The Past, Present, and Future of WebRTC

Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) is an open-source protocol pioneered by Google for in-browser real-time communication. It was initially used for video or audio calling but has since expanded to various use cases, including gaming, file sharing, IoT applications, and machine learning. The technology works by setting up a connection between the local computer and a remote peer using RTCPeerConnection, which uses ICE (Interactive Connectivity Establishment) Negotiations for finding the best path for transmission between peers. WebRTC ensures secure communication through standard AES encryption and is sandboxed to prevent malicious extensions. However, it has limitations such as a higher learning curve, quality of experience issues, scalability challenges, data privacy concerns, and cross-platform limitations. Agora provides solutions to these problems by simplifying the use of WebRTC, ensuring high-quality video transmission, supporting large numbers of users, providing end-to-end encryption, and offering support for multiple platforms.