

Show HN: Easily add peer-to-peer chat to your iPhone/Android app (from Hipmob) - kunle
http://hipmob.tumblr.com/post/31825583714/easy-custom-peer-to-peer-chat-for-iphone-and-android

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udpheaders
If there's a third party doing store and forward or even just forwarding
traffic, it is not "p2p". At least, not as I understand what p2p means. So any
service that purports to be peer-to-peer ("p2p") should be able to show you
exactly how the data moves from one peer to another to prove that the system
is truly peer-to-peer. And they should do that without asking. If they won't
show you this, I would be very skeptical. "p2p" looks to be a potential "big
data" style buzzword to sell stuff. I hope I'm wrong.

If it is being used this way, that's a shame. Because peer-to-peer is really a
goal worth working toward. It's the way the internet was supposed to work.

~~~
kunle
Understood - our meaning is peer-to-peer from the user perspective (rather
than as a networking standard). Definitely didn't intend to use this as a
buzzword. The service we're providing is real-time and async messaging and the
best way we went about doing that (best in this case meaning conforming to end
user expectations, who want to be able to send messages to their friends who
might be offline at any particular moment in time) is with a server based
approach. Will adjust our copy to reflect that this isn't p2p from a network
perspective.

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andrewmunsell
Is it actually peer to peer? Based on your website's working, it looks like
you send messages between two people, but use your servers to do so, which
isn't exactly P2P in the traditional sense (ie. BitTorrent, etc).

~~~
kunle
You're correct - it's not network peer to peer. We route all messages through
a server, which allows us do things like async messages (storing messages sent
while users are away). To the user, it just looks like p2p though - exchanging
messages with one another.

~~~
gsibble
I came here because I had the same question regarding P2P. Definitely
confusing. I might look into changing your branding around "peer to peer".
More like "one to one".

~~~
kunle
Gotcha - thanks for the feedback. Will clarify the copy.

------
kunle
Ayo here, from Hipmob. We released this peer-to-peer chat on top of the same
SDK that runs our live support chat product which powers thousands of monthly
conversations. This makes it drop dead easy to let your users talk to each
other, and enables image & audio sharing in chat. Happy to answer any
questions directly and more features are coming soon - ping me at ayo (at)
hipmob dot com.

~~~
gsibble
Okay, I'll bite. Are your chats secured and if so using what standards? There
was a good discussion about Whatsapp regarding this last week.

~~~
fomojola
Femi from Hipmob here: we think we're reasonably secure. All communication to
our communication network uses TLS: text, audio files or images are all
encrypted in transit to/from the handset, and all authentication requests are
over HTTPS.

We don't read or use any UDIDs, IMEI values or other handset specific
information for authentication: we generate our own identifiers (and allow the
developer to specify one if they choose). There are some conveniences you give
up if you don't use handset specific info, but we can work around those and it
makes sleeping at night a lot easier.

~~~
quesera
But you can spend all day and night reading users' private messages and
photos, right?

~~~
gsibble
It would be more difficult to set it up to protect users' messages. Government
will also come after you for not being able to tap into communications with a
warrant.

It's all besides the point. This is a chat product not billed as being
extremely secure. Just easy to use.

~~~
quesera
I know, but the question was about security, and I think the answer is
incomplete without a description of your treatment of user data at rest.

You're doing the normal thing, and it's probably appropriate. I'm interested
in hearing about products that do different things, so I asked.

Btw, government will not come after you for not being able to tap into
communications. Where did you get that crazy idea?

Edit: sorry, I didn't realize you weren't speaking for Hipmob.

------
ionmade
Is there any hope for Adobe Air Native Extension?

~~~
kunle
Hi there - Ayo from Hipmob here. What do you need an Adobe Air Native
extension for? Which environment would you use it in?

Would love to learn more - you can shoot me a message at ayo [at] hipmob dot
com.

