I have asked this before, but I think it deserves it’s own thread.
I see my friends and myself really pushing forward to keep using MSN, but eventually we all stop using it. We have Escargot installed since 2016, and we used to chat in MSN since 2005 towards 2013. We always stop using Escargot not because we we want to, but because nowadays it is unpractical to rely on a chat software that is not available in a presentable and responsive app for smartphones.
My friends and I ended up getting to know a lot of new friends through Escargot, but we’d be able to talk to each other only when we got home at night. So one of us suggested: why don’t we create a WhatsApp group to talk while we are out? Well… You probably know what happened. Even though WhatsApp is miles behind MSN in terms of entertainment, fun and customization, it is much more practical to use it (only because it is available in a presentable and efficient mobile format, and most people use it), so we don’t talk through MSN anymore.
Please don’t understand it as trying to descourage or misunderstanding how much of an effort is necessary and is already being put on Escargot development for desktop as it is. It’s the other way around completely. OhHelloThereImTheGuy has been doing a tremendous job over the last few years, mostly solo, while JK maintains this platform for us to discuss, and we should all be thankful for it.
The thread is solely for the purpose of discussing how much of an impact a good mobile app would have for Escargot. The point isn’t to surpass WhatsApp and iMessage on the west or LINE and Webchat on Asia, as this is near impossible. It’s just that a smartphone app could be enough to convince coleagues, friends, and family, who are too used to their own countries’ most popular chat app and are not willing to make major changes to their lifestyles to be able to chat with us through a desktop software. It’s also good to consider that, even though you might not want to use a mobile version of Escargot, it could still mean that a lot of people you know would, and you’d be able to talk to them in your most favorite chat software on desktop, while they’d be on mobile.
So, is there any estimate on when, or what should get done first for an Escargot mobile app to be feasible? Will ressurrecting old MSN apps and somehow redirect them to work with Escargot servers eventually become a possibility?