Video chatting in Mountain Lion

[Xairbusdriver]

I've not been much of a video chatter. It's probably been a couple of years or longer since I last used iChat for that (or anything else, for that matter!). But this is a Mac, right? It's easy to use and user-friendly, right?!

OK, so I can't do the iMessage thing with my old iPhone, but that's no problem. I have a very modern iMac, and my wife and I both have the latest Mountain Lion installed. Plus, she has a very new iPad (although I'm apparently not supposed to call it an "iPad 3" ). iChat has been replaced by Messages on the computers and iMessages is now Messages on the mobile devices (even my old iOS 4.x has it!).

Text chats are dead simple. Even I can do that. Video chats, not so much. All the instructions I've seen talk about selecting a person from one's "Buddy List." As I remember things, my iChat Buddy List indicated who had video capability with a 'camera' icon. However, there are now no Buddy Lists to see much less any having a video icon on them.

OK, there is a "Face Time" app on the computers. It can create video connections, I think. Why two separate apps? Is that now the only way to establish a vido chat? If so, why does the Help documentation cover two ways to do a video chat; one with Messages and one with Face Time.

[RNKIII]

As I understand it.....  Which may or may not be worth $.02... but here goes.

iChat does still function quite well, thank you, but is being replaced by FaceTime(video) and Messages(text, iOS units only)....  why split them up. video and text, I have no clue as they were working just fine..... Probably due to something in the iOS system not playing nice with something else.

All three use some form of a 'buddy list' based on your 'contacts'.

My problem is that 'some' of my buddies work just fine and 'one' of my buddies doesn't work, sorry, connect, at all.... Why that is is a mystery to me and to the one buddy that doesn't connect....

Recently reclaimed usage of iChat after some time, due to unuseable plugins...  But I use Skype to speak/video with my PC bound sister in South Korea, iChat to visit with Mac 'buddys' nationally and internationally.....  but have NOT found any one of my buddys using FaceTime or Messages.


Bob K.   rnkiii

[Xairbusdriver]

I was under the impression that Messages was only added in ML. However, I think FaceTime was already in Lion. Or maybe it was the other way round. Or maybe I couldn't care less... It's simply confusing for "instructions" to mention using something that is not visible in my set up.

I suppose it's possible, were one to actually have a Buddy List like the old one I had in iChat, to set up a video chat in Messages by clicking the camera icon on that Buddy item. Lacking any Buddy List, the only way I can see to establish a video chat with my wife who is less than six feet away, is to possibly use FaceTime. However, she has taken to keeping her iPad with her and moving all over the house reading books! It might be nice to tell her when it is time to prepare my lunch/dinner without the need to yell... OTOH,... it may be a good time to start a diet!    

OT:
BTW, is there a rhyme/reason for the naming of apps with two common words in them? For example, "FaceTime" not "Face Time" but it's "Time Machine" not TimeMachine." And it's "TextEdit" instead of "Text Edit" and "Game Center" instead of "GameCenter" I think I can understand "Launchpad" being not only one word but also with a lower-case "p."

[RHPConsult]

I can't believe you haven't already figured it all out, ABD.

The Buddy List is really easy to re-establish if you've lost it. Just OPEN the list (CMD-1) and then +. Next, insert the last name of any of your correspondents and ML will go to your contacts list and fill-in everything else (if you've already collected that info) and Bingo, you're done. FaceTime is similar in building a No Sweat list of contacts.

I use both every day. George and I iChat at least couple of times each week.

It's difficult to over emphasize how important Mac-communications are in my present situation.

[Xairbusdriver]

The "command-x" menu items are for all any Buddy List(s) you may already have. They appear in the Window menu. However, if you have no Buddy List, there will be nothing to display and command-1 will do nothing (almost, anyway). See the examples below.

[attachment=2690:Buddy_Li..._had_any.gif]
Various command plus a number selects each type of Buddy List.

[attachment=2691:Buddy_Li...have_any.gif]
If you have no Buddy List, there's no action for a 'command-1, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8 or 9.'
So all you'll get is a System beep.

The problem is that any 'Buddy List' I or my wife might have had is long lost. There is no way in Contacts, the logical place, IMHO, to mark/add them as a Buddy.

Further, the term iMessages is still in use, apparently to iDentify a Message sent from/to iDevices but not a Mac? Why? It would seem the whole point of 'unifying' "messaging" was to eliminate the multiple types of messages for different types of devices.

And I'm not the only one discouraged/confused/dissatisfied with this change from one app to two that still don't make it as easy as it had been. Just Google "missing Buddy Lists" and see for your self. I think this comment about sums it up for me: "The buddy list is still there. Use option + 1. Its one more thing they fixed that wasn't broken and its one more apple app I'm no longer going to use. I've switched to Adium."

I suspect I'll continue not using Messages, since I've not seen a need for several years... emails still work, are available on any email app (desktop/portable/mobile) and are non-intrusive.