Instant Messaging on Android with Google Cloud Messaging

android instant-messaging google-cloud-messaging
dumazy picture dumazy · Jul 6, 2012 · Viewed 17.5k times · Source

I was just looking at the new Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) and I was wondering if it is possible to use GCM for Instant Messaging on your Android application?

I saw you can send data, like a message, from a server, but is it also possible to send from one device to another one? And how would this work? Some example code would be really helpful..

Tnx!

Answer

appsroxcom picture appsroxcom · Jul 25, 2013

The official docs on Google Cloud Messaging for Android does mention that GCM can be used to develop an instant messaging app.

...or it could be a message containing up to 4kb of payload data (so apps like instant messaging can consume the message directly).

So we went ahead and created an instant messaging app using GCM. The server-side is powered by Google App Engine. You can read the complete tutorial here. Create an Instant Messaging app using Google Cloud Messaging (GCM)

So it is possible to use GCM for Instant Messaging on Android, to answer your question. However, reliability of GCM compared to XMPP for IM is another topic.

Related questions

Android Whatsapp/Chat Examples

Does anybody have an example or a tutorial for a Android application like WhatsApp? I want to understand how WhatsApp works and how it is programmed. I want to see an example that uses a message-chat-system with "online"-status and "…

Read More
WhatsApp - writing a clone (iphone, android, wp7)

I am trying to create a instant messaging app very much like whatsapp I suppose. My resources I have available to me are Server development in C# (REST Service, dedicated server app etc) And currently an android development platform using …

Read More
How to use ejabberd in android?

I want to use jabberd in android app. I have installed ejabberd server but ejabberd client is not working. Which one is the best ejabberd client?

Read More