Some of you may have noticed a few weeks ago that OpenWebRTC gained WebRTC Data Channel support. We delayed writing about it until we fixed a couple of bugs and confirmed interoperability with Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
WebRTC is not just about video chat in a web browser. The WebRTC Data Channel standard adds the ability to send multiple real-time data streams and gives the application control over important transport protocol properties that affect the performance and reliability so that you can configure data transfer to suit your needs.
WebRTC Data Channel in action in Bowser on iOS chatting with Google Chrome
Of course, the WebRTC Data Channel benefits from WebRTC connection establishment (ICE) to get through NATs and firewalls wherever possible and the data is encrypted. You can send/receive data out of order and unreliably, a bit like UDP, or you can selectively enable retransmission to ensure reliable delivery of all packets, or even ordering to make sure you get the packets in the order they were sent.
Update OpenWebRTC and try out our simple Data Channel chat demo. It even works in Bowser! (Coming to App Store soon!)
Interoperability with Firefox from Bowser using a simple Data Channel chat demo