Peer to Peer Video Chat App With WebRTC

Tags: html
Published: 2021-11-30 11:57:33

In today's fast-paced environment, digital communications have taken over the whole world. Almost every business is looking forward to building high-performing video communication platforms to keep interactions smooth with their customers and team members. And one of the best technologies that are quite popular for building apps is none other than WebRTC. You must have come across this word several times somewhere or the other. In this article, we shall discuss every important aspect revolving around WebRTC and how it helps develop a [Video call sdk](https://www.mirrorfly.com/video-call-solution.php) . Stay with us and read on! 


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vwwxlltaaegrsn6occvf.png)
                   

<h2>Meaning of WebRTC</h2> 

To describe in simple words, WebRTC is an open framework for the web that tends to facilitate real-time communications capabilities in the browser. It enables web applications and sites to stream audio and video calls without the need for an intermediary. Well, the functionalities are not limited to audio and video calls but also involve file exchange, screen sharing, and other relevant online communication essentials. With WebRTC, data transfer becomes super easy and occurs in real-time. You do not require extra plugins or any special software. The main objective of WebRTC is to support real-time P2P video call in case of video chat applications. 

The history of WebRTC goes back to 2011 when it was launched. Over the past few years, it has garnered a lot of popularity. In fact, corporate giants like Amazon and Google also implement webRTC in their applications. Let us have a quick look at the most important components of WebRTC: 

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ximrfpnwes8j3by2lsbq.png)

<h4>RTC Peer Connection</h4>

The RTC Peer Connection is often described as the core of the WebRTC standard. With this, app users can directly initiate communication with their peers without the requirement of an intermediary server. 

<h4>Get User Media</h4>
It is a component of the WebRTC media capture API and is leveraged to get access to the camera and the microphone connected to the user's device from the browser. 

<h4>RTC Session Description</h4>
This part tends to define one end of the connection and the way it is configured. It consists of a description, type, and the SDP descriptor of the session. The description type indicates what part of the answer negotiation process it describes. 

<h4>RTC Ice Candidate</h4>
This part of the WebRTC API signifies a candidate interactive connectivity establishment configuration that can be utilized to conduct an RTC Peer Connection. It is a technique that helps you establish peer-to-peer video chat connections most efficiently. 

<h2>How Does a WebRTC Video Call Work?</h2> 

Do you know when you conduct a [best live video call app](https://morioh.com/p/a7601883992b) leveraging Skype, your data is never routed peer to peer? It routes you through a server which may slow down the call in general. Peer to peer is no wonder a better experience. You are not required to go through a server to carry out a video call. Instead, you can directly talk with the other participant. With WebRTC, all-important video and audio data is directly sent between any two computers on the internet. Let's understand how a webRTC peer-to-peer video call works. There are four steps involved. Let's have a look at them one by one. 
          

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/nrsz14quhu35vjvtjn4t.png)


- In the first step, all you need to do is to click on the meeting link that is provided to you by whatever video applications you are leveraging. 
- The next step involves direct communication with the cloud servers that are used for signaling and setting up each call. Your web browser requests the signaling servers to let you enter the call. 
- Similarly, the other participant also does the same thing to set up the call at their end. He/She will tell the signaling servers a little bit about themselves and details like where you can find them. 
- Once the signaling servers have passed the crucial information from the Video participants, the browser can directly connect to every other browser on the call. It allows you to send your audio and video separately to every peer. 
- The best part about P2P WebRTC is that you are directly connected to the other person you are talking to. This ensures high-quality video calling and super low latency. Moreover, in WebRTC connection, you know for a fact that the video call is secure and nobody else can see them. All the data exchange is completely encrypted and only the sender and receiver have the encryption keys. 

<h2>Popular Options For WebRTC P2P Platforms</h2>

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4gulfbsrc99rwseapl34.jpg)

There are multiple P2P communication options in the market. In this section, we are going to discuss some of them and how they can help you establish a video connection. Keep reading! 

<h4>Discord</h4> 
Popular video and audio chat platform, Discord, is implemented using WebRTC. The browser app tends to rely on the WebRTC implementation offered by the browser. First, WebRTC tends to rely on the Session Description Protocol to negotiate the video information between the participants. Not only this, WebRTC uses Interactive Connectivity Establishment to figure out the best communication path between the participants. Last but not least, WebRTC also uses Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol for media encryption. 



<h4>Google Meet </h4>
Google Meet is also one of the big names that leverage peer-to-peer WebRTC technology. To connect browsers, webRTC performs five important steps to set up the peer-to-peer connection. First, the signal is processed to remove noise from the video. After that, codec handling is done to compress and decompress the audio and video. In the third step, routing from one peer to another peer through firewalls. After that, user data is encrypted before transmitting across connections. In the end, bandwidth management is done. 

<h4>Facebook Messenger</h4> 
Facebook Messenger utilizes WebRTC to enable high-quality video chat both in mobile apps and web browsers. Facebook also happens to leverage this technology for its popular features like Facebook Live, VR chat, and others. 

<h2>Popular Advantages and Disadvantages of WebRTC Peer to Peer Video Connection</h2> 


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/xbvfoh0b10ikvb4b5eik.png)

Most of the famous browsers including Firefox, Chrome, and Opera already support WebRTC. It allows them to create a real-time free video chat without any need for extra plugins, downloads, or installs. In this article, we are going to discuss some of the best benefits of WebRTC web and mobile video apps. We'll also cover a few disadvantages associated with peer-to-peer connection. 

<h4>Advantages of P2P Video Chat App</h4>



- The overall cost of building and maintaining a peer-to-peer WebRTC is very cost-effective. 
- Another major advantage is that peer-to-peer connection is not dependent on any centralized system. The connected browsers can function independently from each other. 
- Also, it is super easy to implement a peer-to-peer network. It does not require any special knowledge or skill set. 
- A WebRTC chat app ensures complete security. As there is only one server involved, no outsider can crash the video meet.
 

<h4>Common Disadvantages</h4> 

- It has limited scalability. The more participants, the greater are the chances of instability. 
- Sometimes functionalities like file-sharing can pose serious malware threats. You need to be cautious. 

<h5>Conclusion </h5>

We hope our article helped understand the details surrounding peer-to-peer WebRTC video connection. There's no denying that WebRTC video apps have become extremely popular over the past few years. So, what are you waiting for? Start leveraging the power of the WebRTC video chat app today!