iPhone and Sidekick Instant Messaging, the Danger SDK and More…

One of the main complaints about the iPhone is that it doesn’t have an instant messaging client such as Adium or iChat built in. I’ve owned three ’smartphones’ in the past few years and I have experience with the incredible and the horrendous of portable instant messaging.

My first smartphone was the T-Mobile supported Danger Inc. Sidekick. I have described the Sidekick as a Blackberry for consumers, rather than business-types. It is extremely easy to use, has built-in push email, instant messaging via AIM, text messaging, (pretty crappy) web browsing, and a limited but not terrible supply of applications.

The Sidekick is a nice parallel to the iPhone because both devices are very good at what they do, albeit with a few flaws, and both are truly revolutionary.

One of my favorite ‘features’ of the Sidekick was that ALL data went through Danger’s servers before going out to the actual internet. A number of users complained about the privacy aspects of this, though it never concerned me, and if it bothers you that much than it was not the product for you. The HUGE advantage to this was in instant messaging.

As has been pointed out numerous other places on the web, the iPhone’s EDGE data stream is dropped when a phone call is made or received. This is a problem with regards to IM because your instant messaging client must be in constant communication with the host servers or you are promptly kicked offline, ending all conversations you are currently involved in. I had this problem with my Windows Mobile phone and it drove me berzerk after using the Sidekick for a year.

The main advantage of running your IM through Danger’s servers is this: it maintains your connection to your IM provider while making calls. This means that if you are having an IM conversation with two friends and a call comes through, you can’t write anything to your buds, but anything they write while you are on the phone comes through once you hang up. You can start your conversation back up again immediately without going through a sign-on process again.

To contrast, on the Windows Mobile device, when a call came through and your data stream was dropped, you would get kicked offline and any messages your friends sent to you while you are on the call would be kicked back to them with a “So-and-so is not online” warning. This is very, very annoying when trying to have a conversation. I can hardly put into words how elegant the IM solution on the Sidekick was. I pray that Apple will come up with a similar solution to this datastream loss problem with regards to IM before they launch iChat on the iPhone.

The Sidekick also has an especially interesting strategy regarding their Software Development Kit. Developers may download a Sidekick SDK from Danger, but in order to get their finished program into the hands of consumers, they must go through Danger’s Sidekick application download service. That is, no applications are downloadable to the Sidekick unless Danger tests and approves the program for the device. I have a feeling that Apple may (should?) follow this same route with iPhone apps in order to maintain stability and security on the device.

Anyone who has downloaded apps onto a Windows Mobile device can tell you what a problem third-party applications can be. I had a Starcom XV6700 from Verizon Wireless that crashed several times a day until I wiped it clean of all the fancy applications I downloaded onto it. Stability and security are, and should be, very real concerns of Apple’s with regards to third-party programs on the iPhone.

Portable IM was the killer app of the Sidekick and would do wonders for the iPhone if it’s implemented properly. The UI of the text messaging application on the iPhone is perfect for IM, now all that Apple needs to do is make sure that your conversations don’t get lost when you get a call and all the iPhone haters will have one less thing to complain about. If Apple takes a page or two out of the Danger playbook, I will be one very happy consumer.