March 2022 Summaries

Universal Links are a way to transition from web content to an app's equivalent content on iOS devices. They can be used for applications such as video calls or live streams, allowing users to share links that open the app directly to the desired location. Setting up universal links involves two main steps: setting up the website and setting up the app. The website requires adding a file named apple-app-site-association with specific values for the application. The app needs to be set up with the Associated Domains capability in Xcode, allowing it to interpret Universal Links. This guide provides detailed instructions on how to implement universal links using SwiftUI and Agora UIKit.

The React Native UIKit simplifies building video calling apps by providing high-level components like <AgoraUIKit>. In this blog post, we learn how to extend the UIKit and add custom features using an example of AI denoising. To get started, developers need a free Agora developer account, Node.js LTS release, and an iOS or Android device for testing. They should also have a basic understanding of React Native development. The <AgoraUIKit> component is built with smaller components that can be used to build fully custom experiences without worrying about the video call logic. Custom features like AI denoising can be added by accessing the RtcEngine instance using the RtcContext, which exposes the engine instance used by the UIKit. Developers are encouraged to contribute to the UIKit repository with feature requests or pull requests.

In this blog post, we discuss how to use Agora Cloud Player service to stream a cloud video to all users in a video call or livestream. The prerequisites include an Agora developer account, Node.js LTS release, and a high-level understanding of React and Node/Express. To enable the RTMP Converter, go to the Usage tab in the Agora console, select your project, click on the RTMP Converter submenu, and enable it. Get customer credentials from the RESTful API page and grab the App ID from the project management tab. The back-end service is built using Express, which listens for requests from the website front end and calls the Agora Cloud Player endpoints with the required credentials.

In this tutorial, we learn how to use universal links with React Native to open up a video calling or livestreaming app built with the React Native UIKit. We first set up a basic boilerplate using expo-cli and install necessary packages such as expo-dev-client and Agora React Native UIKit. Next, we update the app.json file to define support for our universal link and set up the domain by serving an Apple App Site Association (AASA) file from our web server. We then modify the navigation/LinkingConfiguration.tsx file to support the universal link and create a useEffect hook to get the channel from the query when the app is opened from a universal link. Finally, we render the UIKit and can open it using Linking from expo by calling the deeplink uikit://two?channel=test.

The Agora Extensions Marketplace is a platform that allows developers to add versatility, enhance user experience, or increase monetization to their video call apps by integrating extensions from various providers. The Synervoz Voice FX extension can be easily integrated into an Agora video calling application using the Agora console and Android Studio. The extension provides voice FX filters such as noise cancellation and voice changers, and can be accessed through unified billing directly from the console. To integrate the extension, developers need to enable it in their Agora console, download the SDK, and add the necessary code to their application. The integration process is straightforward and requires minimal configuration, making it easy for developers to enhance their applications with advanced voice FX capabilities.

Agora has released version 5.0.0 of its Flutter SDK, which now supports desktop platforms including macOS and Windows. The update also introduces screen sharing capabilities for Windows and macOS users. Additionally, dual-stream support allows users to share their screens while pushing camera streams simultaneously. The development architecture of the platform has been refactored based on the IRIS framework, resulting in a more stable and advanced SDK that aligns with Agora's native SDK.

The Agora React Native SDK now supports using virtual backgrounds, allowing users to choose a solid color or an image for their background during video calls and live streams. To enable this feature, developers can call the `enableVirtualBackground` method on the engine object with their desired configuration. Two open-source libraries, `react-native-image-picker` and `react-native-fs`, are required to bundle an image asset with React Native and select a user image as a virtual background. The Agora SDK handles tasks such as segmentation and background removal automatically. Developers can also join the Agora Developer Slack community for assistance and further information on available features.

In this tutorial, we learn how to use Agora Media Push service to host a Livestream on your own website and publish it to multiple third-party services like YouTube, Facebook Live, Twitch, etc. We discuss the setup process and building the live stream using React. The tutorial also covers pushing streams to a CDN and includes code examples for each step.

This tutorial explains how to access query parameters from a URL and use them with the Web UIKit, specifically focusing on joining video calls on websites using unique links. It provides setup instructions for React and JavaScript, demonstrates how to parse query parameters, and offers guidance on generating unique links. The author also highlights the importance of sanitizing user input when directly passing data from a URL to an app. Additionally, they provide information on where to find support and report issues related to the Web UIKit.