Imo Review: A Smooth and Simple Multi-Messenger App

A multiplatform messenger app for Android, Imo currently supports AIM/ICQ, Facebook, Google Talk, Jabber, MSN, MySpace, Skype, and Yahoo.

Imo lets you sign in to multiple platforms at once. You can either link all of your accounts (which will let you sign in to all of them simultaneously), or you can sign in to each account individually. Like other multi-messenger apps, Imo preserves the contact groups you've set up on your different platforms. Unfortunately, you can't disable the group view, so you're stuck scrolling through tons of irrelevant groups for assorted platforms.

The Imo interface is pretty typical: Basic navigation options across the top of the screen allow you to look at your accounts, your contact list, and your chats. In the accounts screen you can add, remove, and sign in and out of accounts. In the contacts screen you can start chats with buddies on various platforms.

You can tell which buddy is on which platform thanks to the persistent available/away icons next to their name. Unlike IM+, Imo doesn't show a platform logo--instead, the display looks more like your actual buddy list on whatever platform you're using. For example, instead of showing a G for each of your Google Talk buddies, it shows you their little green/orange/red circle.

In the chats window you can switch between (and exit) chats. You can also switch between chats when you're in the actual chat, by swiping from side to side.

Imo has a decent settings menu. You can choose how to be alerted when a chat message comes in (including notifications, status bar symbols, ringtones, and vibrations), you can store your chat history, and you can change the font size and whether to display buddy icons. When you receive a chat, the notification in the status bar will be the Imo logo--not the logo of whichever platform your friend is using, as in IM+.

Imo is a fairly smooth app overall, though it has fewer features than IM+ does. Still, it doesn't crash nearly as often as IM+ does, and the free version has no ads.