1. IM+
One of the most popular and oldest all-in-one messaging apps available. In fact, I remember using it back in my BlackBerry days. IM+ supports a number of social media platforms like Instagram, Telegram, Messenger, Twitter, WhatsApp, and more. In fact, I think the current number is well above 15.
Switching between accounts and chats is as easy as switching between tabs. Everything is neatly organized and easily accessible. One key feature is a desktop client which means you don't have to switch your primary account or mess around with different UI when using mobile and desktop version.
Some additional features include UI customizations like dark mode, font type, size, and color, sorting messages, and sleep mode for when you don't want to get disturbed. IM+ is free to use and ad-supported but you can remove them by paying $3.99/monthly. Yes, it comes with a subscription model but pretty much every other business does these days. Big surprise, huh?
Pros:
- True push notification
- Customize UI elements
- Cross-platform with desktop clients
- Supports all popular sites/apps
- Subscription model
2. Plu.us
I like Plu.us messaging app but not sure if I can say the same for their choice of name (pronounced as 'plus'). Easy to pronounce but annoying to type. It has a lot going on actually. You can connect with a number of messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram and more easily. But what else you can do is share your social profiles using a tag. Say you like or meet someone, share you tag and he/she will have links to all your social media profiles in a single go. Good or bad? You be the judge!
A cool feature is the ability to save useful or important links from multiple social media networks inside a single app. Frankly, you can do it using Pocket or Instapaper as well. Still, useful since you are also using it an all-in-one messenger app.
Plu.us is free to use which makes me wonder how they are going to make money? Maybe a paid plan will follow soon. For now, have fun sharing and discovering tags.
Pros:
- Save links
- Social tags
- Easy sharing
- None
3. All Social Networks
All Social Networks acts as a container to every messenger app that you may be using. The list is pretty robust and long and chances are that you will find what you are looking for here. If you have the app already installed on your phone, tapping on the icon will simply launch the official app. Bummer, but it was designed to be used as a replacement and not a companion.
There are no additional settings like UI customizations that we saw in IM+. On the plus side, it is completely free and ad-supported so I guess you win some, you loose some. For the most part, All Social Networks covers a lot of ground and works really well. A lot of all in one messenger apps tend to be buggy and lag, but not this one. It is fluid and bug-free.
Pros:
- Supports all popular sites/apps
- Very stable mobile client
- Not cross-platform
4. Splite Browser
Splite is a browser app that's only available on Android OS. As such, you can surf the Internet and access all your social media apps from the same app. That's a neat trick but I am not sure if it is good enough to replace my current favorite: Brave Browser. The app is pretty new in the all in one messenger apps scene but is finding its footing pretty quickly.
Some notable social media sites like Telegram and WhatsApp are missing at the moment, but I am optimistic that these will be included in due time. After all, the app is still in its infancy. There is SnapChat and Facebook among others though. Another really cool feature is the dual browser. That means the screen will be divided in two half's and you can browser two sites or web pages separately together. Very handy during research. Loads really fast too.
Pros:
- Doubles as a browser
- Dual browsing
- Telegram and WhatsApp missing
- Browser needs more work
Updated: October 16, 2021