Editing Pidgin (software) (section)

== Features ==
[[File:Pidgin Screenshot Ubuntu.png|thumb|left|Pidgin running on [[Ubuntu (operating system)|Ubuntu]]]]

Pidgin provides a graphical [[Front-end and back-end#Computer science|front-end]] for libpurple using [[GTK+]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/WhatIsLibpurple |title=What Is Libpurple – Pidgin – Trac |publisher=Pidgin.im |access-date=March 22, 2009}}</ref> Libpurple supports many instant-messaging [[Network protocol|protocols]].

Pidgin supports multiple [[operating system]]s, including [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] and many [[Unix-like]] systems such as [[Linux]], the [[BSD]]s, and [[AmigaOS]]. It is included by default in the operating systems [[Tails (operating system)|Tails]], [[Trisquel]] and [[Xubuntu]].

=== Pluggability ===

The program is designed to be extended with [[Plug-in (computing)|plugins]]. Plugins are often written by [[Third-party software component|third-party developers]]. They can be used to add support for protocols, which is useful for those such as [[Skype]] or [[Discord]] which have licensing issues (however, the users' data and interactions are still subject to their policies and eavesdropping). They can also add other significant features. For example, the "[[Off-the-Record Messaging]]" (OTR) plugin provides [[end-to-end encryption]].

The TLS encryption system is pluggable, allowing different TLS libraries to be easily substituted. [[GnuTLS]] is the default, and [[Network Security Services|NSS]] is also supported. Some operating systems' ports, such as [[OpenBSD]]'s, choose to use [[OpenSSL]] or [[LibreSSL]] by default instead.

=== Contacts ===

Contacts with multiple protocols can be grouped into one single contact instead of managing multiple protocols, and contacts can be given aliases or placed into groups.

To reach users as they log on or a status change occurs (such as moving from "Away" to "Available"), Pidgin supports on-action automated scripts called ''Buddy Pounces'' to automatically reach the user in customizable ways.

=== File transfer ===

Pidgin supports file transfers for many protocols. Direct, peer-to-peer file transfers are supported over protocols such as XMPP.

=== Voice and video chat ===

As of version 2.6 (released on August 18, 2009), Pidgin supports voice/video calls using [[Farstream]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/ChangeLog |title=Changelog |publisher=pidgin.im |access-date=August 22, 2009}}</ref> {{As of|2015|July}}, calls can only be initiated through the XMPP protocol.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/vv |title=Voice and Video |publisher=pidgin.im|access-date=August 22, 2009}}</ref>

=== Miscellaneous ===

Further features include support for themes, [[emoticon]]s, [[Spell checker|spell checking]], and notification area integration.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Pidgin |access-date=September 22, 2010 |url=http://www.pidgin.im/about/|publisher=pidgin.im}}</ref>

=== Supported protocols ===
The following protocols are officially supported by Pidgin 2.14.12, without any extensions or plugins:<ref name="homepage">{{cite web|url=https://pidgin.im/|title=Pidgin|author=Pidgin developers|access-date=Jan 22, 2023|publisher=pidgin.im}}</ref>

{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Gadu-Gadu]]
* [[Internet Relay Chat|IRC]]
* [[Novell GroupWise]] (to be discontinued in 3.0)<ref name="birdq4">{{cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qzsz6CeCTULsywtHbUznlZLuef7bsi_fVjfIxoAr8Ek/edit#slide=id.p|title=State of the Bird Q4 2022|last=Kramlich|first=Gary|access-date=January 22, 2023}}</ref>
* [[SIMPLE (instant messaging protocol)|SIMPLE]]
* [[XMPP]]
* [[Zephyr (protocol)|Zephyr]] (to be discontinued in 3.0)<ref name="birdq4"/>
{{div col end}}

Some XMPP servers provide [[Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol#Connecting to other protocols|transports]], which allow users to access networks using non-XMPP protocols without having to install plugins or additional software. Pidgin's support for XMPP means that these transports can be used to communicate via otherwise unsupported protocols, including not only instant messaging protocols, but also protocols such as SMS or E-mail.

Additional protocols, supported by third-party plugins, include [[Discord]],<ref name="Discord">{{cite web|url=https://github.com/EionRobb/purple-discord|title=purple-discord github repository|website=[[GitHub]] |access-date=December 2, 2019}}</ref> [[Telegram (software)|Telegram]],<ref>[https://github.com/majn/telegram-purple GitHub – majn/telegram-purple: Adds support for Telegram to Pidgin, Adium, Finch and other Libpurple-based messengers<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Microsoft OCS/LCS (extended SIP/SIMPLE),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sipe.sourceforge.net/|title=SIPE Project|access-date=February 29, 2012}}</ref> [[Facebook Messenger]],<ref>[https://github.com/dequis/purple-facebook/wiki GitHub – Purple Facebook implements the Facebook Messenger protocol into pidgin, finch, and libpurple.]</ref> [[Tencent QQ|QQ]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://code.google.com/p/libqq-pidgin/|title=libqq|access-date=June 14, 2011}}</ref> [[Skype protocol|Skype]] via skype4pidgin plugin,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eion.robbmob.com|title=Skype "API Plugin for Pidgin/libpurple/Adium"|access-date=July 6, 2009|publisher=RobbMob.com}}</ref> [[WhatsApp]],<ref>{{cite web |title=WhatsApp on your computer: Pidgin plugin |url=https://www.davidgf.net/2013/09/15/whatsapp_purple/ |website=davidgf.net |access-date=31 March 2020}}</ref> and [[Signal (messaging app)|Signal]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Signal on your computer: Pidgin plugin |url=https://github.com/hoehermann/libpurple-signald |website=github.com |access-date=18 September 2020}}</ref>

=== Plugins ===
Various other features are supported using third-party [[Plug-in (computing)|plugins]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/ThirdPartyPlugins |title=Pidgin Third-Party Plugins |access-date=September 22, 2009|publisher=pidgin.im}}</ref> Such features include:

* [[Discord]] text chat via the purple-discord plugin<ref name="Discord" />
* [[Facebook]] chat via purple-facebook
* [[Google Chat]] via purple-googlechat
* microblogs ([[GNU social]], [[Twitter]])
* [[Slack (software)]] via slack-libpurple
* [[Skype protocol|Skype]] text chat via skype4pidgin, renamed SkypeWeb<ref>{{cite web|url=https://github.com/EionRobb/skype4pidgin/tree/master/skypeweb|title=SkypeWeb plugin github repository|website=[[GitHub]] |access-date=December 2, 2019}}</ref> plugin
* [[Telegram (software)]] via tdlib-purple
* [[End-to-end encryption]], through [[Off-the-Record Messaging]] (OTR)
* Adding [[mathematical formula]]s written in [[LaTeX]] to conversations
* Notifications (such as showing "toaster" popups or [[Snarl (software)|Snarl]] notifications, or lighting LEDs on laptops)
* Showing contacts what the user is listening to in various media players
* Watching videos directly into a conversation when receiving a video sharing website link ([[YouTube]], [[Vimeo]])