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Bjartr
Is this this functionally different from Pidgin and other libpurple based messengers?
ubertaco
Yes, but maybe not in a good way -- this is basically just a tabbed electron wrapper around various chat webapps.
pythonaut_16
I'm pretty sure this one brings all of their various Electron and web app versions under one app and shares the Chromium runtime among them, while Pidgin and libpurple would be based on accessing their APIs directly
beagle3
I would call it "A messenger" at all only if it had history search that spanned services.

I often remember I got a message from X about Y but to find it I have to look independently in whatsapp, iMessage, email and 2 bulletin board style systems.

snroki
too bad it's not open-source, unlike http://rambox.pro/
jdhawk
I love RamBox - and hope it continues to gain momentum. Really wish someone would add Spell Check support.
factorialboy
Just tried Rambox. It's good, very convenient.
inetsee
It doesn't seem to support Open Whisper Systems Signal messaging app. Did I miss it in the list, or is there some other reason why it's not included?
Tajnymag
Franz is basically a browser wrapper around all those messaging services. As Signal doesn't have a Web UI, Franz can't really easily support it.

Yes, Signal-desktop is being rewritten to Electron now but I doubt it's suitable for in-Franz integration

bjarkehs
Hasn't been updated in a year though.
drvortex
Oh God. It's Trillian/Pidgin all over again.
mixedCase
Electron for a messenger? What a wasted opportunity.
peternicky
I've given Franz multiple chances over the past 1.5 years and always find that it is filled with bugs that make it a horrible experience. One example is a bug that crashes the app whenever the settings view is closed.

Thanks for the poster who shared an open alternative, I will try it out later today.