June 19, 2008 on 4:34 pm | In Mac version, News | 43 Comments
Recently several Mac users have been experiencing issues with setting and viewing the display image. Thanks for the heads up! We’re aware of the issue and are working to resolve it. Until then, sit tight—we know it’s frustrating but appreciate your feedback on this issue.
Thanks!
Melissa Daniels
Yahoo! Messenger Community Manager
May 6, 2008 on 1:57 pm | In Mac version | 20 Comments
From the archives of little known features comes the message format style in Yahoo! Messenger for Mac.
A couple of versions ago, we included a new option for the format of your IM messages in the conversation window. In addition to the usual default style that has the colored bar across each speech bubble, you can also choose an alternate simplestyle for your window.
To change between message format styles, just go to the Messenger menu, choose Preferences, and click the “Messaging” icon. You’ll see a drop-down menu for Conversation style. There is also a similar menu for conference window formatting right below it.
In the future, we hope to make the message format platform open, which would allow users to come up with new themes on their own. One of our designers, Brian Kobashikawa, used WebKit CSS3 to develop another style he named “Kobi Lite”. While this one isn’t available to the public, we hope to offer our additional formats and possibly those made by others users in the future.
On another note, we launched a brand new Yahoo! Messenger website this week. Same URL and products, just a new look and feel including a feature comparison chart across versions, and a new import contacts wizard that lets you add or invite friends to Yahoo! Messenger from your Yahoo! Address Book as well as other email services like Gmail, Hotmail, AOL and many more.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
March 25, 2008 on 3:47 pm | In Mac version, Voice | 117 Comments
We know you’ve waited a long time for this… The new version of Yahoo! Messenger for Mac Beta now has voice calling!
With this new version, you can make free PC-to-PC calls or sign up for a Phone Out account to make calls from your Mac to regular or mobile phones worldwide for as low as 1¢ a minute (see rates). And if you want friends to be able to call you on your Mac from any phone, sign up for a Phone In account and choose a number.
Download Yahoo! Messenger for Mac Beta
Now that our Mac version has voice, users can also enjoy two other handy features: free voicemail and call forwarding. If you’re away from your Mac or signed out of Yahoo! Messenger, friends can leave you a voicemail which is then delivered as an email attachment to an address of your choice.
If you want to make sure you don’t miss any calls, use the call forwarding feature to immediately send incoming calls to any regular or mobile phone number. Note that you do need a Phone Out account to use call forwarding.
There is also a new Voice & Calls section in the preferences menu. From there you can set what email address should receive your voicemails, what number your calls should get forwarded to, and handy things like whether or not you want iTunes to pause when a call comes in.
You’ll find the voice features in a new “Voice & SMS” button in your IM window. From there you can start a call, or send a free SMS (text) message to a friend’s mobile phone (note that your friend may be charged for receiving your SMS message depending on their mobile phone data plan).
The main contact list window also has a button near the bottom that opens up a dial pad. This is handy if you have a number you need to call that’s not associated with a contact.
Check out this short screencast to see how the new voice features work:
If you’re curious about the voice features but aren’t ready to sign up for a Phone Out account (or don’t have a friend you can call for free on PC-to-PC), try the “Make a free test call” button in the Voice preferences menu. During the free call you can record and playback your voice to check out the quality.
We really want your feedback on this new version, so after you’ve had some time to try it, please visit our feedback page to let us know what you like and don’t like.
On your mark, get set…start talking!
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
January 15, 2008 on 10:45 am | In Events, Mac version | 36 Comments
In case you’re headed to Macworld this week in San Francisco, keep an eye out for a team of Yahoo! Messenger for Mac engineers. They’ve been working hard so we thought we’d give them a chance to catch up on all things Mac. They are clad in Yahoo! Messenger for Mac t-shirts so feel free to stop one of them and catch up on the most recent features of our Mac application.
And as Mr. Jobs says, “One more thing…” - we are working hard to add voice capabilities to our next release. Stay tuned for more updates.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
November 21, 2007 on 1:40 pm | In Mac version | 82 Comments
The third update of Mac 3.0 Beta 2 (build 78326) is now available to keep you company over the holiday weekend.
There are no new features in this update but we fixed a couple of crash issues, including an update to the crash reporting for Leopard users.
We also made improvements to the sign in process when you’re behind a firewall. So if you’ve had issues in the past with signing in from the office or elsewhere with a firewall, please try installing this new update.
Download Yahoo! Messenger for Mac 3.0 beta 2
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
