Immersive Messenger: real-time chat, voice and video calls on native DMs 2.7.4

A round of fixes for phones, tested step by step on a real iPhone with a customer.

• The message box always stays in view. In the chat opened from the floating button, the message box could end up behind Safari's toolbar, the keyboard, or a navigation bar that your theme fixes at the bottom of the screen. The chat now fits exactly the part of the screen you can see.
• Full-screen chats on phones. On the full Messages page, an open conversation now fills the screen like a messaging app, so opening the keyboard no longer scrolls the page down to the footer. The list stays inside the page and the back arrow returns to it.
• The latest message stays above the keyboard. When the keyboard opens or Safari's toolbar shows, the conversation keeps its bottom anchored instead of sliding out of view.
• No more jump to the top. The conversation keeps your place after a screenshot or when you come back to the tab.

Install the archive over any 2.x version from Admin CP > Add-ons. Thanks to JoyFreak for testing every step!

Four changes, all from customer feedback.

• Who can call you. Members now choose who can start voice calls and who can start video calls with them, in their Privacy settings right under XenForo's own direct message setting: members, people they follow, or nobody. Call buttons follow the choice, and the server refuses calls that are not allowed.
• Tuck the chat button away. The floating dock button can be pushed against the edge of the screen: a small button appears on hover (always visible on touch screens), or swipe it toward the edge. A slim tab stays visible with the unread count and brings it back with one tap. Each member's choice is remembered on every page.
• Notes to self. A chat with yourself now shows your own avatar, is no longer treated as a group, and its message box says "Message self".
• Status duration. Picking a suggested status no longer replaces the "Clear after" duration you chose yourself.

Install the archive over any 2.x version from Admin CP > Add-ons. New privacy settings default to "Members only", so nothing changes until a member decides otherwise.

On boards that also run an add-on extending XenForo's conversation notifications (for example SV Warning Improvements), sending a new message failed with "Oops! We ran into some problems" and a fatal error in the server log.

Messenger now declares those methods exactly like XenForo does, so both add-ons work together. Every class extension of the add-on is now checked against XenForo's own signatures before each release.

Install the archive over any 2.x version from Admin CP > Add-ons. Thanks to the customer who sent the error log.

Three small releases in one, all fixes from your feedback.

• Images open full size everywhere. In the dock windows and the mobile chat sheet, clicking a photo did nothing. It now opens in XenForo's lightbox, like on the full page, including photos received while the chat is open. On the full page, a single photo also takes more room in the conversation.
• Received messages on dark styles. Two new style properties, Received message background and Received message border (Style properties > Messenger), for styles where received messages blend into the page. The defaults keep the current look.
• The right name in the message box. In a one-to-one chat with a custom title, the box said "Message <title>". It now shows the other member's nickname or user name. Group chats keep their name.
• Admin CP > Messenger > Exports showed an error instead of the list of exports. Fixed.
• Closing the lightbox no longer folds the dock drawer.

Install the archive over any 2.x version from Admin CP > Add-ons.

Immersive Messenger 2.6.1 brings together everything built since 2.1.2: five versions of work in one upgrade.

For your members

• A new dock and a full page. Chat heads and up to three mini windows on every page of the forum, and a three-column page with an info panel for members, media, pins, reminders and scheduled messages.
• A faster new message. Pick people as chips, name the group, choose a photo and drop pictures into a live upload tray.
• An organised inbox. Mentions, threads, starred, muted and archived chats, up to ten colour labels, and message requests so first chats from strangers wait quietly.
• The forum inside the chat. Send in Messenger turns a thread, a post or a profile into a card. Each reader only sees what their permissions allow.
• Threads and search. Reply in a thread without flooding the chat, and search every message by person, date and type.
• Events, polls and quizzes. RSVP with calendar links and reminders, anonymous polls, hidden results and quizzes that reveal the right answer.
• Stickers and statuses. Sticker packs you manage in the Admin CP, a status with an emoji, and "Active 5 min ago" with a choice of who can see it.
• Calls that reach people. Incoming and missed calls arrive through XenForo push notifications, and group calls are available as a beta for small groups.

For you

• Moderation. Restrictions per member with an end date, rules for new accounts and links, filtered words that block a message or hold it for approval, and reports that include the surrounding messages.
• Export. Members download a chat as an offline web page, JSON or text, and all of their Messenger data in one file.
• Bots and webhooks. Bot accounts with a badge and slash commands, signed outgoing webhooks with a delivery log, incoming webhooks and a REST API scoped to Messenger.

Group calls and voice note transcription stay off until you turn them on. Transcription needs an API key from a provider (OpenAI, Deepgram or a compatible service).

