Chax

Current Version: 1.5 (September 5, 2007) / 2.1.2 (May 14, 2008)

Chax is a free collection of minor modifications and additions that make using Apple's iChat more enjoyable.

Chax comes in two versions - 1.5 for Mac OS X 10.4 (iChat 3), and 2.1.2 for Mac OS X 10.5 (iChat 4).

Features of version 1.5 for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger include:

User list:

• Toggle text status visibility of users
• Set font of names, status messages, and group separators
• Show animated user icons
• Ability to hide iTunes music store links in text statuses
• Idle time included in tooltips
• Display Address Book nicknames instead of full names
• Option to show a warning before messaging mobile users
• Hide the audio/video status icon at the top of the user list
• Message a specific screen name for people with multiple screen names

Message window:

• Tabbed chats, allowing you to keep all of your chats together in one window
• Option to auto-accept text chats, skipping new message notification window
• Show status changes directly in the message window
• Disable the smiley button in text input lines
• Option to open images sent through direct connect directly in Preview
• Send away auto-reply only once per conversation
• Save and restore window positions for individual screen names

Other:

• Unread message notification in the dock
• Growl notifications for new messages
• Properly use ICQ accounts without sending text formatting in messages
• Automatically set status to away when screensaver is activated
• Option to auto-accept file transfers
• Hide all iChat windows when iChat is inactive
• Always on top option for user lists, text chats, and audio or video chats
• Set a custom away auto-reply that is different from the away message
• Change the delay of or disable auto-away
• New message windows cascade properly instead of always appearing on top of each other
• Built-in log viewer
• Activity window shows history of user status changes
• Warn before quitting while there are active chats
• Option to disable pausing of AV chats while there are active file transfers
• Disable picture-in-picture in video chats
• Automatically reconnect when disconnected
• Disable alert sounds when away, idle, or available

A detailed feature list with screen shots will provide you with even more information on this very handy - and free - product.

Version 1.5 adds/changes the following:

• (Bug) Fixed an issue where some incoming messages could not be accepted
• (Bug) Fixed missing strings in the Italian localization
• (Bug) Increased responsiveness of the log viewer
• (Bug) Log viewer now sorts logs by creation date
• (Bug) Fixed an issue where the Chax preferences could become hidden

Features of Chax 2.1 for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard include:

• Unified contact list shows all contacts from all accounts in one window
• Growl notifications for new messages and users changing status
• Automatically resize the contact list to fit the number of visible users
• Built-in log viewer
• Activity log that displays your contacts' status changes
• Auto-accept file transfers, AV chats, and screen sharing requests
• Toggle text status visibility of users
• Always on top option for contact list, message windows and AV chats
• Set font of names, status messages, and group separators
• Option to auto-accept text chats, skipping new message notification window
• Show status changes directly in the message window
• Additional unread message notifications in the dock
• Automatically go away when the screensaver activates
• Properly use ICQ accounts without sending text formatting in messages

Version 2.1.2 adds/changes the following from version 2.1.1:

• (New) Quick Look support for inline image transfers (available by right-clicking an image)
• (New) Contact lists can now be sorted by user handle (View menu -> Sort Buddies -> By Handle)
• (New) New default to strip background color of outgoing messages (StripOutgoingBackgroundColor)
• (New) Russian localization (thanks to Denis Avdeev)
• (New) Options to undim the screen when receiving a message or AV invitation
• (Change) The unified contact list can now be set as the primary contact list in the Chax preferences
• (Bug) Unified contact list should now stay in sync properly with all accounts
• (Bug) Auto-replies to ICQ users are now properly stripped
• (Bug) Name notifications in the Dock now truncate better
• (Bug) Selecting "All Contacts" from the Window menu now toggles unified contact list visibility
• (Bug) Can now make all accounts invisible at once with the unified contact list
• (Bug) Fixed crash that could occur on wake-from-sleep or when reconnecting
• (Bug) Improved German localization
• (Bug) Viewing logs on a specific person will now properly reload logs
• (Bug) Exporting logs as text will now save status changes
• (Bug) Exporting log as text now gives a default name
• (Bug) Stop screensaver on event options now properly stop the screensaver
• (Bug) Find now works properly in the log viewer