Our family messenger finally lands in Franz.

Our family messenger finally lands in Franz.

iMessage is where my family talks. Who picks up the kids, what's for dinner, and can you grab some milk on the way home. For years the Messages app sat right next to Franz on my Mac, one of my most used apps, and the one chat that couldn't live in Franz.

With the next Franz release for Mac, due in the next few days, iMessage shows up in Franz like any other service. Your chats from Messages, groups included, and you can write back, send a photo or start a new chat. Search and Ask Franz see those chats too. I can't tell you how good it is to see this in Franz after all those years.

Now the part you'd ask about anyway: it's Mac only, and it stays Mac only. Apple gives other apps no way into iMessage, so Franz works with what Messages keeps on your Mac. Getting that onto Windows or Linux would mean a server in the middle holding your messages, and that's not what Franz is. I'd rather have no iMessage on Windows than that.

It comes with the version you download from meetfranz.com. The Mac App Store version will follow.

WhatsApp Business in Franz wants early testers.

Quite a few of you run customer work over WhatsApp. A quote, three photos of the damage, a voice note with the details, and then the whole thing gets typed into a mail by hand. Franz has shown WhatsApp for years, but through WhatsApp Web, which is fine for chatting and not built for a business.

So I've been building a native WhatsApp Business service, on Meta's official business platform. You connect the WhatsApp Business number you already use, keep using the app on your phone, and read and answer those chats natively in Franz on your desktop. It's almost done, and before it goes to everyone I want it in the hands of a few people who do this every day.

If that's you, write me at [email protected] and tell me three things: what you use WhatsApp Business for, roughly how many chats a week, and whether you're on Mac, Windows or Linux. I'll pick a handful of testers over the coming weeks and set you up personally.

I want to test it

On the workbench.

Something spooky is in the oven, and that's all I'm saying this time. You'll notice it when it's there.

One more thing, on a personal note. On Friday I'm getting my shoulder fixed, again, after the accident. I'll be around, but support replies will be slower than usual for a few days. Wish me luck, I'll be typing with one hand.

Vote by return cable.

The tester call above made me curious about something simpler.

The normal one, the Business one, or both on the same phone. One tap, and the bureau counts the votes.

The cable is always open. Reply to any dispatch, about anything, and you are writing straight to me.

– Stefan, founder of Franz