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The only reason Whatsapp doesn't have this issue is that it doesn't allow you to login with the same account on multiple devices like Skype does. Both use the

The only reason Whatsapp doesn't have this issue is that it doesn't allow you to login with the same account on multiple devices like Skype does. Both use the same underlying technology (XMPP) and both know how to use the protocol, but it's still very hard to pull off at this scale once you allow multiple devices to login with the same account. Skype just has vastly more features, that's why they have these synchronisation issues.

mercurial 13y ago
> Both use the same underlying technology (XMPP) and both know how to use the protocol, but it's still very hard to pull off at this scale once you allow multiple devices to login with the same account. Since when does Skype use XMPP? AFAIK, it uses a closed protocol. It appears that Whatsapp does indeed use XMPP under the hood, though. As for Skype, it's absolutely terrible at handling multiple devices. It would get much better if the app phoned home when a given message arrived on a Skype client with a focused window, in order to prevent/cancel already existing alerts on other devices.
adnam 13y ago
This is a real headache. You can either send all the messages (and info/queries) to all logged-in devices, or you select just the most recently used. In the first case, the user gets messages repeated. In the latter, there's the risk that information is lost when a user switches device.
tracker1 13y ago
That's funny, but Google Hangouts seems to handle this issue just fine... with Google Voice, my desktop and phones all ring, not a problem... when someone sends me a message in hangouts, it shows up on all my devices... With MS' Lync at work, if I forget to signout on my phone, a few times a day, my phone grabs an inbound message that never shows up on my desktop, and I totally miss the conversation. Skype has a lot of similar issues, and it's painful at best. What I REALLY want is something for the workplace to kill Lync...
lady_gigi_ 13y ago
More on the WhatsApp tech stack over at FastCo.Labs: http://www.fastcolabs.com/3026758/inside-erlang-the-rare-programming-language-behind-whatsapps-success http://www.fastcolabs.com/3026758/inside-erlang-the-rare-pro...

mercurial 13y ago

> Both use the same underlying technology (XMPP) and both know how to use the protocol, but it's still very hard to pull off at this scale once you allow multiple devices to login with the same account. Since when does Skype use XMPP? AFAIK, it uses a closed protocol. It appears that Whatsapp does indeed use XMPP under the hood, though. As for Skype, it's absolutely terrible at handling multiple devices. It would get much better if the app phoned home when a given message arrived on a Skype client with a focused window, in order to prevent/cancel already existing alerts on other devices.

adnam 13y ago

This is a real headache. You can either send all the messages (and info/queries) to all logged-in devices, or you select just the most recently used. In the first case, the user gets messages repeated. In the latter, there's the risk that information is lost when a user switches device.

tracker1 13y ago

That's funny, but Google Hangouts seems to handle this issue just fine... with Google Voice, my desktop and phones all ring, not a problem... when someone sends me a message in hangouts, it shows up on all my devices... With MS' Lync at work, if I forget to signout on my phone, a few times a day, my phone grabs an inbound message that never shows up on my desktop, and I totally miss the conversation. Skype has a lot of similar issues, and it's painful at best. What I REALLY want is something for the workplace to kill Lync...

lady_gigi_ 13y ago

More on the WhatsApp tech stack over at FastCo.Labs: http://www.fastcolabs.com/3026758/inside-erlang-the-rare-programming-language-behind-whatsapps-success http://www.fastcolabs.com/3026758/inside-erlang-the-rare-pro...