But it doesn't work simultaneously with Google talk.....Google talk doesn't support it as yet

I've got AIM integrated into my Google Chat; I wonder am I invisible to AIM users too?

I hate google regarding this from the bottom of my heart. why on earth can they not release a new version of google talk? did they lose the source codes or just want to piss us users off? they are doing very well.

"The feature was first added to Gmail Chat because it's the most used interface for Google Talk"

Can we see some statistics proving that? With GTalk, Trillian, Pidgin, Psi ... now Digsby ... and many more options, do people really keep a tab of GMail open all day long?

This will not be the feature that keeps people using the non-chat mode. Chat mode makes the page load slow, steals priority if you have another instance of Google-chat open anywhere else ... to name a couple. It's good if you use ONLY Google for your chatting needs. And we all know how many people do that.

"Millions of users chat on the Google Talk network every day, and chatting via Gmail chat is by far the most popular way."

(Google Blog, Dec. 2007)

It's also obvious considering that, by default, the chat feature is activated for all Gmail users. You don't need to install a software or add a gadget to iGoogle.

I think invisible modes are antithetical to the idea of communicating with your friends and contacts. What's the point in having this feature if people can sign on without being seen?

> Now you can be logged in to Gmail Chat
> and see if your contacts are online

Unless they're also invisible, I suppose...

I wonder if they actually implemented XEP-126 (or even XEP-186) or did their own thing diverging from from XMPP standard.


http://www.xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0126.html

I just turned it on and will actually keep it on now.

Hmmm i think now googlechat goin ahead...now next functionality of Google Talk will be VDO Chat...& it will be different from all other Messangers with enhance functionality..

I agree with Josh.
It's antiethical this invisible mode.

After a while more and more people will use it, in the end everybody will be "invisble" or "fake offline", so there will be less conversations, and in the end everybody will try to chat with contact even they see them offline(because they will not know if thy are offline or not).

I have experience that people also set Away mode(in msn,yahoo), but actually they are not. This sux. I hope that Google doesn't kill Idle too (forced Idle, fake Idle).

I think since the status default isn't invisible, people won't use it unless they have a reason - ie know someone will be on who they want to avoid, so they probably wouldn't log on otherwise.
So mostly people won't bother, but some people will find it useful, overall not much effect ;)
- imma

Craaaapppp! Invisible is the stupidest feature ever invented. It's like one-way spying. If you're going to be online to see if your friends are online, at least have the respect to show other people that you're online. What happens if both you and your friend want to talk to each other, but are both on invisible? You'll never discover that you're online. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyZj0X1mUjY

Well that really sucks.
Firefox 2 really sucks, and IE7 is even worse than IE6 was. (interface reasons)
Go Firefox 1.5!

Honestly though, Googles inability to work with more browsers is quite saddening to me, i work across at least 10 different browser engines easily (version differences with some), without any difficulty... why can't they?

And even though i have been guilty of using the "invisible" thing, or Appear Offline, i have probably suffered because of it.

I feel worse when someone starts chatting and I've got to run- if I'm busy it's nice to check my email without having to say goodbye to folks.

very good ideea, it happens that somebody works (yes, it happens!) and he doesn't want to be bothered, neither offline. antietchical...pfff, might be, but if you use 3rd party client, you still can be invisible, faked idle, whatever... so i dont think it is a bad ideea.

Yes, I agree with some people above me. I also don't like this feature because the goal of instant messaging gets lost in my opinion. On the other hand, I dó think you should be able to see who's online when you're offline, but that's still different.

Anyway, there are more urgent features that need to be included (in Google Talk).

And when will they update the desktop client, it's been such a long time ago! :(

i disable talk in mail because I don't want it stealing focus from my multi-protocol desktop chat program (pidgin).

I really want to try this but for some reason I have not been upgraded to the new version of GMail. Does anyone know whether there's a way to manually do this?

Invisible is a terrible idea. Anyone remember ICQ? Invisible was what killed it. It's a great idea if you are the only one who can be invisible, but eventually everyone was invisible (because there was always someone you didn't want to talk to) and the rest is history. What might be useful is a selective invisible - where you could make yourself invisible to particular users, but it would have to be easy to turn on / off.

