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Messaging

Introducing Spaces: Build collaborative environments in a few lines of code

We are very excited to announce a new product — Spaces! The Spaces SDK comes with an intuitive set of APIs that allow you to build realtime collaboration features such as avatar stacks, live cursors, member location and component locking, in days. Each API is optimized for their specific use-case, reducing integration effort.

5 takeaways from Matthew O'Riordan's chat on the Category Visionaries podcast

Category Visionaries is a podcast where founders and CEOs share their stories from the front line of business. It specializes in discussions with leaders who are disrupting and reimagining the business model of their industry. Our CEO Matthew O’Riordan recently sat down with the podcast’s host, Brett Stapper, to discuss his journey since founding Ably, the reasons he did so, and the decisions he’s made along the way. Here’s the full discussion.

How to use Google Charts with React for Dynamic Data

According to research from Matillon and IDG, data volumes increase by 63 percent per month on average in an organization. Examining such substantial volumes of data without the right tools makes it impossible to make informed decisions, even in small businesses. The key to deriving useful and profit-driving insights from data is data visualization - which turns complex raw figures into meaningful visual representations of the data. Google Charts is a free data visualization library provided by Google.

Implementing an Event-Driven GraphQL BFF with Real-Time Notifications

Near real-time notifications have become a regular feature in modern applications. These notifications inform us about taxi arrivals, food deliveries, prescription availability, etc. Incorporating this experience into modern enterprise applications is crucial to offer users a smooth, simple, and secure experience.

Cursors Everywhere: An experiment on shared cursors for every website

Learn about Ably DevRel Engineer Tom Camp's experience with creating a Chrome Plugin to allow anyone to see one another’s cursors on any web page, and the technical considerations required. About Ably Ably is an enterprise-grade pub/sub messaging platform. We make it easy to efficiently design, quickly ship, and seamlessly scale critical realtime functionality delivered directly to end-users. Every day, we deliver billions of realtime messages to millions of users for thousands of companies.

How to build a chat app like WhatsApp

When was the last time you WhatsApped someone? In all likelihood, the answer is probably not that long ago. First released in 2009, WhatsApp quickly became the default setting for instant messaging in much of the world. By 2014, it defined the market so much that it was acquired by Facebook – and it has pretty much remained a leader in the chat space ever since.

How to use Next.js and Recharts to build an information dashboard

One of the common methods that businesses and organizations use to make sense of their complex and scattered data is data visualization. Data visualizations provide a quick way to understand the masses of data collected - - providing easy access to insights needed to drive growth. A dashboard is a data visualization tool that is commonly found in enterprise web applications.

Cursor Everywhere: An experiment on shared cursors for every website

Working with collaboration tools like Miro and VS Code Live Share has transformed my expectations of collaborative interactions. However, I found myself trying to move my cursor around websites during calls with colleagues, despite not sharing my screen. It was as if I believed they could see my cursor. I even caught myself saying, 'and when I click here...', only to realize I was sharing with nothing but the void. I decided to do something about this with a project I'm calling 'Cursors Everywhere'.

Host engaging livestreams with api.video & Ably in React

In the world of video livestreaming, emojis are the ultimate game-changers! These tiny icons pack a powerful punch, instantly amplifying audience engagement and sparking a connection with viewers. Beyond being adorable expressions, emojis add an emotional touch to interactions, breaking down barriers between content creators and their audience. From heartfelt appreciation to genuine excitement, emojis speak volumes with their appearance.

How to scale WebSockets to millions of connections

WebSockets are hard to scale, it's true. The stateful connection that makes them so powerful for two-way realtime communication also makes them tricky to load balance efficiently, but that isn't to say it can't be done. In this video, Alex Booker (@CodeCast) from Ably runs you through the technical challenges scaling WebSockets before outlining the patterns used to scale WebSockets to thousands of concurrent connections and beyond. Theoretically, the approach to system design outlined in this video can scale to millions of concurrent WebSocket connections in a production environment.