[Eric5273]

I have been using VeriChat for several hours now. I have a 7100g and I'm running the OTA 1.91b version of VeriChat. Also, I only use AIM. Here are the bugs I have come across so far:

1) If someone IMs me who is not on my buddy list, there is no option to accept the IM unless I add them to my buddy list as well. There should be an option to receive the IMs but not have to add them to the buddy list. Along the same lines, there should be an option to IM someone who is not on my buddy list.

2) The "Jump Immediately to Chat on incoming message" option does not work. Whether or not I check this box, I still get the popup asking if I want to accept the message. Also, if I check this box and save the preferences, and then I log off and close the VeriChat program, the next time I open VeriChat, this option box is unchecked again.

3) (this may have something to do with #2) If I go into preferences and change something (anything), and then save the changes, and then later in the same session I go back into preferences, but do not make any changes this time, upon hitting ESC to leave preferences, it asks me if I want to save changes even though I did not make any changes this time.

4) Upon getting the prompt asking if I want to chat (as discussed in #2), I typically would choose "yes" to enter the conversation. Then, when I'm done with the conversation, I press ESC to get back to the buddy list. When I return the buddy list, the prompt asking if I want to chat is still there, and I must choose "no" to get rid of it. It should disappear after being answered the first time.

5) On the 7100 screen, when I enter a new chat session, the VeriChat screen is just a tiny bit too tall, thus making it so that the top line of chat is only half visable. The program realizes this and shows the ^ (up arrow) thus indicating you can scroll up. And if you scroll up, then you can only see the top half of the text on the bottom line where you type your message. And this happens when there is only a single IM message in the entire chat. Obviously you have to scroll when the conversation fills the whole screen, but you should not have to scroll up to see the first IM message and then scroll back down to type your own message. I'm guessing their measurements were slightly off for the 7100 screen.

6) I have VeriChat set to sign me on as soon as I open the program. Every other time I open VeriChat, I get an error "Malformed Address" and then it stops at the sign-on screen. If I then choose "Login" from the menu, it will successfully login, but then the next time I use the program the same thing will occur. If instead of choosing "Login" from the menu, I just press ESC and close the program, the next time I open it, it will work fine. But then of course the next time will be back to having the error.

7) When I choose "contact properties", it doesn't tell me anything except for the person's name which I already know since its listed on my buddy list. "Status" is blank. How do I find out if someone is away from their computer, or is using a mobile device, etc.?? Most IM programs indicate this by the icon which appears next to the name on the buddy list. But at least there should be some way to know this, even if I have to choose "status" from the menu. At most times, I have about 10-15 people signed in on my buddy list, and usually all but 3 or 4 have their away messages up. It is quite annoying to have to say hi to half a dozen people before I find one that I can have a conversation with.

8) When I set my AIM status to "Away", it does successfully show me as away on someone else's buddy list. However, if they still choose to send me an IM, as soon as they do, my status automatically changes to "online", even if I choose not to accept the message. Also, even though my status will say "I am currently away from my computer", they will not get sent this message either. So if someone who does not have me on their buddy list decides to IM me, they will have no way of knowing I am away. The whole purpose of using the "away" status is if I don't want to be bothered, yet I still get prompted asking if I want to accept the IM message, so there is no point of even using the "away" status. I just have to sign off instead. If they are going to put that feature in VeriChat, it should work properly and have a purpose. If not, then leave the status thing out alltogether.

I don't mean to sound too harsh. Just giving some constructive criticism. Overall I really do like the interface. They really should take a look at the Sidekick AIM program as an excellent example of how a good IM program functions. While the Sidekick has many issues, the AIM client is perfect. I could never find even a single problem with it. If they can get some of these issues sorted out, I will subscribe to their service once my trial period runs out. If they don't get these things sorted out, I will probably give the other programs (IM+, WebMessenger) a try first before deciding. The biggest two issues are that annoying prompt asking if I want to accept the message, and not knowing if my buddies are away or not.

[asfberg]

i've also noticed some problems (1.91)

"jump to chat" doesn't usually jump to chat. worked the first time but not after that

"buddy pounce" works very infrequently and refuses to remain for one of my contacts (msn)

in aim it frequently won't show a contact. if i then add them to my list and they subsequently log on again they are listed twice. if i then try to remove one of their listings and then logoff the next time i logon both of their listings are gone

one aim contact name will never show they are online even in a discussion when they are listed online on my desktop. if i have a chat with them on verichat their side comes up on a 2nd listing (same name) but also with offline status. very strange

[AnthroMatt]

Somewhat related to the AIM away message thing not working properly, I have also notice VeriChat does not display the correct status of my buddies in AIM. I can be on the computer and a buddy on my list is "away" but on VeriChat that buddy is not designated as such.

Buddies on Yahoo! and MSN do show correct status, however.

[Mark Rejhon]

Thanks for the report!

I'll send this information to PDAapps. They are literally rewriting Verichat for single-socket use, so it's taking time. I hear beta testing will begin again among registered users in a week or two (finally!)

[Eric5273]

Thanks Mark. I'm looking forward to the various improvements and fixes.