> What might be useful is a selective invisible

This is basically what you get if you block someone ;)
It's not easy to toggle, though - you'd need blocked people to remain in the list/be easily available
- imma

Off topic but might help someone who finds my earlier query: To upgrade to the new version of GMail, your language needs to be set to US English, not UK English

See my thoughts on why invisibility violates the social (networking) contract: http://tropophilia.com/2008/02/25/invisibility-a-violation-of-the-social-networking-contract/

Invisibility is good if you want to use IM for who you want to talk to when you want to talk to them.

Sometimes you may want to make it obvious you are online e.g. in the evenings - at other times you may use an IM service as a work-related tool and communicate with chosen users in order to solve specific problems or work on specific tasks.

In a work-related sitation being interrupted by a friend 'Hi, how you doing lol' is not convenient - and it's less rude to be invisible so you don't have to tell your friends to get lost temporarily!

I'm sooo popular.....

Even i'm one of them who thinks the invisible mode is stupid which kills the purpose of people being online and available to chat. I have never used invisible mode in my life ever and i havent faced any problem. If i want to avoid someone temporarily i block them.

I have written something on this on my blog

If it is going to cause issues...

Then Don't call it _Invisible Mode_

Call it _Messaging Mode_ or _Voice Mail_ or expand the _do not disturb_ mode and show the users who go into that mode. (Don't completely Hide them)

That'd allow users to choose a mode which prevents disruptions and collects messages for displaying when they choose to go _Online_ again ... but without the whole _everybody's offline_ issue.

So you can see them, know they're there, leave messages and still feel _part of the community_ :-)

Someone else mentioned a _selective hide_ which in addition to a dedicated _voice mail mode_ will make this tool work for everybody.

What would be most helpful would be some sort of 'group block' or 'group invisible'. I have a number of work contacts that use g-chat so I need to be on and available, but often I am interrupted by friends wanting to chat and I have to ignore them or interrupt my work to explain I can't talk. If I could add all my work contacts to a group, and show my status to them as online, while showing everyone else away, invisible, or even offline - now that would be useful.

I SO love anything google related. All I can say is you rock my world!! Of course I love the invisible feature and of course it presents the problem of not seeing anyone...if everyone's invisble.

SO. What about being able to hand pick people you are invisible to?

Ooh, it's just opening it up for people who are "playing away from home".

How many people will be using invisible mode to chat to their lovers so their significant other doesn't know, I wonder?

Absolutely essential to me that I have the option to be invisible. In fact, it's been the last reason to use anything but gTalk.

It's like not immediately answering an e-mail, or letting the voice mail get a phone call, while you're still around getting stuff done.

Another improvement I'd like to see (in the Windows gadget version of gTalk) is for blinking tray menus to be disabled when in busy mode, or a set of options to that effect.

If I'm busy, I'd rather not have to keep clicking a minimized chat window so my start bar can return back to normal while I work.

peah! i was using gmail because it hadn't invisible mod. I don't want people to spy me!!!

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It is the end of Gmail Chat.

Whats with google these days? Why cant you guys add the features to Google Talk ???Why are we supposed to keep a browser running thru out the day for chat????


it pisses me off!

I think that's awsome, but maney problems led to that invisable mode. I think they need to put google and gmail all of it on the Ninetendo Ds then maney more poeple Will actually use it I think I know I will!

i think this is a great idea for gchat... often when i avoid checking my gmail in fear of getting bombarded by ims, and when i signout, i lose the ability to chat with one person / coworker that i needed to chat with.

Thank you GOOGLE!!!!

I think the whiners who are pouting about "invisible mode" being a tragic mistake as well as a betrayal of some non-existent virtual-social contract are exactly the sort of people I'm going to love not being annoyed by anymore. No wonder they're perturbed. They've got friends like me, who love them, but don't want to talk to them all the effing time.

This is wonderful. It will change my daily life, immediately and for the better. I don't have to disappoint or hurt someone chatty just because I had the selfish gall to check my email. No more logging on anxiously for a second, all the while praying people don't seize the opportunity to IM me. I don't have time to chat; that means the time I'm taking to type "sorry- swamped, ttyl" and "no, really, we're fine, I'm just really busy" is stolen and I'll end up feeling resentful for being forced to defend my need to oh, DO MY JOB.

No, blocking someone is not the answer. Sometimes, I just want to be left alone by the majority of my contacts, but available to my family or colleagues. I don't have the time to block people and unblock them daily-- and the idea of doing so is just ludicrous. All I want is to not be seen so that I can be productive, which is a damned good reason to use this mode and not feel guilty for it.

