
Show HN: Remotehour – Allows people to talk to you anytime you’re available - shyamady
https://remotehour.co/
======
lloeki
> Sign on with Google

Game over. Zoom requires no account to join a meeting and I just learned a
couple of days ago it even works in the browser (toggle in the account
settings of the one starting the meeting)

I even plugged a Logitech c920 webcam in my Xbox One and did a meeting this
way using Edge. Sadly the audio API seems unsupported in that Edge so I had to
join the audio through another means.

> VS Zoom

> Don't have to fix a schedule. Remotehour enables you to connect when you're
> online on the app.

Give someone your fixed Personal ID and they can call you anytime.

~~~
Vinnl
> it even works in the browser

Only in Chrome, unfortunately, and it's severely limited at that. The most
limiting factor is that you can only see one other participant at a time.

Additionally, Zoom's past attempt to prevent you from uninstalling part of
their software is extra reason to only use the Chrome version, if any:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20407233](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20407233)

~~~
lloeki
Ah, tested it and it behaves the same WRT audio in all browsers but Chrome (so
works, except audio). So that's not Edge on Xbox One as the culprit but Zoom
implementing a Chrome-only audio API.

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niutech
There is Jitsi ([https://jitsi.org](https://jitsi.org) and
[https://meet.jit.si](https://meet.jit.si)) which does not need any login -
this is really seamless.

~~~
darkwater
Jitsi shows a warning when using Firefox and recommends using Chrome or
Chromium. Why? No, thanks.

~~~
tmikaeld
It doesn't happen any more, the firefox WebRTC API's are more mature now -
either that, or you're using an older Firefox, which you really shouldn't.

~~~
Vinnl
I'm using v74 and still get that warning. That said, it's working fine, and is
one of the only ones to actually work in Firefox at that.

~~~
darkwater
FF v74 on Linux too, tested [https://meet.jitsi.si](https://meet.jitsi.si) and
I do get the warning (otherwise I would not have post my initial message).
Even tried disabling uBlock Origin, same orange box in the bottom-left corner.

------
michaelmior
In person, I have an open door policy with my students. If my door is open, it
generally means I'm available to talk with them. Since all of our instruction
has moved online, I'm adopting a virtual open door policy. I have a camera
pointed at my door. If that door is open, students know I am there and if they
announce themselves, I "let them in" by turning the camera around. When I'm in
a meeting, I mute the audio and close the door so they know I'm not currently
available. To be determined how effective this will be.

~~~
ivanhoe
Frankly I'd be really worried about forgetting to mute the stream.

~~~
edoceo
I use a room with my team that auto-mutes everyone on a timer, so you have to
un-mute explicitly to talk. So we can leave the audio on all the time.

Also, one can use an external mic, w/physical switch and lamp indicator.

Auto-mute has saved me many times tho.

~~~
shyamady
No worry. You can set up a room default-mute-off on the setting on the app :)

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chairmanwow1
I hate the title. “10x”? How is this 10x more seamless? It is push to talk
video...many alternatives exist.

~~~
r_singh
Maybe it's inspired by Peter Theil's "10 times better" argument.

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Yizahi
10x more seamless. Step 1 - register Google account... I suppose contact
discovery is also through Google?

~~~
shyamady
I'll try to add multiple authentications soon. Thanks!

~~~
ihattendorf
How about no authentication (guest mode)? That seems even more seamless.

~~~
shyamady
A good idea! Thanks :)

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jfries
Not sure if this app supports it or not, but it would be very useful with a 5
second warning before being thrown into a video call. I could see all kinds of
embarrassing moments happening otherwise.

~~~
omk
It would be better to not have video running by default. People can drop in to
talk over audio and request to switch over audio if necessary.

I honestly prefer the push to talk approach for audio too. It is always better
to have explicit user consent at every audio and/or video session. Accidents
happen.

~~~
shyamady
Exactly, I'll try to make it more correct.

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pistoriusp
People use Zoom because it's really reliable, not because it's "seamless."

I've been in the middle of nowhere in South Africa and could use a 3G
connection on my phone to speak to people in Germany and the United States at
the same time and it was reliable and useable.

