Overview
WebRTC stands for Web Real-Time Communication.
It is a free, open-source project providing web browsers and mobile applications with real-time communication (RTC) via simple application programming interfaces (APIs).
With WebRTC, you can add real-time communication capabilities to your application. It supports video, voice, and generic data to be sent between peers, allowing developers to build powerful voice and video communication solutions.
The technology is available on all modern browsers as well as on native clients for all major platforms.
The technologies behind WebRTC are implemented as an open web standard and available as regular Javascript APIs in all major browsers.
For native Clients, like Android and iOS applications, a library is available that provides the same functionality.
Why do developers & companies love WebRTC?
1. Free Open source
- It provides browsers with end-to-end direct communication and allows developers to facilitate this connection easily.
2. Speed Enhancement
- No longer needs to be routed through a server, it reduces latency and bandwidth consumption.
- Direct communication improves the speed of data transfer & file sharing.
3. No third party app required
- Requiring no additional software, plugins, or continuous server involvement
- Easily be embedded in any websites and connect peers across the internet.
4. Easy to implement
- Less time and effort to facilitate peer-to-peer (P2P) connection.
- All the functionality can be done through the client-side.
- Developers just need to download a WebRTC compatible browser and use
5. Compatible
- Supported by most popular browsers: Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Safari, Opera, Vivaldi.
- Supported by Android, Chrome OS, Firefox OS, BlackBerry 10, iOS, Tizen.
Who uses WebRTC?
WebRtc is used by big companies such as;
- Google Meet/ Google Hangout
- Zoom
- Facebook Messenger
- Discord
- Amazon Chime
For more, you can check out this link for a link of apps that use WebRTC