It's been a long time in coming, but Chax 2.2 is finally available. There are two new features since the beta: an option to confirm before closing active AV chats, and a way to quickly send a snapshot from a iSight or other connected camera as an inline image or file transfer (Send Camera Snapshot... in the Buddies menu).

Safari 4 DP Users: There is a bug in the Safari 4 beta that will cause iChat and Chax to occasionally crash. Downgrade to Safari 3 to avoid these crashes. The public beta Safari 4 appears to have resolved these issues.

Changes from Chax 2.1.2:

  • (New) Message history shows messages from the previous conversation in new chat windows
  • (New) Send Camera Snapshot in the Buddies menu allows you to instantly send a picture from your camera as an inline image
  • (New) Added option to confirm before ending AV chats
  • (New) Added multitouch swipe gesture to switch tabs in message window
  • (New) Hidden default SaveWindowFrames saves per-contact window positions
  • (New) Hidden default ShowSenderAccount shows the active account in each conversation
  • (Bug) Fixed parsing logs with some languages
  • (Bug) New chat windows no longer steal focus when using auto-accept
  • (Bug) Fixed unlocalized UI elements appearing in some languages

Download Chax 2.2
Download Chax 2.2 Source

20 comments:

Stan at 2009-02-05 14:55:53 -0500

Awesome, thanks a lot!

Imaria at 2009-02-05 15:49:38 -0500

Amusingly enough, it's the AV closing confirmation that's the killer feature here for me ;] Hopefully the "stealing focus" bug will stop the occasional crashes I've had when receiving new messages from people.

Aaron Kulbe at 2009-02-06 01:01:12 -0500

Kent, I think that Chax is an excellent idea. One that is much needed. However, I don't think "Always on Top" works for me. Nor has it ever worked for me. I don't know if this is because of how it is designed, or if it is a bug. Let me explain by making a reference to another program. Skype. When I enable the similar feature in Skype "Keep call windows in front", I get the behavior that I'd expect from Chax's "Always on Top" option. Just that - the window is *always* on top. If I change focus to the browser window behind Skype, the browser has focus, but Skype remains on top. Is this not how iChat&Chax should work? If I do the same with iChat+Chax, no such luck. the iChat windows go to the background. For me, this was one of the main reasons I installed Chax in the first place. Thanks, Aaron Kulbe

Lukas at 2009-02-06 05:49:36 -0500

Hi! Awesome, thanks a lot, but on the next version please add search and meta contatcs support ;)

SteveP at 2009-02-06 20:24:38 -0500

Strange, when I hit the send snapshot it opens a window to capture a photo, but when I hit the camera icon it just goes away, nothing is inserted into the window. :(

SteveP at 2009-02-06 20:27:16 -0500

Sorry, didn't click into the typing area. ;) Works great.

Guillermo Ferrero at 2009-02-11 11:25:50 -0500

Great add-on for iChat. Please, keep the good work improving it and bringing new features. I love it!

Richard. at 2009-02-13 00:43:30 -0500

I was wondering if you could again add the feature to make the tabbed chats appear under the typing field, instead of the standard sideview... I believe it was in a previous version long ago, I could be wrong though. Thank you

Reggie at 2009-02-17 18:21:41 -0500

I love your program. I think the next version should put an invisible option in the menu bar options, if that's possible. It's my one complaint about ichat.

chip at 2009-02-22 18:40:32 -0500

"(New) Added multitouch swipe gesture to switch tabs in message window" maybe i'm just stupid but i can't figure out what the swipe gesture is to toggle between tabs or how to turn it on/off , any help?? thanks, LOVE the program

Jesse at 2009-02-23 19:52:47 -0500

Hi Kent I, too, am very thankful for the great add-ons to your program. I am curious if it would be difficult to add a feature to hide contacts who are in the mobile state (otherwise their names are ALWAYS in the contact list). Is this something you could easily implement in an incremental update? Thanks so much!!

TJ Draper at 2009-02-25 10:28:03 -0500

I'm still looking for the perfect chat client. I used Adium again for a couple weeks but came back to iChat with Chax... If we could add two things to Chax it might make iChat *almost* perfect :). So, feature request: 1). Meta Contacts in the All Contacts window for my buddies that have both a Jabber and an AIM account. 2). Type to search like in Adium or Google Talk. I love how you can just start typing someone's name and they appear. I can't believe Apple doesn't include this in iChat natively! Please don't take these feature requests to mean I don't like Chax. I think iChat would be almost unusable if not for Chax so keep up the good work!

Vanilla-Gorilla at 2009-02-26 12:29:29 -0500

Hi! I switched again from Adium to iChat. iChat with Chax is the best IM Solution for me. Only 1 suggestion: 1. Meta-Contacts would be awesome Keep up the great work!

!notify at 2009-03-01 15:45:49 -0500

Great plug-in! 1 suggestion: Have the menu bar iChat icon show IM notifcations, like a small “!” within the bubble. Great work guys!

XcoRpi at 2009-03-28 18:03:57 -0400

Please add meta contact & smart group support with tags.

Alan at 2009-03-28 18:41:44 -0400

Always better, nice work Kent. I have a suggestion: Make the log window left pane multiselectable, so I can delete multiple log with one click. The right pane has already the multiselection active, but I'd like to have the left one too. Thanks!

XcoRpi at 2009-04-07 04:38:31 -0400

Hi, I wrote something about cool extension chax - http://jablicka.com/uvodni-strana/there-s-something-in-the-air-apple-ichat

Brian at 2009-04-09 18:09:06 -0400

Auto-reconnect. PLEASE!!!!

Brian at 2009-04-09 18:30:00 -0400

uninstalled Chax and no disconnects so far. Was looking for Chax to be the solution. Looks like Chax was the culprit!!! Can I get my donation back?

Tim at 2010-02-21 12:22:11 -0500

I have Chax 3.0, and I do not see the ALWAYS ON TOP option in Chax options. Has that feature been removed? The web site suggests it is still available.