Sign on to iChat on login without launching iChat

Oct 03, '06 07:30:04AM

Contributed by: waboom

I always want to be available in iChat, so I added it to my login items. But I didn't like having the iChat application running (one extra application to command-tab over), so I began hunting for an alternative way to sign in. This hint held one solution, but I came up with a way that doesn't launch iChat at all.

For this script to work, both GUI scripting (under System Preferences -> Universal Access) and the iChat status menu item (iChat Preferences -> General -> Show status in menu bar) must be enabled. First, copy and paste this script into Script Editor. Save as an application and then add it to your login items. On startup/login, you will sign on to your iChat account without iChat launching.

As an added bonus, you can modify the script so you sign in with a status other than Available -- Use Away, or any custom status message you've created, or even Current iTunes Track.

[robg adds: See the comments to the referenced hint if you want some reasons why you might wish to sign on without having iChat active.]

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Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060925214542457