Hotline Instant Messaging Client

Screenshots from the project's README.

Buddy icons courtesy of BadassBuddy.com ♥

A buddy list in the spirit of late-90s AIM, for the Hotline network: gray Windows 98 windows, the Sign On screen, a Buddy List with Online and List Setup tabs, one little window per conversation, away messages, door sounds when buddies come and go, and chat rooms.

From the project's README.

Source code

HIM 0.2.0 looks and sounds more like AIM, and adds dark mode, your own colors, and drag-and-drop file sending.

New

• The AIM IM window: your buddy's icon sits in the lower-left corner with no frame, on the light gray it was drawn for.
• The classic AIM sounds are built in: buddy in and out, IM sent and received. Setup still takes your own sound files.
• Dark mode and your own colors: Setup > Theme picks Classic or Dark, and Colors... lets you change any color in HIM, from text and windows to links and the gray behind Buddy Icons.
• Drag and drop: drop a picture or file on an IM window to send it.
• Choose where received files go: Setup > Received files (Downloads/HIM unless you change it).
• Links: web addresses in IMs and chat rooms are clickable and open in your browser.
• Chat rooms: lines relayed from Discord on MacDomain, and from the Hotline Central Hub's Relay, show the real sender: "Tagban: lol (via Discord)".
• Update notice: HIM checks GitHub at startup and shows a one-line notice when a newer version is out. It sends nothing about you.
• BugBot: a suggested buddy for bug reports and ideas. Tell it what happened, send a screenshot if you have one, and it files the report on GitHub.

Fixed

• Linux: clicking a window's title bar (easy to do when a buddy request pops up under the mouse) could leave the window stuck to the pointer.
• Linux: the Flatpak now includes the BadassBuddy icon collection.
• Setup: section titles no longer have a line through them.

Downloads

• Mac (Apple Silicon): HIM_0.2.0_aarch64.dmg · Mac (Intel): HIM_0.2.0_x64.dmg. Both signed and notarized.
• Windows: HIM_0.2.0_x64-setup.exe (or the .msi)
• Linux: .deb for x86_64 and arm64, or the Flatpaks

Using Adium or Pidgin? purple-hotline brings Hotline messaging to them.

Downloads

• HIM_0.2.0_aarch64.dmg  (12.4 MB)
• HIM_0.2.0_amd64.deb  (13.3 MB)
• HIM_0.2.0_arm64.deb  (13.0 MB)
• HIM_0.2.0_x64-setup.exe  (11.0 MB)
• HIM_0.2.0_x64.dmg  (12.8 MB)
• HIM_0.2.0_x64_en-US.msi  (13.5 MB)
• HIM_v0.2.0_aarch64.flatpak  (11.0 MB)
• HIM_v0.2.0_x86_64.flatpak  (11.4 MB)

• Hotline IM (HIM) v0.2.0 October 2, 2026
• Hotline IM (HIM) v0.1.1 October 1, 2026
• Hotline IM (HIM) v0.1.0 September 30, 2026

HIM 0.1.1 brings sign-up, file sharing, saved conversations and more.

New

• Get a Screen Name opens VesperNet's messenger sign-up page, https://agora.vespernet.net/messenger (0.1.0 sent people to the wrong page).
• Send File: send pictures and files to a buddy with the Send File button in an IM window. They choose Accept or Decline; files land in Downloads/HIM. Pictures show right in the conversation; click one to open it full size.
• Conversations are kept on your computer, so an IM window opens where you left off.
• BadassBuddy Icons: My HIM > Buddy Icon > BadassBuddy Icons... opens the BadassBuddy.com collection, built in. Icons courtesy of BadassBuddy.com ♥ (© BadassBuddy.com, used by permission; see LICENSE-ICONS.txt).
• Suggested buddies on VesperNet: John (who made HIM) and SmarterChild, if you'd like them. Not now hides the suggestion.
• Chat rooms: on servers that keep chat history, you see what was said before you came in. Other Hotline users see the ICQ flower (icon 25901) beside you.
• Emoji you type go out as classic text faces (:D, (Y)...), which every Hotline client can show.

Downloads

• Mac (Apple Silicon): HIM_0.1.1_aarch64.dmg · Mac (Intel): HIM_0.1.1_x64.dmg. Both signed and notarized.
• Windows: HIM_0.1.1_x64-setup.exe (or the .msi)
• Linux: .deb for x86_64 and arm64, or the Flatpaks

Using Adium or Pidgin? purple-hotline brings Hotline messaging to them.

Downloads

• HIM_0.1.1_aarch64.dmg  (12.3 MB)
• HIM_0.1.1_amd64.deb  (13.2 MB)
• HIM_0.1.1_arm64.deb  (13.0 MB)
• HIM_0.1.1_x64-setup.exe  (11.0 MB)
• HIM_0.1.1_x64.dmg  (12.8 MB)
• HIM_0.1.1_x64_en-US.msi  (13.4 MB)
• HIM_v0.1.1_aarch64.flatpak  (3.5 MB)
• HIM_v0.1.1_x86_64.flatpak  (3.9 MB)

The first release of HIM, the Hotline Instant Messenger: a late-90s AIM-style buddy list for the Hotline IM network. It starts out on VesperNet; Get a Screen Name on the Sign On window makes an account.

• Buddy List, IM windows, away messages and auto-responses, offline messages, delivered/read receipts
• HOPE secure sign-on, with ChaCha20-Poly1305 encryption when the server offers it
• Buddy Icons (the Buddy Icons extension, Janus 2.0.16+), including BadassBuddy zips as a searchable gallery
• AIM-style smileys, door sounds, and Hotline servers as chat rooms

| System | File | |---|---| | macOS, Apple silicon | HIM_0.1.0_aarch64.dmg (signed and notarized) | | macOS, Intel | HIM_0.1.0_x64.dmg (signed and notarized) | | Windows | HIM_0.1.0_x64-setup.exe, or the .msi | | Linux | HIM_v0.1.0_x86_64.flatpak / _aarch64.flatpak, or the .deb |

The flatpak needs the GNOME 47 runtime: flatpak install flathub org.gnome.Platform//47, then flatpak install --user HIM_v0.1.0_x86_64.flatpak.

Downloads

• HIM_0.1.0_aarch64.dmg  (4.0 MB)
• HIM_0.1.0_amd64.deb  (5.0 MB)
• HIM_0.1.0_arm64.deb  (4.7 MB)
• HIM_0.1.0_x64-setup.exe  (3.4 MB)
• HIM_0.1.0_x64.dmg  (4.4 MB)
• HIM_0.1.0_x64_en-US.msi  (4.7 MB)
• HIM_v0.1.0_aarch64.flatpak  (3.2 MB)
• HIM_v0.1.0_x86_64.flatpak  (3.6 MB)