
What are the speeds like?
In my tests, it takes 1.5(ish) seconds for a piece of text to come through from my laptop, to my iPhone – these are excellent speeds! The speeds are very good on 3G as well.
Would you recommend this app?
Definitely! If you use IRC a bit, then this is the app for you! It’s a lot like a destop IRC client… just in your hand!
You can download the application here
