MobileMe accounts wanting to communicate with GMail users

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Level 1

4 points

MobileMe accounts wanting to communicate with GMail users

In my immediate household we all have Macs and are happily using iChat to communicate with each other, using our log-ins from our MobileMe Family Pack. The kids have contacts managed via Parental Controls. We're running 10.6.8 and iChat 5.0.3

Now we would like to add Grandma and Grandad into our "chat circle". They both use PCs with Linux, and they haveGMail accounts. Today Grandad has signed up to Google Talk using his GMail email address, so we can try to get this working.

I have added him as a new buddy using his GMail address. This seemed to go flawlessly, but he shows in my buddy list as permanently offline, even though he isn't. I can send him a text message, which he receives immediately, but when he replies I don't receive anything. The other options for contacting him (video, voice etc.) are greyed out and I can't use them.

What are we doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for your help.

imac G5/macbook/powerbook, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Aug 2, 2011 10:00 AM

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Answer 1

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Defcom-UK

Level 6

15,488 points

Aug 2, 2011 10:12 AM in response to lucyban

Hi Lucy

I'm sorry to say the way you are doing it it will not work, you are using a AIM/iChat account and it will not video or audio chat with a gmail/gtalk acount.

gmail/gtalk account(both ends) will only get A/V if the other user is using iChat on a Mac, you with only get text chats with a PC.

They could try AIM for PC http://www.aim.com/ but i dont know if it works with Linux.

Or try Skype http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/get-skype/ the A/V is free nothing to pay for.

Or webbased video chats http://www.koowy.com/index.php?281

Good luck

Tony

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Answer 2

lucyban Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 3, 2011 9:25 AM in response to Defcom-UK

Thank you for your reply, Tony. That's frustrating, though!

My father is thinking about downloading Pidgin, as that is a Linux programe. Would it work for video and text chats if he got an AIM user name but used it through Pidgin?

My IChat seems to recognise his GMail account as an AIM anyway, so perhaps him getting a specific AIM username isn't going to move us forwards at all.

We have tried with both using Jabber accounts today, without any success. Anyway, I've just realised that's a non-starter because my children won't be able to use their parental controlled iChat with Jabber Buddy Lists 😟

Skype worked O.K for us, but I was hoping to have something which I can control easily through the Mac parental controls ... which brings us back to iChat.

ARGH!

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Answer 3

lucyban Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 3, 2011 9:35 AM in response to lucyban

Also would there be any benefit in me setting up my own Google Talk account, enabling it through iChat, and communicating with my father's Google Talk account that way?

I do have a Google Account username, which is just my MobileMe email address ... but I can't seem to get iChat to use that as a Google Talk log-in. Is there another username I need to set up?

Thanks again.

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Answer 4

Defcom-UK

Level 6

15,488 points

Aug 3, 2011 10:15 AM in response to lucyban

It wont work in iChat to a PC, gtalk video is only on a Mac to Mac using iChat.

Have a look at the gtalk website you should be able to video though that http://www.google.com/chat/video

And their parental controls http://www.google.co.uk/familysafety/

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