This is my attempt to gather all the Mobile IRC Addicts together, and make sure more people know about the wonders of Mobile IRC’ing!
Furthermore I would like this topic to be some kind of information point about the developments in the mobile IRC world 
And most of all: to have fun!
So, first thing I did, was make an icon to show you are a Proud Mobile IRC’ing Addict!
[url=https://community.ld4all.com/t/proud-mobile-ircing-addicts-group/16888/1][img]https://fixato.co.uk/images/icons/mobileIRC2.gif[/img][b]I am a [i]Proud Mobile IRC Addict![/i][/b][/url]could be added to your sig to show:
I am a Proud Mobile IRC Addict!
or if you have space for a bigger one somewhere:
[url=https://community.ld4all.com/t/proud-mobile-ircing-addicts-group/16888/1][img]https://fixato.co.uk/images/icons/mobileIRC.gif[/img][b]I am a [i]Proud Mobile IRC Addict![/i][/b][/url]would show:
I am a Proud Mobile IRC Addict!
(However, the image is too high to be added to your sig 
)
So… let’s get started!
What is Mobile IRC’ing?
Mobile IRC’ing is connecting to an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) server through a mobile device such as a PocketPC or Mobile Phone.
With the increase of possibilities to get online from these mobile devices (WAP, GPRS, UMTS, Wi-Fi), the ways to get on an IRC-server with them increases as well!
How can I get on IRC from my phone?
Well, let’s divide this up a bit
Getting on IRC through WAP
WAP, the Wireless Access Protocol, was one of the first protocols used to get online from mobile devices. It is slow and should only be used for small websites
However, gateway software has been written for it
If you have a FreeBSD or Linux machine/server with internet access you can install programs on, then you can try out WapIRC
With this piece of software, you can setup and run your own gateway, to which you can connect with your WAP-capable mobile device.
This software usually is rather limited, mostly because of the limitations of WAP.
Steike.com (now moved to Tykje.com used to host a wapIRC gateway as well. Due to hosting issues it is no longer continued though. The page can still be found here though…
Getting on IRC through GPRS/UTMS/WiFi via JAVA
This way of connecting has much more, and much nicer solutions !
One of the first Java solutions out there for your mobible device was WLIrc.
WLIrc 1.0 is written for the Java MIDP 1.0 framework and should work on most mobile devices that support Java applications.
The program itself has some limitations though…
For instance, you don’t see nickchanges, nor does it show hostaddresses. Also, it can’t send any raw command you would want it to send.
And if you are writing a message, you can’t see what is being said in the channel.
Also, if someone opens a private window with you while you are writing a message, the message you were writing will be lost.
A lot of these bugs/limitations have been solved in WLIrc 2.x.
However, since it uses midp 2.0, it doesn’t support a lot of mobile devices…Especially not the older ones…
But enough about WLIrc, there are more Java clients out there for your MD (Mobile Device 
)!
For instance, jmIRC
I find that jmIRC is more userfriendly than WLIrc 1.0; can’t judge about comparison with WLIrc 2.0 though, since I never gotten that properly to work on my Smartphone Orange SPV C550.
It seems to be more stable than WLIrc, and I believe it also handles the receiving while typing a message better
Another one that is based on WLIrc is virca, a client that I haven’t tested yet myself.
The development for this client is also very slow though…
Getting on IRC through GPRS/UTMS/WiFi via Native Windows Mobile Software
PocketPC’s running Windows Mobile Operating System, and new mobile phone/pocketpc hybrids such as the Smartphones have access to clients that more and more come close to the clients you run on your normal pc.
Since it runs natively on your MD, and doesn’t need to run through a java virtual machine, they tend to be more stable and run faster!
One that looks very promising is wmIRC, a client that says to support both PocketPC as SmartPhone.
The main downside is that it is a paid client.
19.95 USD is still quite steep… especially since I couldn’t get it properly to work on my C550… I could physically enter rooms, and the built-in log function did log the chats… but no window was opened for that room…
Private chats worked fine though…
It has full colour and control code support, and -as mentioned before- supports logging to a txt file on your phone.
It also has a built-in identd-server and supports connecting to SSL IRC-servers.
The client I prefer to use nowadays, is SmartIRC.net.
Although it is just a single-window client, it works pretty nicely for me And it is free! 
Sending private messages can be kinda tedious if you are chatting to more persons in private at once, since you have to prefix your message with a dot followed by the nickname of the user the message is meant for.
For instance: .moogle hi there moogs! would send “hi there moogs!” to one of everyone’s favourite chatsters, moogle 
You can switch between channels via a menu.
Raw servercommands can be send by prefixing them with a comma ,
Last but not least, is PocketIRC. But as the name says, it is only for the PocketPC, thus I haven’t been able to test it Also, it isn’t free either. It is 5 USD cheaper than wmIRC though
A free alternative would be PocketChat
Join Us!
Do you know or use an IRC client for a mobile device that I haven’t listed? Or just want to show your support to the Mobile IRC Addicts community? Or want to show you are a proud Mobile IRC Addict as well?
GO ON! Post in here We mobile IRC geeks don’t bite
