Meebo re-launches improved iPhone chat app

This morning Meebo is releasing a freshly updated version of their chat app for the iPhone. The new iteration is more finger-friendly, requiring none of that pinching nor chat window management of the previous version--which was admittedly a quick fix to accommodate early adopters of Apple's handset. Gone is the classic desktop feel of Meebo, which has been replaced by a simple buddy list that takes up the entire screen, and can be perused with one finger. To begin a chat, simply click on somebody's name. It's very intuitive.

With this latest version, Meebo has done something really cool by pulling up the last few lines of your last conversation, assuming you were using Meebo as your client. Likewise, your saved Meebo away messages are there, along with a spiffy new status changer that lets you choose them from a wheel.

All in all, the update is a nice addition to the lineup of IM apps for the iPhone. I'm still partial to Mundu's offerings, which I believe to be the best of the bunch, but already we've come a long way in a short time towards removing the need for client-side IM apps.

More shots of the new interface after the jump.