Flory first to bring GTalk to Windows Phone (Video + Guide)

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

First the good news: Flory is a free instant messaging app that supports Google Talk, has push notifications and a live tile. On top of all of that, it completely works, allowing you to be signed in and receive messages "in the background". Huzzah!

Now the bad news: It's in German and therefore only in the German Marketplace for Windows Phone. [Update: Flory is coming to the US Market very soon. See here for more info]

Yes folks, those crafty Germans have had this app for awhile unknown to us while we patiently wait for IM+. We've been running it for the last day and it's behaved like a champ. Sure, the menus are in German but you can still finagle your way through the logins.  The app works through a service called Flory, which then enables you to login to Google Talk. Incoming IMs are pushed to the device via Toast Notifications (the ones at the top) and/or the Live tile. The delay is no more than that of an SMS message, that is, it's fast and has been very reliable for us.

So how do you get this on your phone? We'll go over three options after the break...in the meantime, check out the video hands on.

WP7 Desktop Marketplace

The first choice is the easiest but only for a small minority of you: if you have a developer unlocked device (or used ChevronWP7) you can just side load the app. But, in order to get the XAP file, you'll have to go through the German Marketplace as the app is not available in other regional Markets.

To do this, you need to grab the free XDA app WP7 Desktop Marketplace. Install that, switch to the German Marketplace, enter in Flory and now double click to either save or deploy.  Done.

Marketplace Enabler

The second choice is less reliable but doesn't require a side load: try using the freeware app Marketplace Enabler to spoof your region so that Zune Desktop thinks you're in Germany. Now from our experience, we did not have luck with this app, but you may. Just don't get your hopes up, m'kay?

Contact the developer

The third option is a lot less satisfying but probably the best until IM+ comes out: contact the developer, ask for an English language (or other) version and for it to be submitted to other regional Marketplaces. Yeah, this method could take weeks, but it's really the only serious solution. Website: https://flory-im.com/

Update: Or have the developr contact you ;-) See here.

Installation

Once you've managed to get Flory on your phone, you need to do the following steps (very easy):

  1. Hit ...
  2. Select einstellungen
  3. Under 'Flory' type in a user name and password to create an account--then enable Toast & Tile notifications
  4. Slide over to gtalk and enter in your Gmail account
  5. We're unsure about those options below (translate?)
  6. Restart the app

Issues

  • Time stamps are not accurate
  • We're unsure of how to sign out
  • Unsure of how to get Flory to refresh your friend's info
  • No way to set status? Default status: 'on Flory Messenger' or 'Away from Flory Messenger'

At the very least, Flory proves that a viable instant messaging solution is totally workable on today's Windows Phone 7. While saving battery life and delivering fast updates, Flory does a great job of completing WP7 in many ways. Now, the goal is to either wait for IM Plus (expected next month) or to get Flory to more markets.

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

5 Comments
  • Kinda sad that my old ass nokia phone had several IMing services yet wp7 is taking forever just to get them going. MS needs to hurry up with this update.
  • It's been 3 months since launch...things aren't that bad.
  • Agreed - I really miss having a good IM app that supports GTalk!
  • hey there, to clear some things up:the app was developed by a single german developer, mainly for himself and some folks of a wp7 board, but it blew up pretty quick.translations:main: news - friends - googlessettings: flory; then there's a login and a join now buttongtalk: login, enable automatic reconnect, hide offline contactsmisc: enable vibrate, show keyboard while sending messagei hope thats all, i dont own the app myself.the complete development happens in this board thread:http://www.pocketpc.ch/windows-phone-7-apps/111422-windows-phone-messeng...maybe you can ask him for an english version there.hope that helps (:edit: oh and before i forget, you can import your jabber contacts(icq, fim) using transports, so it basically even works as a im for many other networks.
  • I tried everything to get the app on my phone with no luck.1. Changed my computer region to Germany2. Changed my live account region to Germany (Zune still didn't see the match).3. created a new account with region as Germany4. Signed in to Zune with new account (computer and live account region matched). 5. Plugged in my phone, Zune recognized a different live ID on the phone and required me to log in with the same ID as the phone.6. Tried to remove my main Live account from the phone, no option for that.7. Added the new account to the phone and tried to set it as the default, no luck there.8. Gave up!