A Conversation about Conversation

Nokia Beta Labs released an update to Conversation on January 24th. I thought I would give it one more try, after all the wife uses this application on her N95-3 all the time. Try as I might there are simply a few things that I can't get around that keep me from keeping this application on mine.

• Bluetooth messages - None of these messages show up, leaving the user to revert back to the regular messaging application.
• Email - To use email users are still left going into the default messaging application.
• Composing - I will say I do like the quick reply field at the bottom of the threaded messages. I do not like how those compositions are erased if a new message arrives while doing so no even saving them to drafts.
• Drafts and Folders - Like email and Bluetooth messages users are once again forced to go back to the default messaging application. If you are anything like me you probably file away the occasional message for reference later. In Conversation there is no shortcut or anyway to access these messages.
• Message alerts - Whenever new messages arrive users are still taken to the default messaging app, there isn't even a setting to make it user configurable.
• Links and numbers - The messaging system recognizes them if you have auto find turned on except for some unknown reason none of them work in Conversation, making them utterly useless.

Threaded messaging is a hot item for S60 users, so much so there are a couple third party applications out there trying desperately to accomplish the same task. I was even first to ask for it on S60's Wishlist page way back in November 2006 when the Wishlist started. Regardless all of those third party applications have similar short comings, still making it hard for me to take the leap. Conversation does have its positives however, like grouping incoming and sent messages. Making it incredibly easy to delete all messages from one person without having to hunt through a long list i.e. twitter messages. Threading makes it so much easier to find those important messages verses the less important ones. To be completely fair it is still a beta application and this update was noted as a small update. Perhaps one day Nokia will make some serious progress on this application and integrate it into Messages instead of Contacts.

What do you think, am I being too hard on Conversation? Give me your thoughts on the subject.

- Matthew Stevens

Comments

[Adonis]

Agree with you completely on that post Matt. Conversation is nowhere near anything of what it should be, having tried the previous version and it messing up my N95 I decided to get rid of it.
I haven't opted for this version just because it doesn't seem to be either functional or have enough positive additions to actually try and use it.
I'd prefer to have the integrated IM application to merge with the SMS feature to become one easy to use solution.

[Antoine of MMM/Brighthand]

From what you say about it; it just seems like an add on app that's still being researched in terms of what it is people would want.

My first thought for Conversations is that it should take over the messaging application, at least the SMS/MMS parts of it. But it just might be that things are too integrated for that to happen.

Having a preference setting for Conversations over the default Messaging app though seems like something that should have been done. I wonder why it wasn't in this round?

[mr. gunn]

Not too harsh by far. It's an experimental thing that they don't even plan to make fully functional.

[Scott K]

Thank god I'm not the only one who just can't seem to like Conversation. I tried the original, and I've tried this updated version. I don't get why so many things have to be done in the original messaging application. It won't even mark a message read in Conversation unless you expand the view of it. I also hate the way there is no active standby plug-in for Conversations to appear on the home screen.

It seems like a half-a***d (am I allowed to say that here?) effort by Nokia. I've used the iPhone's SMS conversations and it's head and shoulders above this.

[JJ]

agree on all parts. I really want to like it... but it lasted less than a day before I uninstalled it.

[ExodusFX]

While I think you have some valid points, I believe you missed the purpose of the app. It in no way ever seemed like a replacement for the built in message app. It's great for what it is, an add-on that lets you message in a chat environment. People shouldn't be using this app for business use. It is a great tool for those of us in the text generation, who frequently have multiple simultaneous conversations via sms, and cling to our unlimited text packages so dearly. This makes things so much easier and organized. I love it. I've been using it on my N95-1 since it was first released.

[Jørn Aune]

I really like Conversation, but there is one big problem with it.
I have som contacts on my phone with their mobile number without a country code, like +47 for Norway. If they have this country code in the number they answer my SMS with, Conversation think this is two different numbers. I can send a message to 99999999, and get a reply from +4799999999 and this confuses Conversation. If Nokia could fix this, I would be more than happy to use this application.