Instant Messaging Functionality for iPhone, Apple patent

Apple is looking to provide real-time text chat services for the iPhone. A recent patent filing, titled “Portable Electronic Device for Instant Messaging,” indicates that Apple is getting closer to adding its own instant messaging client to the iPhone.

The filing (US Patent 20080055269) covers methods for sending, receiving, and viewing ongoing conversations. The proposed GUI is similar to Apple’s current interface for SMS.

The patent application reads: “The GUI has a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person. The set of messages (is) displayed in a chronological order. In response to detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch-screen display, the display of messages (is) scrolled in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture.”

Instant messaging is a threat to the massive amounts mobile carriers make from SMS messaging, because they can charge much more for SMS compared to IM. The patent does mention SMS, but there are serveral references to “IM” and “Instant Messaging”. The patent application provides background on Instant Messaging saying:

Portable device-based Instant Messaging (IM) services are becoming increasingly popular. But most IM services on portable electronic devices have a rudimentary user interface. It is cumbersome to create instant messages on such devices. A user often needs to press a telephone keypad repeatedly to choose a character. It is also difficult to find and view previous instant messages. For example, it is inconvenient or even impossible for the user to view a series of previous messages with a particular user while composing a new message for that user. Accordingly, there is a need for portable multifunction devices with more transparent and intuitive user interfaces for instant messaging that are easy to use, configure, and/or adapt.

IM capability is something that iPhone users seem to be requesting the most, and the demand for such an application can be seen in the works on Apple’s Web Applications in unofficial third-party software.

Although AOL is developing its AIM client through the iPhone SDK, the application will not be able to run in the background. This means that once the user exits the application, his IM connection will be severed.