More about our iPhone app
April 10, 2009 on 9:47 am | In iphone | 50 Comments
Thanks to everyone for their interest in our new Yahoo! Messenger for the iPhone app. I wanted to address some of the questions we’ve been getting from users:
When will the app be available outside the U.S.?
It already is! The U.S. (English) version is now available in all iTunes stores globally. At this time we don’t have plans to offer the app in other languages, but if you want the English version, you can download it through iTunes.
Can I IM my Windows Live Messenger friends from my iPhone?
Unfortunately you will not see your Windows Live Messenger friends in your contact list, so you’ll be unable to IM with them from the app. However, if you have their mobile phone number, you can always send them SMS messages.
Can I send SMS messages?
Yes, you can send free SMS (mobile text) messages from our iPhone app. We support the same countries and carriers for SMS as we do in our desktop program (see the list). To send an SMS message, start a conversation with a friend, then tap the IM icon to the left of the text field. This will toggle the message to SMS. Watch the SMS portion of the demo video
Keep in mind it’s free for you to send SMS messages (and to get back your friend’s replies) but your friends are still subject to any carrier fees on their end for receiving and replying to your messages.
The feature list includes contact search/filtering. Where is that in the app?
If you have a long contact list, your finger may get tired from flicking your way up and down your list to find a friend. To save time, tap the “new message” icon in the upper right corner of the contacts screen (
). Then in the “To:” field, start typing your friend’s name and you will see filtered, matching results from your contact list. Select one and start chatting.
Yahoo! now has several iPhone apps that have Yahoo! Messenger in them. What gives?
Yeah, we know this is a little confusing. Yahoo! released a new Yahoo! Mobile for iPhone app last week that includes search, news, address book, Flickr, social network updates, Yahoo! Messenger and more. However, Messenger is just one component of that app. The Yahoo! Messenger for iPhone app offers more features that are specific to instant messaging. Depending on your needs, you can decide which iPhone app works best for you.
The Yahoo! Messenger for the iPhone application is free and can be downloaded through the iTunes App Store or through the App Store on your iPhone or iPod Touch (search for Yahoo! Messenger).
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
