For all the AIM for Mac 1.5 Beta 3 testers, you should start to receive your automatic update AppCast soon (if not, you can always use the "Check for Updates..." under the AIM menu item.


As we wrap up development for AIM for Mac 1.5, here's a list of features we delivered in the past 3 Beta releases:

• AIM conversation logging (saved AIM conversations) with Mac OS X Spotlight searching
• Growl notification support
• You can also see if your Buddies updated their social network status from a variety of social networks and RSS feeds
• Custom Buddy Icons from your iSight camera or a graphic file on your Mac
• AIM for Mac Welcome Window
• Custom Group Row colors

We've even optimized AIM for Mac's file size (it's now 30% smaller than AIM for Mac 1.1) and fixed a bunch of bugs and resolved connectivity issues. Please take a look at the Fixed Issues and Changes list (below) and please continue to send feedback.

Note for Beta 2 Users: Users testing Beta 3 will be able to use the automated upgrade system (AIM>Check for Updates...). Users moving up from Beta 2 will need to download AND install Beta 4 directly using the 'Download Beta 4' button above.

Bugs Fixed
• Fixed group renaming issue. You can now rename AIM Blast groups (http://blast.aim.com/).
• Fixed error message when encountering an issue during file transfer.
• Fixed occasional crash when inviting users to Buddy Chat.
• Fixed bug when displaying Buddy Icon image in AIM conversation logs.
• Various bug fixes and optimizations.

Other Changes
• Updated Welcome Window.
• Improved the Edit Buddy window user experience.
• The screen name, password, save in Keychain, and auto sign in fields are disabled during sign in.
• Inline group name editing was enabled.

Stay tuned for info on the next release of AIM for Mac!

Thanks...
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

Hey, what's all the growling about? After many requests from AOL users (and a bunch of employees), we've added Growl support to AIM for Mac 1.5 (Beta 3).

Growl is a user-controlled (go to http://growl.info to download growl) notification system that works with a variety of great Mac apps. You can control the look and placement of your notifications for all apps that support Growl.


We've also added the ability to see what your Buddies are doing on some of the most popular social networks and RSS feeds (Twitter, MySpace, Delicious, YouTube, Flickr, etc). To use the new AIM Buddy Updates feature (replacing Buddy Info), all you have to do is go to Buddy Update and add your accounts. Now when you update your favorite social network, your Buddies will see a new icon next to your Screen Name on their Buddy List.

We've also heard from a number of users having issues with connection issues. We spoke to a bunch of our loyal beta testers and the connection issues are fixed.

Note to all users of AIM for Mac Beta 2: The AOL Mac team has made changes to the automatic update system we introduced in Beta 1. With the new changes, you may see the following error when using the "Check for Updates" in Beta 2: "Update Error! The update is improperly signed."

If you've encountered this issue, please download AND install Beta 3 directly using the 'Download Beta 3' button on the AIM for Mac beta site. The automatic update mechanism will work properly when upgrading from Beta 3 to the next version.

Wait, there's more! We've added a new AIM Welcome Window that will give users a quick snapshot of what's new in that version of AIM for Mac. Stop by AOL Beta Central and download AIM for Mac 1.5 Beta 3 today!

Here's our Fixed issues and change list:

Bugs Fixed
• Fixed various connection issues.
• Fixed various crashing issues reported by our Tiger users.
• The Offline Buddy group is now sorted alphabetically.
• Reduced and optimized overall application size by 30%.

Other Changes
• AIM for Mac now supports Growl notifications (built-in translucent notification window will be available if Growl is not installed)
• When your buddies have a new update from Twitter, Flickr, or AIM, we display an icon (favicon) next to their screen name on the Buddy List.
• Changed the name (title) of the Buddy List window to AIM.
• AIM for Mac Welcome Window will now launch at startup to promote new features and services (Welcome window can be disabled via checkbox)

Thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

If you're a regular visitor to the Mac@AOL Blog, you will notice that the AOL Mac Team spends a great deal of time reviewing comments and requests from our users. Today, I would like to be the first to announce that we have added one of our top requested features - Custom Buddy Icons to AIM for Mac 1.5 (Beta 2).

Just adding a feature to drop in a graphic would have been worked, but the AOL Mac team wanted more. Here's what you can do with the new Customer Buddy Icon Editor:

• Use the built-in iSight Camera (or a Mac OS X supported USB camera) to take a snapshot that will be converted into your new Buddy Icon.

• Upload an image from your Mac (JPEG and PNGs are nice).
• Stylize your Buddy Icon with any of the built-in special image effects.

Here's a list of Fixed Issues and other changes that are in AIM for Mac 1.5 (Beta 2):

• Fixed an issue where the Buddy List gets pushed too far to the right when a laptop closed, unplugged, then reopened.
• Fixed various connections issues.
• Fixed "Invalid Screen Name or Password" problem when entering the correct password.
• AIM log files are now saved in new location after being changed.
• Fixed an issue where the font size increases when copying and pasting text from the conversation.

