Messengers have long and densely entered the life of modern society. Currently, the exchange of short e-mails is not just an element of leisure in the form of a dialogue between two familiar people, but already a platform for doing business and remote corporate meetings. Now you will not surprise anyone by saying that you have an interview or a working meeting on Skype, or you are discussing a multimillion-dollar deal on WhatsApp, or you have received a commercial offer or order for a service in Viber. These messengers already have a multi-billion user base, including thousands of companies and hundreds of corporations. Such mass character could not but lead to competition, and the big three - “Skype”, “Viber” and “WhatsApp” - gradually begin to be diluted with no less interesting applications, and some of them have even more diverse functionality. And about one of the future competitors named giants called "Imo" and will be discussed in this article.

Setup and work with the program Imo.

Features of the program

So, “Imo” is a rather ambitious project of the Pidgin studio with a full-fledged cross-platform (iOS, Android, Windows), which positions itself as a tool for everyday people to communicate using IP-telephony functionality and instant messaging technology. Developers for their already multi-million dollar user base offer a standardized set of features, namely:

• Audio and video calls;
• Group chat;
• Voice and text messages;
• An abundance of free stickers;
• Full multimedia attachments;
• Active / simultaneous chat on multiple devices;
• Availability of individual optimization for tablets.

The feature set is distributed absolutely free of charge, and you can download it now on Google Play, the App Store and the Microsoft Store. Separately, it is worth noting that “Imo” shows excellent results even with a slow connection without a stable 3G / 4G coverage, which, for example, some of the above giants cannot boast. And thanks to an improved data compression algorithm, the amount of consumed traffic is significantly reduced, which saves real money in the absence of a wireless connection.

Installation and Setup

Having paid tribute to “Imo”, one should proceed to the consideration of the issues of downloading, installing and configuring this messenger, which is also not very complex. The sites / shops where you can purchase this software for free have been mentioned above. To download and install, all you need to do is log in with your account, wait for the download to complete and open the received software. A further order of configuration is as follows:

• It should be understood that even if you plan to use the application only on a personal computer, you must go through the initial authorization procedures on your mobile device to verify the mobile phone number;
• So, after launching on the smartphone or tablet with telephony, the application will offer to confirm the phone number in a standard form, that is, enter the number, then the random code that will come in the SMS message;
  

• Next, you need to enter the "Name" of the account being created.
  
  Set avatar.
  
  And provide the necessary permissions for the application and select the preferred interface language.
  
  Russian localization is also available and installed by default;
• The system will automatically determine which of your contacts is registered in this application, and will offer to share news about your registration;
• Now, after all the data is confirmed, you can proceed to setting up the application on a personal computer, for this:
  • Download and install the application from the Microsoft store or from the official site “//imo.im”;
  • Run the application, paying attention to the fact that in the Desktop version the default interface is in English;
  • By analogy with the mobile version, confirm the phone number;
  • Customize the profile and theme of the program for individual needs.

It will not be superfluous to note here that the version for the Windows operating system is significantly inferior not only to its competitors, but also to its own mobile version. One can only hope that soon the developers will pay more attention to the version for personal computers.

Functionality

Returning to the mobile "Imo", it is worth highlighting its minimalism and the absence of unnecessary catchy elements. Kind of, this is a demonstration of intentions, that is, it immediately becomes clear that the main interest is high-quality and uninterrupted communication, and not some entertaining moments that are full, for example, in the same Viber. The following is a more detailed discussion of the main tabs and features:

• Section "Settings". The button to enter the "Menu" is located atypically (in the lower left corner), although it is not usual, habituation is not required. There are quite a few customizable functions here, for example:
• “Notifications” is the on / off push, light indicator, vibro, etc .;
  

• “Storage” - enable / disable automatic saving of multimedia files;
  

• "Account Setup", etc.
• The section “Create a group chat” allows, besides contacts already existing in the system, to invite other people from the address bar to the general conversation. That is, in fact, send a link to download "Imo". Again, the main interface of the general chat is made in the same minimalist style that is really convenient. Stickers are at hand, the audio message button is highlighted and accidentally hard to press it.
  
  You can add a story to the chat, just like for the most basic contact.
• Section "Live". A very popular communication style at the present time, which has become widespread in this application. Everything is as simple as possible: clicked on the button and allow access to the camera. Of course, there are no sophisticated filters here, everything is trivially simple, but it is done qualitatively.

Add and remove contacts is not difficult, all the buttons at hand and confuse them is quite difficult.

Conclusion

The two-week practical use of the Imo messenger led to an unpleasant result for developers, but expected for users. Despite the fact that this application is really well optimized, does not “devour” traffic beyond the measure and is as simple as possible to use, it was decided to remove it. Someone will have a question: "Why?". And everything is simply corny, in the Imo system there are fewer Russian-speaking users than in the good old ICQ, whatever the developers say. Therefore, taking into account all the pros and cons, we can conclude that “Imo” is a great solution for family chat, where it is important not to design sent messages, but to guarantee their delivery. But this is undoubtedly a promising project that will soon “go uphill”.