Some might stupidly argue that if these are people I don't want to hear from, I should not be chatting with them, period, but shades of grey, okay? I don't hate these people who are impetuous and slightly inconsiderate, I just don't want to hear about how that one guy from eHarmony just. wrote. back. when I'm on deadline. There are odd moments when I'm waiting on someone else to finish their work, before I can commence mine and I'd be open to chatting then-- this would be great for that.

It's not like people respect "busy" or even the "Swamped. WILL NOT RESPOND" I favor in lieu of the default red mode. Even if I don't respond, they babble, and I'm still forced to play whack-a-mole with chat windows because I can't see the email I'm trying to type!

And really, how much blunter can I be about being unavailable unless it's an obvious emergency? Thanks to "invisible", everyone is happy; I'm not annoyed and my friends aren't needlessly wondering if I'm mad at them, because they can't initiate poorly-time conversations in the first place.

Everyone who is upset about this needs to understand that far from being a refuge for scoundrels, cuckolds and jezebels, this is a boon to over-worked people who still like to see how their friends are doing, even if they can't engage them in conversation right. that. second.

Thank you, Google. And please, ignore the whining. By enabling this, you have prevented me from feeling badly about rebuffing someone, which is something I experience 2-3x/day. Seriously, it's like the best belated birthday gift you could get me. You rock.

I think invisible is a great feature. What I think Google should change, though, is to have inviible on more browsers. I do not have Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2 and I want the invisible feature. I can't have it though which is really sad on my part. being invisible means not being bombarded with chats when you just want to read your mail and then sign off. Being invisible is such a privilege and I really want it. i can't have it though because I do not have IE7 or Firefox 2. I support the invisible feature, but am sad that it cannot be opened on all browsers.

@Anonymous above:
You can turn off Gmail Chat. Click on "standard without chat" or "turn off chat" at the bottom of the page.

Josh - To the contrary, I think you will see a lot of folks like me (who haven't signed into chat in a couple months going back on as invisible, and communicating with online people (and maybe even going fully back online more frequently.

Without this feature we'd just be offline all the time. I don't have time for chat every time my e-mail is open.

Is this only for few people?? I dont see "invisible" option in my gmail......Would love to have it..

invisibility is why lots of people I know stopped using AIM and MSN, nobody ever knew anyone else was online.

Since this feature was introduced I've noticed a big drop-off in the number of people on gchat.

cmon maings!

even though i dont use google talk i still cant see invisible mode in gmail chat. i have internet explorer 7 but i guess i still cant upgrade. how should i ugrade my gmail.
(i ant see older version written on top right corner either)

manu

hey.....i am not able to get the invisibility option even though i disabled gtalk.....and enabled FIREFOX 2......what could b the reason???

the idea of invisible sounded good first but now it's becoming stupid...u donno know who's there who's not so u go invisible also then nobody know;s who's there

I HAVE NO OTHER WAY TO GET THIS TO YOU, so...
The pop-up to pre-date-your-e-mail on the sign-in screen caught me yesterday. I believed it and didn't realize till this morning that it was the annual google joke. Thank you!

I think the solution to the "invisible" function being counter-productive to the concept of social net working could be perhaps addressed by making it "session only." So when I close the email tab, then reopen it, I am again visible.

i hate this feature.. thats why lately people stopped using yahoo and switched to gmail. this feature makes people isolated and hampers the use of chat system.

i see the invisible option on my mac but not on my pc, using firefox on both. strange huh?

Is there a way to see who is in invisible mode?...I mean this feature is really disgusting!!! Thumbsdown....its totally opposite to whats msngrs are meant to be...that is socializing.

i used yahoo before for chating purpose but i switched to gmail coz there was no invible mode... its of no use to be invisible... n show ur self offline .... i dnt see ny point in this ... but microsoft people are making gmail also the same .... its really sad....its really very very disgusting feature....

its better not to chat than to be invisible ... its voilates the basic requirement of chating... in yahoo i can understand ,,.. ther are chat rooms available ... but in gtalk no rooms are available ... u r talking with people who are in ur frnd list ... whats the use of adding frnds if u gonna appear invisible ...ITS DAMM CHEATING... this feature if of no use.... IF ANYNE CAN STOP IT ... KINDLY DO SO ...

I love google talk, but I don't have enough friends using it. The only time my friends use google talk or chat is if their company disable all the chat platform.