Also changed in Beta 2:

• Improved log-in mechanism that allows for better authentication.

• Moved the Group Row Theme button from the top of the Buddy List to the Buddy List preference pane.
• Enabled the auto-saving of the Buddy Info window location.
• Added an "Edit Buddy" button to the Buddy Info window toolbar.

thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac & iPhone Product Lead

On this edition of Feedback Friday (ok, maybe I'm a few hours late :) we'll be covering a bit more on Mac OS X System Requirements for AOL's Mac products, AIM for Mac 1.5 Beta and the new iBlog.

Q: I am currently running on 10.4.11. Checked Apple Software updates and I do not have any.

A: Apple provides updates for each major version for free. This means that all 10.3.0 through 10.3.9, 10.4.0 through 10.4.11 and 10.5.0 through 10.5.6 are absoultely free. But an upgrade from 10.3.9 to 10.4 or 10.4 to 10.5 will require a purchase from Apple (usually for $129 per Mac).

AOL is supporting 10.4.8 through 10.4.11 and 10.5.3 through 10.5.6. We currently don't support 10.4.8 or below for AOL Desktop for AIM for Mac.

Q: I am having difficulty logging into AIM for Mac?

A: Our QA Engineer Harry has the following suggestions:

Questions needing to be asked are:
* Do you save your password in the keychain (is the save in keychain box checked...See image below)?

* Have you tried going into your System preferences to remove the keychain?

~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain

Sometimes, even inputting the incorrect password when the correct password has already been saved will allow you to connect, then the keychain takes the incorrect one to replace the correct one. If this is the case, deleting the keychain should resolve the situation for you.

Q: When is A/V support for AIM for Mac coming?

A: Short answer, it's something we would all like to have and it's at the top of our feature request list. We have some near term issues to resolve and we'll have more info this summer.

Q: I would like to edit/change my Buddy Icon.

A: Stay tuned! We'll have more info coming soon (hint, hint)!


Q: How do I find out more info on AOL's iPhone products?

A: Venture on down to the AOL iBlog (http://iblog.aol.com)

I'll be back next week for another installment of Feedback Friday.

thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac & iPhone Product Lead

It's been a fast 2 years. Think about this, 2 years ago, most Mac-fans were looking forward to the iPhone, just announced at Macworld Expo 2007. On March 17th, Apple announced 17 million iPhones and 13 million iPod touches are in the hands of users around the world. This figure represents over 30 million devices that run Mac OS X. It's hard to believe, but the iPhone/iPod touch platform is nearly as big (or bigger!) than the Mac platform. It took Apple 25 years to have a current user base of over 25 million Macs (I'll have to get the newest numbers). Two years, 25,000 apps and 800 million downloads later, the iPhone is the SECOND largest computing platform, with Windows XP/Vista leading.

That's a lot of lead-in for my next announcement - the iBlog. The iBlog will be the central location for all AOL iPhone/iPod touch news. Edwin Aoki, our iPhone leader at AOL along with AOL Mobile Product Lead Darren Austin and Mac/iPhone Development Lead Christina Wick will be joining me on the new blog. Please stop by the iBlog and say hello.

Thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac & iPhone Product Lead

Why does AOL require users to update their Mac OS X systems? We get this question frequently and more noticeably when we release a new update or beta. Our outstanding Mac QA team builds test cases on each of our "supported" OS versions. We run the same battery of tests on current and future releases of Mac OS X.


AIM for Mac 1.5 (beta 1) is now enforcing the minimum Mac OS X system requirement of 10.5.3 or higher due to the following basic reasons: OS and Application stability and faster release schedule. When we encounter an issue with a 10.5.0 or 10.5.1 update, we can either try to fix the bug with a workaround or test it the fix on a future release of Mac OS X. Our goal is to produce the best quality software in the most optimum release timeline.

So, if you're running Mac OS X 10.5, 10.5.1 or 10.5.2, please use the Mac OS X System Update or go to Apple's Mac OS X download site for the most current update. For all future releases of AOL Mac software, we'll be supporting Mac OS X 10.5.3 or higher.

For those AOL users who haven't upgraded their Leopard system to 10.5.4 or higher, could you please drop me a comment below? Is it the size of the download? You like to wait for other to test updates prior to installing?

thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac/iPhone Product Lead

Everyday, I spend a good chunk of my morning or late afternoon reviewing comments and sending e-mails directly to our users. I have enlisted the entire team to participate and we are well aware of the issues and feature requests our users want.

Today, I am pleased to announce our next version of AIM for Mac - version 1.5 (Beta 1). As you can see from the screenshot below, you can customize your Buddy Group Row headers (I selected my favorite color combination - Go Terps!) by clicking the colorwheel.


You can now turn on AIM Conversation Logging (under AIM>Preferences...) and AIM for Mac 1.5 will save your IM conversations to your specified AIM Log location. You can view your IM logs using your default browser and you can use Mac OS X Spotlight for easy searching.


