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General discussion

iSight with Yahoo Messenger

Dec 10, 2004 12:43AM PST

Hello! As anyone with an iSight probably knows, an iSight works with iChat (which I think is AOL's messenger because it has the AOL running man on the icon...). However, I would like to use my iSight with Yahoo Messenger, but every time I attempt to do so Yahoo Messenger crashes and quits. Short of calling Yahoo, I have not found ANY support on Yahoo's sight regarding Macintosh with video, let alone iSight. Has anyone had any luck using iSight with Yahoo Messenger?

Discussion is locked

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Isight and Yahoo Messenger
Dec 18, 2004 11:56PM PST

Hello,

I have had the same problem and I have found that the Mac version of the messenger is nowhere near as well developed as the PC version. Yahoo also doesn't seem to care.
I don't know if this will work for you but I went to the messenger preferences and adusted the speed/quality to more quality and and made the video size smaller. Mine hasn't crashed lately. The main problem seems that the program is just not the same quality as the PC version. Good luck.

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Thank You
Jan 9, 2005 4:07PM PST

Thanks for the tip! I will give it a try and see if I can't get it to work. My parents are retired and travel full time and use Yahoo messenger - and now I have this great iSight that I couldn't get to work. I really appreciate your help!

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isight and apple
May 5, 2005 7:16PM PDT

these are my comments on the apple isight it apparntly only works with aol accounts and .mac accounts ridiculous if you ask me!
ciao mick

if the isight is so great why can?t a person use it with msn messenger and yahoo messenger.
i bought one a few months back and you could only use it if you were an aol client and on .mac sites.
and all the peolpe i know use msn messenger and yahoo mesenger
so waht?s so great about it?
i brought mine back to the store where i had bought it for a refund.
i am still looking for a cam that works with the messengers and is totally compatible with other users cams ? otherwise who needs it!
and waht warrants the cost of $130-$150 if it isn?t totally compatible?

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Others
May 6, 2005 2:10AM PDT

Manage to use it with Yahoo Messenger.
Wonder what you are doing wrong.
If you are still looking for a camera that is "totally compatible with other users cams" then it would appear that the problem is not limited to the Apple iSight. Could it be that the other messenger providers are not following any form of accepted standard. Surely not!

P

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iSight
May 17, 2005 12:49AM PDT

iSight does work with AOL. My finding is anyone who is anyone has AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). AIM actually isn't an AOL product. Most people who use MSN Messenger also have AIM. You don't have to have AOL as your provider. AIM is a free Instant Messenger. It's my understnading that PC users need just to have XP and the latest version of AIM to video conference with a Mac user using iChat. I've used my iSight with iVisit, which is a crappy little instant messaging application, but both audio and video work.. just not as good as with Yahoo or iChat.

As for your friends not having either Yahoo or AIM,, it's simple.. they are free and very easy downloads. The can get them, and so can you.

I'm at work, but anxious to try that fix for using iSight with Yahoo on my Mac.

Try Logitec webcams.. they're cheap and make one for Mac.

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apples and oranges
Mar 7, 2008 12:26AM PST

you have to realize that it is not the functionality of isight that is the problem. Microsoft won't upgrade any Mac OS based software, including MSN messenger.

If you have a mac and want to video chat, use ichat and have your family use AIM.

Isight is a better camera by quality of picture.

Isight sucks when talking to those PC folks... tell them to get a mac.

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iSight with Yahoo Messenger
Dec 29, 2004 6:27AM PST

yes..I used to use it all the time..(it was not best quality in yahoo due to thhe drivers I guess) but since the last few updates in Windows and yahoo...it is not responding and sometimes crashes... also,I uninstalled Virex 7.5 virus for my apple and my computer is probably about 50% faster.... and the came came with no crashes... but could not connect still...

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Virex - YUCK
Jan 9, 2005 4:14PM PST

Yes, I've had problems with the new version of Virex as well. I finally uninstalled it as well (make sure you get the extra pieces out of your library folder there are rogue files in the preferences and receipts folders...) Virex was also keeping my Zinio reader from downloading files. As soon as I dumped Virex, everything worked fine again. I was also never able to any virus update. There was certainly something wrong with that software! Thanks for writing and responding to my post.

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iSight and Yahoo! Messenger
Jan 1, 2005 10:41AM PST

I was using these two together for a while, and though there were crashes, the frequency was low enough to not bother me too much.

Recently I installed MS Office - I have no clue why that could or would affect these two, but since then whenever I start the webcam feature in YMessenger, it crashes immediately.

I have sent multiple reports to Apple about it, and searched Yahoo!'s website too. Looks like neither of them care.

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Thanks for the tip....
Jan 9, 2005 4:20PM PST

I don't have Office, so I don't think that is figuring in to my experience. But, hey, a little extra information never hurt anyone! AND I will make sure to stay away from in the future - especially if it has some inluence on the functionality of the iSight. I appreciate your tip and the time you took to respond to my post.

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hope this helps
Jan 6, 2005 10:25PM PST

iChat does work with AOL/AIM and mac.com names, it is not yet compatible with yahoo or msn.