Install the archive over any 2.x version from the Admin CP. Conversations, settings and customisations are kept, and every new feature starts with safe defaults.
See it running: live demo, log in as demo / demo2026.
The full changelog is on the version history.

A request from a customer: in fast conversations, or when members keep the default avatar, it helps to see who wrote what.

• Sender names above messages: in group conversations only (as before), in every conversation including one-to-one chats, or never.
• Avatars next to messages: group conversations only (as before), every conversation, or never.
• Optionally repeat the name above every message, and show your own name above your own messages.
• Nicknames and the staff badge follow the name everywhere, including the floating drawer.

You find it in Admin CP > Messenger > General. The defaults keep the current display.

Install the archive over 2.1.x, 2.0.x or any 1.x version from the Admin CP.
Full changelog on the version history.

A small fix found on a live forum: on styles that put a border, rounded corners and a focus glow on every field inside an input group, the message box showed a second frame inside the composer. The field now stays frameless on any style and only the composer lights up when focused.

Install the archive over 2.1.0, 2.0.x or any 1.x version from the Admin CP. No database change.
Full changelog on the version history.

Members can now make a conversation feel like theirs, and every change shows up for everyone in it at once.

• Chat themes: sixteen colours for the bubbles and accents of a conversation, the same for everyone in it.
• Shared wallpapers: a preset, a photo or the theme background for the whole chat, or each member keeps their own.
• Nicknames: rename anyone in a conversation; everyone sees it in the header, above messages, in the list, in quotes and read receipts.
• A quick emoji in place of the send button: tap to send it, hold to send it bigger.
• Group photos and names shown everywhere the conversation appears.
• Word effects: link a word to an emoji and every message containing it rains that emoji across the screen.
• Polls with single or multiple choice, member-added options, live results and closing by hand or on a timer.

Everything sits in one Customise chat sheet with a live preview, and each change leaves a discreet line in the thread without alerts, e-mails or unread counts. An option for each feature and six new permissions keep you in control.

Install the archive over 2.0.x or any 1.x version from the Admin CP.
See it running: live demo, log in as demo / demo2026. Full changelog on the version history.

Three releases since 2.0.0.

2.0.3: message tools. React, reply and more in one tidy pill beside the bubble, your forum's reactions in one click, double-click to like, and a long-press sheet on phones with large reactions, reply, quote, copy and select text.

2.0.2: calls that feel like a phone messenger.

• Your own camera shows from the first ring; the other camera only turns on once they answer.
• On phones, an incoming call takes the whole screen with Accept, Accept with audio only and Decline. In a call you sit in a small window you can drag or tap to swap, flip to the back camera, switch voice to video and back, and keep typing while the call stays in a bubble.
• On desktop, the call opens in a window you can move and resize, go full screen or pop out in picture in picture, with a device panel and keyboard shortcuts.
• Calls survive a return from the background and a Wi-Fi to 4G switch, and the camera and microphone are always released.
• TURN provider choice: Cloudflare Realtime TURN or Metered generate short-lived relay credentials from one key, so calls connect between mobile networks.

2.0.1: a calmer admin side. Options split into five pages with settings that only appear when they apply, values checked as you save, a STUN and TURN test that runs in your browser, a setup checklist on the dashboard, and a floating Messages button that steps aside for other floating widgets and can sit on either side.

Install the archive over 2.0.x or any 1.x version from the Admin CP; every setting keeps its value.
See it running: live demo, log in as demo / demo2026. Full changelog on the version history.

Immersive Messenger jumps from 1.1.1 to 2.0.0 here. Two big steps since this page was last updated.

2.0.0: a complete rewrite.

• A new sync engine: every new message, edit, deletion, reaction and pin reaches every participant, with Pusher in about a second and without it on its own, including changes made from the native inbox.
• Sending never blocks: messages are queued and retried through a network cut, members can send several in a row, and nothing is lost when two people write at the same time.
• A native XenForo design built from XenForo's own components and style properties: it follows light, dark and third-party styles, with a stylesheet about a tenth of the old one.
• A conversation list that refreshes itself, loads as you scroll and searches titles and participants.
• Full keyboard navigation, copy text, and new "Delete own messages" and "Delete messages by anyone" permissions with the moderator log.

1.4.0: calls. One-to-one voice and video calls with screen sharing, a call screen you can minimise while you keep chatting, an incoming call banner on every page, and the call history in the thread.

Upgrade from any 1.x version by installing the archive from the Admin CP: conversations, call history, pins and preferences are kept. Templates and phrases were rewritten, so review custom template edits and translations.

See it running before you update: live demo, log in as demo / demo2026.
The full changelog, release by release, is on the version history.