IM+ 5.0 for Android: New Look, Widget and a Historical Half-Price Offer

A cosmetic update

The app already worked well before, so most of the changes were visual. On a tablet running Honeycomb, the layout used panels in a style that resembled the Gmail tablet app. On a phone, the contact list and the list of connected services were redesigned, and the avatar could be uploaded from within the app.

The new widget

Version 5.0 introduced a home screen widget showing icons of the online services in use. Tapping the right half of it let you set your status. The widget was 2x1 on a tablet and 4x1 on a phone. The reviewer noted that resizing it cut off the yellow area that opens the app directly.

Why a multi-service app

The author preferred one app that handles several chat services over running a separate app for each one. The approach is similar to using a single email client for several addresses.

Updating problems

The author had trouble getting the update through the Android Market, which they blamed on the store itself being unreliable at the time. If the update does not arrive, the app was said to show a notification to update, possibly with a way to download the file outside the store.