I too use iSight and have had relatively few problems with using it in Yahoo. I have found that it works the best when I plug the iSight in before I launch yahoo, I don't have to turn it on, just plug it in. Then at anytime turn it on and the only main problem I have is HOW I turn it off or disconnect. If you have people watching your cam, you have to first disconnect all users, then turn the cam off, then unplug it in order to stay logged into yahoo without it crashing. Occasionally it will crash if I have too many programs running or too many people accessing, but that's rare. The main problem is just unplugging the cam without disconnecting users and turning it off first. Hope this helps!!!

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Thanks!
Jan 9, 2005 4:24PM PST

Wow! That was a lot of good info! I'm print your post out right now so I can be sure to do everything just as you said. I really appreciate you going into such detail and helping me out. A special "Peoples Choice" to you tonight!

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you're welcome
Feb 7, 2005 7:53AM PST

Well thank you, I certainly hope it helped you out. There are of course fluke chances that it will crash even when you do things the way I explained, but I have found the least amount of crashes happen this way. Also, it seems that the less you use other cpu draining programs at the same time, the less crashes happen. I do hope that they start fixing these bugs soon! Happy chatting...

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iSight and Yahoo Messenger
Feb 23, 2005 5:40PM PST

Hello, Was wondering if you could elaborate on the use of iSight with your Yahoo Messenger. I just hook mine up and then found they user's guide recommended only two options, iChat or AIM. I have downloaded the AIM and find it to be an inferior program to yahoo, aleit the PC YahooIM is much superior to MacsIM version.My questions is how do I turn on the iSight in Yahoo. And do I uninstal AIM to accomplish this. If I click on iChat to turn on the iSight it immediately opens in the AIM version of iChat. Hope you can help. Levi

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iSight & Yahoo Messenger
Jan 13, 2005 7:57PM PST

Works nicely for me both on my old 400MHz G3 iMac and on my new Powerbook G4. I've been using it for quite some time.

Good luck.

Oh, and btw, I very, very seldom bother with iChatAV, far inferior to YMsgr -- something I hate to admit being the avid MACer that I am. But in this case it's Yahoo all the way. NOW, if they'd just get the Mac version caught up with PC one (chats, music, advanced contact options, etc)

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iChat inferior? Voice on Yahoo??
May 17, 2005 12:59AM PDT

I haven't actually used iChat for video conferencing. But doesn't iChat have voice also? It's my understanding that Yahoo does not have the voice option for Mac users, and when I researched it with Yahoo, if I recall correctly, it ain't happenin' anytime soon. If I can get iSight to work with Yahoo w/o Yahoo immediately crashing, voice would be great. iVisit (although a pretty crappy program) works betw. PC and Mac and has both video and voice. It's okay in a pinch, but barely.

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For VOIP chat use Skype..
May 29, 2005 2:21PM PDT

For VOIP chat use Skype..
Works great with mac
Free

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Yahoo video messaging
Feb 2, 2005 11:22PM PST

Same here! Totally frustrating! Is there any other program that would work between Mac and PCs? AOL doesn't allow the PC user to adjust the video image and MSN doesn't have video chat for mac, yet (haha).

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re: iSight with Yahoo IM
May 5, 2005 10:22PM PDT

I have used my iSight with fairly smooth sailing on Yahoo. G5, 10.3.x [currently 10.3.9, where it seems more stable than it ever has], dp, 4gb ram. Have you checked the video settings in Yahoo? Have you shut down iChat before turning on your iSight in Yahoo?

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isight and yahoo
Aug 4, 2005 5:38AM PDT

Strange.. I have the same system.. and it doesnt work... the camera sometimes operates as expected, and when i invite for a video chat on yahoo, i can see myself in the camera window..it says broadcasting, but no one can connect. i have tried every setting in messenger.. do i need to adjust shraing setttings too?

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I have no problem.
May 23, 2005 3:33PM PDT

Just got my iSight camera yesterday and have had no problems w/ Yahoo chat. In fact many people use yahoo for caming as opposed to other chat programs. If you do not have a fast DSL or no DSL then you should try to 1) make your picture smaller and 2) set your bandwidth for the best picture but this may or may not make a difference. I can only imagine that your problem would be speed related, i.e. dial up connection, RAM lower than 512 or a processor smaller than G4.

My problem w/ yahoo v. Mac comes in the form of trying to access chat rooms. For some reason NO browsing app can enable the Java script completely. Only the extremeley inferior version of IE that is available to Mac users comes close to opening a chat window.

Any help there?

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yahoo/isight
May 28, 2005 3:41AM PDT

my picture quality is great, but if i pause the broadcast, yahoo crashes everytime i reactivate. have you had this problem or have any idea what might be going on??

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beating a dead horse? iSight with Yahoo messenger redux
Aug 12, 2005 5:44AM PDT

quick question: any of you who successfully use iSight with Yahoo Messenger would be doing all of us wondering whether to plunk down the cash a great service by telling us:

? When using iSight with Y! Messenger, does the VOICE feature work when chatting with Windoze users on Messeger? Yes or no?

thanks.