Video calls in UT

AppLee

@Pulsar33
Jami, Matrix, Telegram and probably more have built in feature for video and audio calls.
IDK the details but for every technology, implementation has to be done for a UT client.

Problem is UT has confinement which means apps cannot access the camera like you can do on a regular PC. What is done is apps ask the content hub to ask the camera app for a picture or a video file. An app cannot access the device, only the camera app with special access rights can do it.

This feature may seem "basic", "normal" or "necessary" for some of you but it is not.
This topic is hard to address because it requires to tap deep down into the system's achitecture.
I hope someone will figure out a way to make it work.

Just as a reminder Apple with its iPhone didn't have working MMS for more than a year and they still don't have bluetooth sharing with non apple products...
These things take time and resources.

Pulsar33

@AppLee Thanks for the reply.
It was just a suggestion. This is a serious flaw because it is a "normal" function for IOS or Androïd phones.

Regards.
Pulsar33

AppLee

@Pulsar33 Yes I understood that.
My reply was more of a general answer to this large and complex topic.

dobey

@AppLee said in Video calls in UT:

I prefer Morph to be a dumb browser without access to camera, GPS, microphone or other personal stuff.
But I guess if the issue is fixed (at what cost ???) then I'll be able to block morph from those peripherals.

It would still require you to grant permissions to each web site, before these things could be accessed. Also, the only way to fix it in webapps is to fix Morph.

dobey

@AppLee said in Video calls in UT:

Just as a reminder Apple with its iPhone didn't have working MMS for more than a year and they still don't have bluetooth sharing with non apple products...

Yes, they do have working Bluetooth with non-Apple products. However, only BLE is supported. Plain Bluetooth is not. This is a decision by Apple as a means of preserving battery, as regular Bluetooth uses much more energy.

AppLee

Thanks @dobey for the precisions.

poVoq

Hmm, but a dedicated qtwebengine app with video and audio permission would work?
Should be quite quick to make one

Giiba

@poVoq I think qtwebengine is currently the trouble. Building a front-end for Jitsi using qtMultimedia might be more likely... I have been trying to learn using QML creator in free time, but I'd say I'm only currently at 1% progress

A Former User

I just saw a toot saying that there's an app for Nextcloud Talk for Sailfish... Perhaps it will come to UT in the fullness of time...?

Arthur Schiwon layer8.space/@blizzz: "Here comes another update of #Nextcloud Talk for #SailfishOS! Alpha 4 brings support for message replies and comes with a few fixes. Enjoy!"

https://openrepos.net/content/blizzz/nextcloud-talk-alpha

AppLee

@3arn0wl
IIRC th problem is not much implementing the functionality itself but how to integrate it to our OS.

A Former User

Yeah @AppLee

x.Dub

Hello. I was looking for something on internet telephony for UT. Skype is not usable on UT and SIP is not what I am looking for. I didn't find anything usable in the open-store. So I was looking for what could be ported. I came across "Jitsi" and then this thread. Webapp is probably not the right way to go, but they have an API library. The only thing that scares me a lot about it is the fact that it's all in JavaScript.
https://github.com/jitsi/lib-jitsi-meet

marlboro50

@x-Dub: yes, we defintively nedd something to communicate with the big boys, fo instance skype or something similar.

3T_Ed

@AppLee said in Video calls in UT:

@Giiba said in Video calls in UT:

just knowing that a general consmer would expect

No consumer here : only users

Yes fixing it on morph is A solution. Not the one I like.
I prefer Morph to be a dumb browser without access to camera, GPS, microphone or other personal stuff.
But I guess if the issue is fixed (at what cost ???) then I'll be able to block morph from those peripherals.

Just taken notice of this thread as it appeared in my unread section.

+1 for @AppLee 's statement , couldn't agree more

regarding Morph to be and stay a 'dumb' browser for the general user, not having to worry it'll be granted access to any permissions. Better have dedicated apps for specific users in need for video calls at their own risk.

AppLee

@x-Dub
Well QML and JavaScript works well together so it's not a technical problem IMHO.
Or maybe you're like me an know almost nothing to JS

What I'm afraid of is the necessary dependencies that the library will bring.
Web techno are out of my league because it moves too fast for my taste.

If you try the adventure, you'll find help here or on Telegram.