~~~
mmvs
I fully agree with this. Zoom has done a huge amount of work optimizing its
transfer protocols to make it that reliable. Is it possible to offer same
reliability using WebRTC in a browser when 50 participants are connected? I am
not sure. Even [https://whereby.com/](https://whereby.com/) offers only up to
12 people on their highest plan. I think videoconferencing software like
Remotehour serves a different purpose - seamlessly jump to a videocall without
any software required to install until zoom releases a web client.

------
randunel
When using linux, everything is "more seamless" than Zoom. This company hates
linux users, everything is broken and requires root user to even start.

~~~
xioxox
Zoom on linux isn't too bad. Unlike other companies, they provide a linux
client. It has all the essential features in it (I haven't spotted anything
missing). In addition, it doesn't depend on some ancient java stack. Yes, you
have to install the package as root, but I don't see a lot of hate from zoom.

------
camone
We use Zoom and it's great for ad-hoc video calls or screen sharing and
commenting.

But last week we were wondering what would be a good remote alternative to
sitting around at our desks and asking a quick question to the room. You know
what works really well? Teamspeak. I hadn't used teamspeak in ages, but the
simple fact that you can set a global push-to-talk button makes it perfect.
Ask a quick question to someone in the room, they answer, if it becomes an
actual convo you switch to a zoom call to not bother anyone else.

~~~
moises_silva
Discord is also good for that and seems to be taken over teamspeak in some
teams I work with. I can't tell really if it's better though since I never
used teamspeak.

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NetOpWibby
Why is there only a login for Google?

~~~
RMPR
Why is there a login at all?

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jimueller
Hey, I like the idea of trying to make remote more seamless, it's certainly a
need. Looks like nice work so far. I do agree with some of the other comments
that some folks would like a "knock" type feature to give a warning, clearly
you get the concern from your gif. Keep it up and personally I think it's
great to see more options for this.

~~~
shyamady
Thank you so much for your feedback. "knock" type sounds really interesting.
I'll try to add this feature soon :)

------
petepete
The gif under 'Talk Seamlessly' made me laugh :)

Looks great, I aim to give it a try.

~~~
shyamady
Haha, that's a real use case!

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Angelwings93
> Sign in with Google

Pass.

I hope others find it useful, though

~~~
shyamady
Hmm. Okay, I'm building other authentication now.

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sturza
Just tried it and got in the room with the founder. Great xp. Keep up the good
work.

~~~
shyamady
Thank you for talking :) See you soon.

------
gregsadetsky
I'm not affiliated, just someone who recently started using it daily, but
another "always on" video conference alternative is
[https://tandem.chat/](https://tandem.chat/) . It integrates well with Slack,
and keeping it open while working with colleagues feels very natural.

It's the closest I've seen to recreate a coworking environment -- we even have
a #lunch channel where we "eat together" at noon (that was a bit depressing to
write... we're doing what we can to keep up the illusion of normalcy).

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shyamady
I've added a multiple authentication :)

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adv0r
how is it better than whereby? (ex appear.in)

~~~
shyamady
The appear.in is for a meeting, this app is for coworking. You can show your
status like online, offline, etc...

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amitport
BTW about the "vs Zoom" part -

Zoom does have a personal room url and a configuration option to open meeting
on entry

~~~
shyamady
Hmm. Zoom is useful, I love it. This time, I wanna solve a problem that my
clients want to see if I can call or not right now.

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beshrkayali
Not that I like Zoom, but how's this '10x more seamless than Zoom' calculated?

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wilshiredetroit
I just tried this.. and it worked amazingly well. It was smooth and seemless

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potatopolis
I'm so sorry that everyone's bleating about a bit of text in the header text
rather than the actual product you've created. Sometimes HN is all about
finding any hole to nitpick over.

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jujodi
Based on the comments, you can tell that trying to pit yourself against zoom
is not going to work. Zoom users are loyal for a reason. You need to be clear
if you solve a different problem.

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s3nnyy
sometimes it shows "online NaN seconds ago"

rest very nice. good idea!

~~~
shyamady
Oh, sorry. I'll try to see it!

