Trillian is an instant messaging client from Cerulean Studios for one-to-one chat, group conversations, file sharing and presence updates. It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, has apps for iOS and Android, and also works in a web browser. Individuals can use Trillian for free; a Pro subscription adds features such as history on every device, and separate business plans add central administration.
Trillian accounts and presence
Users sign into their Trillian account on each device. The contact list shows who is online. Users can post a status message and save it for reuse. Do Not Disturb silences notifications, and invisibility hides the user while staying connected.
The Windows client can change status on its own. With the activity option enabled, it marks the user idle after five minutes without keyboard or mouse input and away after twenty minutes. A second option switches to away when the screen saver starts or the computer is locked.
Chat windows and messages
Chat windows support text formatting, emoji, timestamps, spell check and autocorrect, with light and dark themes. On the desktop, Trillian can gather separate conversations into tabbed windows. Options include all chats in one window, one tabbed window per contact-list group, or no automatic tabs so each chat floats on its own.
A plus button in the chat window attaches pictures, files and screen captures. Users can also drag files and images straight into the window. The screen capture tool dims the desktop so the user can drag across the area to send. Large files travel peer-to-peer between the two computers.
Blast messages send one message to several contacts at once. The user selects the recipients in the contact list and writes in a blast window. Each person receives it as a private message, and replies come back individually. Blasting and read receipts belong to Trillian Pro.
Private and public group chats
Any Trillian user can start a private, invite-only group chat that never appears in a directory. Business accounts also get public group chats, which appear in a browsable directory. Users can join or leave these chats freely. The server keeps group conversations, so members who were offline can read what they missed.
The first person in a group becomes its operator. Operators can promote other members, control who may add or remove people, change the name and topic, hide a public room from the directory and restrict a chat so only operators and “voiced” members can post.
Searching chat history
Conversations load continuously as the user scrolls up a chat window. Users can open a separate history viewer from the chat window. It offers a calendar to jump to a date, a search field and a list of the files and images exchanged with that contact. The free version stores history on the user’s own computer; Trillian Pro makes the complete history available from any device.
Calls and screen sharing
Buttons at the top of a chat window start voice or video calls with one person. An audio-only call shrinks to a small panel. Users can drag it around the screen or minimize it. Free accounts include one-to-one audio calls. Business plans add one-to-one video calls and screen sharing. Users can share the full screen at up to 4K or a resizable window. Calls are end-to-end encrypted with DTLS-SRTP, and multi-party video conferencing is not offered.
Contacts, metacontacts and other services
Users can sort contacts into groups purely for organization. A metacontact combines one person’s entries from different services into a single item on the list.
Trillian also connects to some outside services. Users with an existing Jabber/XMPP account can add it under IM Accounts in the settings, and the Olark live-chat service is available as an extension. Users can also add an IMAP or POP3 mailbox. Trillian then shows a short inbox summary in the contact list and alerts the user to new mail. Several networks that Trillian once connected to, including Facebook Messenger and Skype, no longer allow outside clients.
Alerts, keywords and in-game chat
Beyond customizable sounds and per-window muting, the events system works as if-then rules. A keyword rule, for instance, highlights incoming messages containing chosen words or phrases in a selected color.
An optional overlay keeps Trillian conversations available inside full-screen OpenGL and Direct3D games.
Trillian Free, Pro and business plans
| Plan | Main additions |
|---|---|
| Free | Desktop, mobile and web clients; private and group chat; images, files and screen captures; status updates; one-to-one audio calls; Jabber/XMPP and other extensions |
| Pro | History on every device, read receipts, blast messages, themes and accent colors, no upgrade prompts, more devices and storage |
| Business | Central user administration, managed contact lists, public group chats, video calls and screen sharing, client feature policies, an API for chatbots |
| Enterprise | Optional self-hosted Trillian Server, HIPAA support, custom retention periods, compliance exports and audit logging |
In company deployments, administrators can turn off individual features, such as file, image or blast messaging, for their users.