AIM for Mac 1.5 (Beta 1) features enhanced AIM-to-SMS, allowing you to store a Mobile number with each Buddy for easy texting. Feeling like purple today? You can now change the Buddy List Group Row colors to suit your mood.

Focus on Features - AIM for Mac

One of the nice features of the Buddy List® is placing your buddies into groups for better organization. The default set of groups include AIM Bots, Buddies, Family, Co-Workers, Recent Buddies, and Offline. You can also create new groups to better categorize your buddies.

The order of the groups in your Buddy List can also be changed. However, the Recent Buddies and Offline groups will always remain at the bottom of your Buddy List.

To move a group in the Buddy List, just drag the group row to a new position. You can do this by clicking on the group row and holding down the mouse button as you move the cursor. As you move the cursor below other groups in the list, you will see a blue line indicating a valid drop zone. The cursor must be moved over the triangle disclosure buttons in order for the blue line to appear. When the blue line is in the location where you want to place the group, release the mouse button. The group row will then be moved to the new location.

This may seem a little tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will find that moving groups is very easy.

Thanks for trying AIM for Mac!

Larry Aasen
AOL Mac Team

** Republished **

• ICQ accounts cannot sign in
• Added Notes field to the Edit Buddy window
• Signing in issue after installing application
• IMs from iPhone AIM are displayed with a very large font size
• Invisibility goes away when switching "screens"
• Overlapping buddy list rows
• Enhancements to Buddy List search

Please stay tuned for more information on the next version of AIM for Mac that will be available on AOL Beta Central.

Enjoy!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

We appreciate all the support from our AIM for Mac 1.0 users. Our goal for 2009 is to keep the progress going. We shipped the 1.0 version in December to build the foundation for a new AIM for Mac and we'll continue to build on that base. This week, we released AIM for Mac 1.1 Beta 1 to address some immediate issues reported by our users. In the coming months, we'll be adding new features requested by our users through the blog and AOL Beta Central.


Here's the list of fixed issues for Beta 1:

• ICQ accounts can now sign in
• Added Notes field to the Edit Buddy window
• Signing in issue after installing application
• IMs from iPhone AIM are displayed with a very large font size
• Invisibility goes away when switching "screens"
• Overlapping buddy list rows
• Enhancements to Buddy List search

Please continue to let us know what features you would like to see in AIM for Mac.

Thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac/iPhone Product Lead

If you live in the Washington, DC area, you know WTOP is the #1 news & traffic station and now, you can stay in touch with Presidential Inauguration news by listening to WTOP using AOL's SHOUTcast Radio for iPhone and iPod touch. The efficient stream will run over EDGE, 3G and WiFi (remember, AT&T iPhone customers can access FREE WiFi at any Starbucks and DC has a lot of Starbucks locations).

First, download SHOUTcast for iPhone or iPod touch.


Second, use the Search feature in SHOUTcast Radio [App Store] and look for WTOP. Click the Favorite star in the upper right hand corner to make it a Favorite.

That's it! Make sure you tune in often to find out about street closings and other important news.

Now, you're downtown DC and need to get in touch with your friends and family? Combining AIM for iPhone [App Store] with AIM Blast, you can register all your Buddies then you can send one IM to multiple people at the same time. Found a table for lunch, send a mesasge to your AIM Blast group.


Finally, you're sitting in a Starbucks with your MacBook and you couldn't see the swearing in ceremony at the Capitol, you can watch it live on AOL News Inauguration section.

Enjoy and stay safe!

Lee Givens
AOL Mac/iPhone Product Lead

Our pals from TUAW (a must read for all Mac users) stopped by the booth and I was able to talk about our new products at Macworld with Christina.


Thanks!

Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

Here are some more pictures from AOL's booth at Macworld Expo and our Macworld Blast party!


thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

• AOL Desktop for Mac 1.5
• AIM for Mac 1.0
• AOL Radio for Mac 2.0 beta
• AIM 2.0 for iPhone
• ICQ 1.0 for iPhone
• SHOUTcast Radio 1.0 for iPhone
• AOL Radio 1.2 for iPhone
• Truveo for iPhone
• Fortune Cookie for iPhone

The AOL Mac Team is joined by the Truveo and AOL Radio teams to meet, demo and find out what our users think of our new iPhone and Mac products. We've met with many long-time AOL users and users who profess their love and admiration for AOL Radio and AIM for iPhone. Reengaging with the Mac community was our theme for Macworld Expo 2008, but in 2009, our new theme is "Building on the Commitment" to the Mac community. On Tuesday night, AOL sponsored the Macworld Blast Party with 100 of our invited VIP guests to listen to DJ AM and try out our iPhone music apps – AOL Radio and SHOUTcast Radio.

The AOL Mac Team is also pleased to accept the "Best Schwag at Macworld Expo" on the first day of the show.

Stop by the AOL Booth (1438) or the Moscone meeting room (260)!

Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead