Smack4.4.8
Smack is an Open Source XMPP client library for instant messaging and presence. A pure Java library, it can be embedded into your applications to create anything from a full XMPP client to simple XMPP integrations such as sending notification messages and presence-enabling devices.
Helping Dutch Healthcare Speak the Same Language with XMPP
The XMPP Standards Foundation (XSF) has put out a call to action: it’s time for the community to help make secure, interoperable chat a reality - especially in healthcare. Here at Ignite Realtime, we’re excited to support this effort. Our projects, such as Openfire and Smack, provide powerful building blocks to explore what’s possible for Dutch healthcare communication.
Building Blocks for Dutch Healthcare Messaging
Many of the features mentioned in the XSF’s call to action (such as attachments, group chat, and read receipts) are already available in our projects, providing a strong foundation for exploring messaging workflows. Openfire offers a scalable XMPP server with a flexible plugin system, while Smack, a modular Java library for building clients on Android, desktop, or other platforms, makes it possible to experiment with custom client-side solutions. Together, these tools allow developers and organizations to prototype, test, and explore how messaging could work in Dutch healthcare contexts.
How Our Community Can Contribute
Even though the Dutch healthcare chat standard is still being finalized, there are ways to explore and prepare for it using projects such as Openfire and Smack:
- Develop Proof-of-Concepts (PoCs): It’s possible to build early prototypes of messaging solutions to explore how the new standard might work in practice. Many core specifications are already implemented in our products, so prototypes can focus on workflow and interoperability rather than reinventing basic features.
- Experiment with Custom Functionality: The modular architectures of projects like Openfire and Smack make it possible to create custom plugins, extensions, or client features to test new communication ideas. Resources and examples from the project repositories can help get started.
- Explore Security and Privacy Configurations: By building prototypes, setting up test environments, or simulating messaging workflows, the community can experiment with authentication, encryption, and access control setups to see how patient data could be protected under the new standard.
Let’s Build a Connected Dutch Healthcare Community
Projects such as Openfire and Smack give us the building blocks to explore messaging that’s secure, reliable, and ready for the future. By experimenting, prototyping, and sharing insights, the community can help ensure the new Dutch healthcare chat standard meets real-world needs from day one.
And since the Ignite Realtime Foundation is a Dutch stichting with local contributors and partners, we like to think of this as more than just coding - let’s discuss the possibilities over a stroopwafel sometime!
For more information and to join the conversation, visit Ignite Realtime and introduce yourself in our community at disource.igniterealtime.org. Together, we can help Dutch healthcare teams communicate better and build a strong, collaborative XMPP ecosystem in the Netherlands.
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I get regular requests and issues have been raised about upgrading the Jitsi meet code in the Openfire Pade plugin to the latest versions. Unfortunately, this task is much more difficult than it sounds.
Jitsi Meet has evolved a lot since the early days of WebRTC. It has moved from being a Java platform agnostic, XMPP compatible self-hosting application into a Linux cloud hosted service.
The current code still depends on our Smack project for the XMPP client, but it uses Prosody as the XMPP server with quite a few extensions and modules coded in Lua which need to be ported to Java. Apart from not having time to work on it, I have also lost the motivation to step up to the challenge as I am more interested in using WHIP and WHEP with XMPP.
Nevertheless, an issue can round last week requesting for support of AV1 codec. This sparked enough motivation for me to spend my Easter holidays trying one more time to make the upgrade happen. The bad news is that I failed yet again, but the good news is that I was able to update the existing code to support AV1. Please note that codecs have pros and cons. VP9 is probably the best all rounder. H264 is best with devices that have hardware encoders and AV1 handles low bandwidth the best.
Openfire Pade plugin version 1.8.4 now supports the AV1 codec. You get the best results with P2P calls. As it is it more CPU intensive than VP9, you make get lower frame rates on low-spec servers. The latest Jitsi code has a lot more improvements and if you really need AV1 with many participants, seriously consider deploying the Jitsi Meet self-hosted instance in a container or VM.
As always, your instance of Openfire should automatically make available to update. Alternatively, you can download the new release of the plugin at the Openfire Pade plugin’s archive page.
For other release announcements and news follow us on Mastodon or X
The Ignite Realtime developer community is happy to announce that Smack 4.5 entered its beta phase. Smack is a XMPP client API written in Java that is able to run on Java SE and Android. Smack’s beta phase started already a few weeks ago, but 4.5.0-beta5 is considered to be a good candidate to announce, as many smaller issues have been ironed out.
With Smack 4.5 we bumped the minimum Java version to 11. Furthermore Smack now requires a minimum Android API of 26 to run.
If you are using Smack 4.4 (or maybe an even older version), then right now is the perfect time to create an experimental branch with Smack 4.5 to ease the transition.
Smack 4.5 APIs is considered stable, however small adjustments are still possible during the beta phase.
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