In October 2005, the 3.1 version received support for encrypted communications for paid subscribers of. That version of iChat used the H.264/AVC codec, which offered superior quality video compared to the older H.263 codec used in previous versions. In June 2004, Steve Jobs announced the introduction of iChat AV 3, which provided additional support to allow up to four people in a single video conference and ten people in an audio conference.
In February 2004, Apple released a public beta of iChat AV 2.1 to allow Mac OS X users to video conferencing with AIM 5.5 users. In June 2003, Apple announced iChat Av, which added video and audio conferencing capabilities. iChat used speech bubbles and pictures to personify the online chatting experience.
It was the first officially-supported AIM client that was native to Mac OS X and it was integrated with the Address Book and Mail applications.
IChat was released in August 2002 as part of Mac OS X v10.2. IChat – Apple instant messaging software application 1 iChat – Apple instant messaging software application.
