Why would anyone want native Apps? To some, the answer comes to mind rather easily.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=342307
Surur
Surur, please don't misquote me by implication. I didn't say "why would anyone want native Apps?" I desperately want native apps, and, in fact, I'm early in the process of writing one (and, off-topic, the unpublished iphone sdk's are quite elegant compared to palm or windows. i really hope they make these official).
My only question was about a native IM client since, as I pointed out, I always, even on a PC, use a web-based IM client. I had already pointed out the obvious issue with integration into the alerts system, and I was honestly wondering if there were other reasons a native IM client would be preferable. (Personally, if my phone/computer is off, i don't WANT people to see me on-line for IM, so having it run only when the browser is running is okay for me, but that's just me. Note - it continues to run in background tabs, so it's an issue of whether the phone is in standby or not. And, as pointed out in the thread, some of the clients don't disconnect you on standby - they just mark you as away).
If you read the thread, the only reason they came up with for a native IM app is the reason I mentioned - integrating it into the alerts. I guess "faster UI" (but i'm not sure what they mean - it's pretty instantaneous in meebo-iphone), and multitasking (i'm not sure on that - it seems to me that meebo stays running and working when i leave the browser, but, of course, when an incoming chat comes in i don't get an alert).
One they left off is integration into the contacts database.
Anyway, my question was legitimate, and you mis-summarizing is pretty weak.