Yahoo Messenger ties to phone number now - any messenger options?

Started by Sorchaa, December 14, 2015, 10:04:09 AM

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Sorchaa

Hi all! *curtseys politely*

I signed into YIM this morning and to my disappointment, it requires a phone number now! It shares all your info, and ties into social media accounts.

Obviously, I do not want my RP playtime account tied to my real name and Facebook for privacy reasons. *blushes*

Are there any better messenging options for play by messenger?

Thanks!

gaggedLouise

How about providing a fake (random generated)  phone number? One with the right spacing of digits into groups but a number you can feel confident doesn't exist? I don't think Yahoo would check the number you would offer, or try to call it; it would get accepted at once, no?

I'm using YIM myself and I've never been required to submit a phone number. Not using it on the mobile though, just from the pc.

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

Oniya

I've heard good things about Trillian, and from what I can see, it doesn't require a phone number.

As for the idea of using a fake number, I know that some services (like YouTube) will actually check to see if the information that you provide is valid.  (I wanted my account authenticated on YT, so I had to receive a text from them.  Of course, I've changed my number since then and haven't provided them with a new one, so there's that.)
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

gaggedLouise

Mmm, I've got a Youtube account "as" Louise too, and I've never been required to submit a phone number or even the name of city or county, it's just been optional. I think FB is the same - Facebook likes to pretend that they are making sure all their accounts belong to de-anonymized individuals (or companies) and that FB's staff, at least, knows who those people are, know everybody's real names, but that's simply not true. It's quite easy to set up an FB account that doesn't tie in with any definite part of your r/l "identity footprint" - and once it's up, that kind of account can be used to validate any other playtime account, with any other name. The FB or Gmail account just acts as the "goalkeeper" if Youtube, Amazon, YIM or whatever asks for validation by e-mail.  :P

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

Sorchaa

I wonder if using maybe a Google talk line or something would work? From what I can see, the new version pulls lots of personally identifying information without the user's consent. Some male partners can get rather pushy and I definitely don't want my RP partners to have access to my real name and phone number.

gaggedLouise

Quote from: Sorchaa on December 14, 2015, 11:53:19 AM
I wonder if using maybe a Google talk line or something would work? From what I can see, the new version pulls lots of personally identifying information without the user's consent. Some male partners can get rather pushy and I definitely don't want my RP partners to have access to my real name and phone number.


I think lots of people here would feel the same, I've certainly talked to a few who would never want their r/l phone number to be accessible from the RP sites they are visiting.  ;)

Are you talking YIM on mobile/smartphone? Because I don't recognize that Yahoo or Google would try to force people to submit their phone number (an e-mail address is what they've asked from me) but I don't really use mobile messengers.

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

Oniya

Quote from: gaggedLouise on December 14, 2015, 11:47:57 AM
Mmm, I've got a Youtube account "as" Louise too, and I've never been required to submit a phone number or even the name of city or county, it's just been optional.

If you want to upload videos longer than 15 minutes, you have to be authenticated, which requires either a voice call or a text message.  FB has poked at me for a phone number, but hasn't demanded it yet.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Sorchaa

Yes, I mean from mobile. The new mobile app forces you to register your phone, and then publishes everything without the option to change it. People from your friends list can call you directly even :(

gaggedLouise

Quote from: Sorchaa on December 14, 2015, 12:10:34 PM
Yes, I mean from mobile. The new mobile app forces you to register your phone, and then publishes everything without the option to change it. People from your friends list can call you directly even :(

I see - now, that's really intrusive.

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

InnocentSynn

Yes, I use the YIM app on my phone since my computer is down and since they changed it, it's been nothing but problems.  In addition to requiring a phone number, they removed the ability to see which of your yahoo friends are online at the moment, deleted all of your saved conversations, and it's a crap shoot on if your messages are actually received or not.  They've made like 3 attempts to fix it, but so far nothing seems to have been improved.  This is definitely a case of breaking something by trying to fix it when it wasn't broken in the first place.

Sorchaa

It's very disappointing! I had several long term role plays and some great partners on YIM, but I really feel violated (not the fun way) by the update.

Oniya

Just for reference, Trillian can import your YIM contacts, and is available on both iPhone and Android as well as PC.  It was originally designed to do 'cross-platform' instant messaging (i.e. YIM to Microsoft Messenger, and so forth.)  So, you wouldn't have to lose your YIM buddies.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Sorchaa

Trillian wants access to, like, everything on my phone. Is it safe?

Oniya

They have an extensive FAQ, which includes their privacy policy - which is a lot more detailed than many other sites' policies that I've seen.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

AmberStarfire

Quote from: Oniya on December 14, 2015, 03:16:05 PM
Just for reference, Trillian can import your YIM contacts, and is available on both iPhone and Android as well as PC.  It was originally designed to do 'cross-platform' instant messaging (i.e. YIM to Microsoft Messenger, and so forth.)  So, you wouldn't have to lose your YIM buddies.

This is what I use and how I use it (I have YIM contacts set up through it). They have a phone app as well but I haven't used it in a year or two because IMO it wasn't very good. It may have improved or be better than the current YIM one, though.


Kuroneko

I've used Trillian for at least 10 years now, and have never had an issue with it.
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Haruki

Not to notch up an older thread, but......thanks for the update.  I was going to re-download YIM, but it seems they have discontinued the PC version altogether (the last version released was 11.5).  They now force access from Yahoo Mail, and for login, either via your existing Yahoo/Mail account, or (should you not have a Y! account) Facebook Twitter, and so on.....and require the phone number for validation.

Ugh!

Thanks again.

RIP Yahoo Messenger (Pager): July 1998 - December 2015
(Damn, I'm OLD!)

On an off-topic but related note. I'm surprised the forum software hasn't been updated yet to reflect that MSN is no longer MSN, but rather, Skype, as of Windows 10.  Though since Skype also takes old Hotmail and current Outlook emails along with its own Skype handles (I can use either my old Hotmail/MSN account or Skype one to log on), I suppose it still makes some sense to leave that as-is for now.

Thanks also to those who suggested alternatives.  Maybe I should try Trillian, just to get at old accounts and notify anyone interested in IM play yet (from here or other sites) that still are interested.

EDIT:  Thanks to whomever suggested Trillian.  Why didn't I use this 10-15 years ago?  Now I can restore all my IM contacts here.  Not surprised they don't have access to MSN, as that's now Skype, nor any of the newer-fangled 'app' based IMs like Snapchat, Kik and so on....those require accounts for 'app stores' and also phone numbers (which are your 'IP address' in a way).  Not a loss.
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