Better Ways to Build an Android Chat App Using Firebase & XMPP

Oh! That’s bewildering. It seems like you’re going to build a chat app by using the finest technologies — Backend-as-a-service and Communication protocol.

Well! You shouldn’t forget that there is no native protocol specifically designed to build an android chat application. So, basically, you will need a server to coordinate the conversation taking place between the users. Fortunately, there are several frameworks out there in the market to choose in building a real-time android chat application. Collectively, we have two advanced and high performing protocols — Firebase and XMPP but, it’s hard to examine the technologies over one another. Each technology has its own strength and functionality. Before diving into the reading, let us take a minute to have a glance at those massive technologies.

A Word About Those Two Powerful Platforms

As we are very much aware of the Firebase, let’s get into some of its insights. Firebase, it is a powerful backend platform that lets to synchronize chat app data and also provides, data storage, user authentication, a static hosting platform and much more. It also acts as a database, that utilizes MongoDB and Websockets. Firebase has the potential to build a complex multi-user real-time android chat app using Firebase with the little customization of front-end code. The Firebase Android chat app has built-in API’s for iOS, Android, and Web.

XMPP is a communication protocol specially designed to build Android chat app using XMPP. An industry standard messaging protocol that handles the message delivery system over the network. It is the widely used open XML technology in developing a real-time android chat app using XMPP which powers the application development.

Build Android Chat App using Firebase & XMPP

Now, Let’s Get Started With The Actual Android Talk!

Let’s get into the development of an Android chat app using XMPP. A XMPP server is the widely used standard messaging protocol by giants in building a simple chat application using XMPP in Android. The most significant feature by using this protocol is that can provide a presence to notify user state as well as extensible to send image and video in a wide range of possibility. Let us illustrate the parameters used in building a simple chat application using XMPP in Android.

1. Language: Erlang is the chief programming language used in developing the real-time chat app which provides in processing massive level messages in a very low latency.
2. Server: Ejabberd acts as the server in android chat application using XMPP and also managing the message delivery system over any of the network provided and also developed using certain pluggable modules.
3. Web Server: YAWS is a web server which is written in Erlang language. The system helps in handling concurrent processes effectively and also possess high performance.
4. Database Management: Mnesia is the right DB to store images, videos, files, documents and other multimedia files which has the potential to store a certain amount of data.

Getting Started With Firebase IM Android

The development of an Android chat app using Firebase platform. As the Google cloud platform provides a complete tutorial on building android chat application using Firebase with the backend data storage, user authentication using Firebase, real-time synchronization and more, the session won’t go into detail about creating an account on the Firebase, implementations and developing android chat app using Firebase.

The Firebase platform enables a billing in order to run a backend service on the cloud platform if the bandwidths and multiple databases. Google’s Firebase provides varied pricing plans, if you are not known for all these frameworks, procedures in creating your Firebase project and Firebase android chat app, this going to be the hardest path ever. Although Google Firebase contributes extensive free features like Google authentication, cloud messaging, analytics and more, this will not be as easy to develop and deploy your back-end service. As we have characterized the procedure in building and deploying the android app using Firebase which is a hard part to understand and a never-ending process. Let get back to know few of its advantages and downsides.

1. Performance: The highly performing Firebase database and Websockets ensures in allowing high performance to attain a lot of concurrent connections.
2. Persistence: It allows the user to ensure an automatic backup of the data and message on the server with a synchronization option.
3. Framework: Thus, Firebase contributes a framework which is already existing and a chat SDK provides a framework for iOS, Android and Web applications.

Conclusion

It is to be cautioned that both the technologies requires excessive of coding ahead. There are certain points that have high points on a particular measure. There are several solution providers who focus on how to create a chat application in android using XMPP or Firebase have the potentiality in settling your ongoing application into reality such as Contus Fly, an instant messaging ready-made chat app solution to build and launch your own android chat app using XMPP. The solution draws high-end features according to the expectation on various platforms such as iOS, Android and Web.

“It seems like every Chat App solution provider out there has a chat feature — but yours should be of different one”