It also featured social media integration, photo and file sharing, video and audio chat, Buddy List themes/skins, and more. On December 15, 2017, AIM was discontinued.
What Was AIM?
AIM was a chat service available from desktops, mobile devices, and web browsers. You could log in with your AOL account to instantly communicate with any of your contacts. AIM didn’t only support one-on-one chats and group IMs. It also allowed you to chat with your Google Talk friends and connected to your social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, YouTube, Foursquare, and others) to show your feeds, trade files, and share location updates. If you had an old phone that didn’t support the mobile app, you could use the AIM for TXT service to send and receive text messages with your Buddy List through SMS. Another way to use it was through AIM Mail (AOL Mail). There used to be a chat integration that connected with AIM, letting you view emails and chat messages in one place. AOL released other features over the years:
AIM Express: Stripped-down, browser-based messenger for users that weren’t running the standalone programAIM Pages: Make an online profileAIM Real-time IM: See what the other person was typing in real-timeAIM to mobile: Send texts to cell phones
AIM History
Here is a brief look at the history of AIM, including when some of the more prominent features were added and removed:
May 1997: AOL releases AIM as a standalone program for WindowsMay 2006: AIM Pages is introduced, and then shuts down in 2007; AIM Phoneline is released to let users make and receive calls, and then shuts down in 2009March 2008: iOS users can now install the AIM appApril 2010: AIM comes to the iPadDecember 2010: AIM apps include ads and are now available for Mac, Android, iOS, BlackBerry, and other platformsJune 2015: Verizon Communications purchases AOLJune 2017: Verizon combines AOL and Yahoo into Oath Inc (later rebranded as Verizon Media)October 2017: It’s announced that AOL will shut downDecember 2017: AIM is discontinued
Why Did AIM Shut Down?
AOL had this to say in October 2017 about the AOL Instant Messenger shutdown:
AIM Alternatives
AOL never provided an alternative chat program for AIM, but loads of other apps, services, and desktop programs work in much the same way. One intriguing replacement is AIM Phoenix. It’s not affiliated with AOL or Verizon Media, but instead is a server that allows some versions of AIM to work. The site offers AIM client downloads and directions for connecting to the server. Other instant messaging applications also work, and they don’t involve changing server settings or downloading archived programs. Facebook Messenger is a popular one that works from phones, tablets, desktops, and web browsers. Other examples include WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Snapchat, and Kik. Most of these apps also let you make free calls over the internet.
