Palringo

Palringo

Developer(s)	Palringo Limited
Initial release	2006
Stable release	iOS: 5.6.1 December 17, 2012; 5 months ago; Android: 5.5 December 18, 2012; 5 months ago; Microsoft Windows: 2.7.9 July 4, 2012; 10 months ago; Mac OS X: 4.6.4 July 24, 2012; 10 months ago; Windows Phone: 0.13.0.0 August 16, 2012; 9 months ago;
Development status	Active
Operating system	iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Windows Phone
Type	Instant messaging client
License	Freemium
Website	www.palringo.com

Palringo is a British server-based group-focused instant messaging application with active development for iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Windows Phone. Palringo utilises the freemium model to provide Premium functionality.

Groups

Palringo Groups are the basis of the Palringo Community. Any user can create (or own) a group - requiring only a unique name - and after creation any Palringo user can join this group. Groups are typically focused around a topic of interest, such as people's various hobbies, sport, gaming, technology, entertainment, etc, or as a way for friends to keep in touch. Users of Palringo can find existing groups via the Groups Gallery,available in-app.
The Groups Gallery contains many sub-categories, as well as a Popular listing, and Local groups - such as the city the user is in. Group owners can remove their group from this listing by declaring it ex-directory - only allowing those with knowledge of the room's existence access.
Groups have a maximum member limit of 2,000 users, and non-Premium users can be members of up to 25 groups at any given time - this limit is increased to 100 groups for users that hold a Premium Account. A Group Owner can appoint a team of moderators to aid in the management of the group. There are two levels of moderators on Palringo; Mods, who may kick, silence, or ban a user, and an Admin, who may also appoint/remove Mods. There is no limit to the number of Admin/Mods a group may have.
Users can purchase Internet Relay Chat bots to provide extra entertainment and functionality to groups.

Protocol

Palringo uses a proprietary protocol that allows communication between other Palringo users - supporting group chat, voice, photo messaging.

Palringo Local

Palringo offers a technology, Palringo Local, which allows users to set and view peers, or groups, location via manual setting, Global Positioning System (GPS), triangulation, or estimation over the current internet network. It uses the Google Maps API to display peer locations, and also offers a "Nearby" section in group and friend lists to show nearby users.

History

Clients are also available for Java ME, Symbian, BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile, but it was announced in March 2012 that these would no longer be supported.^[5]
Palringo used to support several third-party protocols, including OSCAR, Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, XMPP and Gadu-Gadu,^[6] though the support was revoked in favour of the native group messaging system