PhoneRTC

WebRTC for PhoneGap apps!

Features

• Completely open source.
• Android and iOS support.
• Simple JavaScript API.
• Voice chat.
• Use your own servers without relying on any third-parties.
• Perfect for hybrid mobile apps using Angular.

Requirements

• TURN server - rfc5766-turn-server on Amazon EC2 is a good option here
• Signaling server - SignalR if you are using ASP.NET or socket.io if you are using Node.js are recommended

Upcoming features

• Video chat (really soon)
• Group chat
• PhoneGap Build support
• API documentation
• Volume control

How does PhoneRTC differ from OpenTok, Weemo, etc?

WebRTC is a peer-to-peer protocol, but it still needs some servers: a signaling server for initializing the call and a proxy server if the peer-to-peer connection fails.

Other solutions, such as OpenTok and Weemo, require you to use their own third-party servers. That means they are much easier to use, but that also means that they are less open, have a subscription model, and you are generally less in control.

PhoneRTC allows you to use your own servers, without relying on any third-parties.

Setting up a TURN server

To set up a TURN server, create an Amazon EC2 instance with the latest Ubuntu. Open the following ports in the instance security group:

TCP 443
TCP 3478-3479
TCP 32355-65535
UDP 3478-3479
UDP 32355-65535

Open SSH and run:

sudo apt-get install rfc5766-turn-server

Next, edit /etc/turnserver.conf and change the following options:

listening-ip=<private EC2 ip address>
relay-ip=<private EC2 ip address>
external-ip=<public EC2 ip address>
min-port=32355 
max-port=65535
realm=<your domain>

Also uncomment the following options:

lt-cred-mech
fingerprint 

Next, open /etc/turnuserdb.conf and add a new user at the end of the file. The format is:

username:password

To start the TURN server, run the following command:

sudo /etc/init.d/rfc5766-turn-server start

Plugin Installation

Install Cordova:

npm install -g cordova ios-deploy

Create a new Cordova project:

cordova create <name>
cordova platform add ios android

Add the plugin:

cordova plugin add https://github.com/alongubkin/phonertc.git

Usage Example

phonertc.call({ 
    isInitator: true, // Caller or callee?
    turn: {
        host: 'turn:turn.example.com:3478',
        username: 'user',
        password: 'pass'
    },
    sendMessageCallback: function (data) {
        // PhoneRTC wants to send a message to your target, use
        // your signaling server here to send the message.
        signaling.sendMessage(target, { 
            type: 'webrtc_handshake',
            data: data
        });
    },
    answerCallback: function () {
        alert('Callee answered!');
    },
    disconnectCallback: function () {
        alert('Call disconnected!');
    }
});

signaling.onMessage = function (message) {
    if (message.type === 'webrtc_handshake') {
        // when a message is received from the signaling server, 
        // notify the PhoneRTC plugin.
        phonertc.receiveMessage(message.data);
    }
};

Building

Building for Android is easy. You can just:

cordova build android
cordova run android

In iOS, it's slightly more complicated. Run:

cordova build ios

This command will result in an error. Open the project in Xcode and change the following options in the project settings:

Valid Architectures => armv7
Build Active Architecture Only => No

In the target choose a real iOS device, not the simulator, otherwise it won't build.

To create an IPA, go to Product > Archive.

Note on native libraries

The libs directory contains compiled libraries from the official WebRTC project. If you want to build them yourself, use the following tutorials:

Android: https://code.google.com/p/webrtc/source/browse/trunk/talk/examples/android/README

iOS: https://code.google.com/p/webrtc/source/browse/trunk/talk/app/webrtc/objc/README