In this world of social media, we've got a lot of chat channels to keep track of. Whether you're checking your Twitter DMs, GChats (Google Talk), Facebook Messenger messages, or iMessages, you can have most of them in one place with a dedicated chat client. These are the best chat apps for Mac.

1. Free Texting Apps For Laptops

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Jan 03, 2020  Textfree (formerly Pinger) is a free texting and calling app that allows you to text/call over the internet. It runs on Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, and Mac devices. The app gives you a real US phone number, and the best part is that you can text anyone (through Textfree) even if the other person doesn’t have the app. May 16, 2018  No. Hands-free text app Screenshot Features; 1: ReadItToMe Read the incoming SMS/callers name/notification from other apps like WhatsApp and Hangouts. Send voice reply for SMS/WhatsApp/Facebook Messenger/Gmail, etc. Text reading only when a Bluetooth device or a head phone is on. 2: DriveSafe.ly A safe texting while driving app that reads text messages (SMS).

In the pop-up window that opens, choose the Applications tab and scroll down until you see the mailto option on the left under the Content type heading.Click the drop down menu and by default you'll have the choice to use Gmail or Yahoo. Just choose mail.google.com from the drop-down menu next to mailto and you're done.For everything else, there's mailtoThe Mailto Chrome extension can make most webmail services your default mail client in Chrome.If you want to use a service other than Gmail, install the from the Chrome Web Store. Another pop-up window appears. Just check off the box for your favorite email service or add a custom URL and you're done.FirefoxFirefox lets you choose between Gmail and Yahoo as your default mail clients.With the latest version of Firefox, click the 'hamburger' menu icon on the far right and from the drop-down menu choose Options. Once it's installed, a configuration window like the one above appears. Gmail chrome app.

Apple's built-in chat client, Messages, makes it seamless for you to chat with anyone that has an iPhone, iPad, or Mac without any effort. You can add SMS and texts messaging from Android or Windows phones to Messages if you have Text Message Forwarding enabled. It gets better, though. Thanks to a little help from Jabber, you can use Messages for dozens of chat channels that use XMPP instant messaging. It's lost some of its universal appeal over the last few macOS updates, however. Messages no longer works with Facebook, AOL Instant Messenger, or Yahoo. It's also very difficult to get Messages to work with GChat (though not impossible).

• Free - It's already on your Mac!

Adium

Adium is probably the most popular third-party chat client. You can connect it to AOL Instant Messenger, Google Talk, Twitter, MobileMe, IRC, Bonjour, Jabber, plus a few more. It's a great way to keep most (if not all) of your various chat clients in order. I personally don't like the interface of Adium, but sometimes function is more important than looks. Adium has a lot of little features that are really awesome, like initiating encrypted ORT chats, and file transfers. You can't get it in the Mac App Store, but it's free and open source and it's highly rated among Mac users.

• Free - Download now

Trillian

Trillian is another popular chat client that brings together many of your messaging apps into one place, including AOL Instant Messenger, Facebook, Google Talk, ICQ, Olark, and Twitter. I much prefer Trillian's interface because it reminds me so much of the built-in Messages app. It is, however, slightly less feature-rich unless you go pro. You can get quite a few more business-facing features for about $2 per month. It's a seamless experience for Mac users and my personal favorite third-party client, but I don't use a lot of different chat channels in my daily life. I stick with Google Talk, Facebook, and Twitter. It's perfect for me.

• Free - Download now

YakYak

I haven't personally used YakYak, but it's a big hit with Mac users that only want a Google Talk client. You may have noticed that GTalk compatibility with Messages in macOS High Sierra is difficult, to say the least. If you just want to be able to chat with your Google peeps with a dedicated window on your Mac, YakYak looks like the perfect option. You can upload images, group chat, and more. You have to install it from GitHub, but there are some fairly clear instructions on how to do so if you're saavy with your Mac. It's not a Chrome extension and doesn't rely on Chrome to work. So, if you're anti-Chrome, this apps is for you.

• Free - Download now

How do you chat on Mac?

What is your preferred chat client for bringing together all of your various chat channels? Put your recommendations in the comments and I'll check them out.

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Free Texting Apps For Laptops

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