IM+: Support for many IM clients, not without glitches

With the IM+ multi-messenger app for Android, you can talk with all of your contacts in one place. Currently IM+ supports AIM, Facebook chat, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, MySpace, Skype, VKontakte, Yahoo, and Yandex IM.

IM+ is pretty much your typical multi-messenger app, letting you sign in to multiple accounts at once and chat with people across platforms. All of your online and offline contacts appear in your Contact list, and you can tell which platform they're on by looking at the logo that appears next to their name.

The interface is relatively simple. Across the top of the screen are Contacts, Chats, and Accounts buttons. You can switch quickly between chats by swiping from side to side.

As for the settings, IM+ is full featured. One nice feature allows you to make yourself available to different groups -- definitely a plus if you're like me, and you have groups set up in all of your different messengers. You can also hide your offline contacts, save your chat history, and enter "compact mode." The app's "compact mode" is excellent, as it minimizes contacts (you no longer see their buddy icons) to maximize screen real estate.

Though IM+ is a decent multi-messenger app, I did run into a few problems. For example, IM+ froze and refused to work for a while after I signed in to my Facebook account. To be fair, I have over 1000 Facebook friends, but that still isn't an ideal situation.

Like other multi-messenger apps, IM+ runs in the background and alerts you to new messages via the notification bar. The alert in the notification bar will show the logo of your contact's platform (such as a G for Google Talk, an AIM dude for AIM/AOL, or a flower for ICQ), which is a very nice touch.

The free version of IM+ has constant banner ads, but you can pick up an ad-free version for $10.

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