Friday, January 18, 2008

WebClip Icon for TinyBuddy IM

With Apple's 1.1.3 iPhone update and the iPod Touch software upgrade, it is now possible to put an icon on your device's home screen that maps to an URL in the Safari browser (called a WebClip).

Normally, the device will generate an icon based on the look of the web page, but there is an option to specify a specific graphic. An icon update was just pushed to TinyBuddy IM, so now you should see this icon on your home screen (if you click on the + then "Add to Home Screen" in Safari):



It is not the best icon, but it is what I could do given my very poor graphics skills. And it should be better than a screen capture of the web page.
(Edit Feb 25, 2008: The icon above is actually a new one done by Justin Kirk, and is light years better than my goofy original icon)

If you previously added TinyBuddy IM as a WebClip on your home screen, you might try removing it, reloading TinyBuddy IM in Safari, and adding it to the home screen again.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi when i try to log in to the tinybuddy im on my ipod touch, it always gives me tis message that i need to have my cookies enable to get that done. the thing is that cookies are already enabled. any ideas? btw your ideas is awesome, i was trying to find where i could get an im on touch...thanks...

Anonymous said...

yea... Did you guys make sure it won't mess up iPod touché?? Cause mines all f**** up! I can't do anything. I press start and it takes me to the main page with icons!

Anonymous said...

Can you please update it with an option to "Remember Username and PW" so we don't have to type it in everytime?  Thanks.

Anonymous said...

tpayneoneseven: This is something the AIM/AOL sign-in server would have to implement. I'll ask if they can add the feature, but I'm not sure if or when they will do it. You can try just leaving the TinyBuddy IM page without signing out -- that should keep the cookies around for a little bit. The downside is that you will appear "online" to your buddies for 30 seconds after you leave the page before the server signs you off. If one of your buddies sends you an IM in that 30 seconds, you will not receive it.

druidr10: It sounds like Safari is crashing. You can try Clear Cache and Clear Cookies in the Safari Preferences menu, turn off the Touch, then turn it back on. After that, try again.

uddhavagita: Have you changing the "Accept Cookies" setting in the Safari Preferences? Try changing it to some value, then change it back. It should be set to "From Visited" or "Always". Try one or the other. The "From Visited" cookie setting should be enough for the application to work, you should not need "Always" but it is worth a try. You can also clear your cookies, turn the Touch off, then back on, and try again.

Anonymous said...

what's up with the buddy list??? I can't seem to add any buddies to the list. It kind of sucks to have to type in the name of all your friends.....or maybe I'm just missing something???? Please let me know sincereeyez247@aol.com thanx

Anonymous said...

Requests:

Please extend the auto sign off time to more than 30 seconds (like a minute or two) and please remove the auto sign off when switching web pages, this makes it difficult to check something out real quick or check email while your buddies is "brb".  

Thank you for reading my comment.

Anonymous said...

Please please please make a recent buddy group for the iPhone AIM web app. That would be super cool!!

Anonymous said...

sincereeyez247: I do not expose functionality to add/delete/edit your buddy list, to keep the application small. However, you can use other AIM-enabled applications, like iChat or AIM to do that work. If all your buddies are in your Recent Buddies group, then with the new release (v3.50) you have the option of showing them now.

nixasamurai: Sorry, the 30 second limit is imposed by the interaction between Mobile Safari suspending TinyBuddy IM when you go to another app/website, and the 30 second limit from the AIM server hosts. I have given feedback to the AIM server team -- we'll see if anything changes in the future.

cobrajason93: With the new version released today (v3.50) there is a hyperlink on the start page to enable seeing recent buddies. I want to do a nicer preference you can set in the UI, but at least the hyperlink enables the basic functionality.