JumpInChat Update — Bigger cams and hi-res gold streams

Hi-res video for gold members

One of the main perks planned for gold members (monthly subscribers) is to allow higher resolution video. Now, by subscribing you will broadcast at double the resolution (480p, up from 240p), along with a higher frame rate (30fps, up from 15fps) and a better bitrate (256kbps, up from 128kbps).

Video quality is not set in stone, however, and may increase in the future. But for now I’ll be keeping an eye on the performance impact.

Better packing algorithm for cams

A major complaint for users in more populated rooms was that above 6 cams, they would become far too small. This was due to the packing algorithm which determined the sizes and distribution of cams given the available space. A long-term task for me was to allow these cams to better fill the actual space in the cam section, and until recently was a dead-end. I have finally come upon a solution that works quite effectively, and also improves performance as a bonus.

Predictive emoji popup

Emoji were added some time ago, though using them via the picker was somewhat cumbersome and not fitting for fast conversation. In order to make emoji easier to add to a message, there is now an emoji prediction feature whereby emoji could be selected by entering part of a colon code, such as :ok, that will open a popup showing search results matching that code.

Additional features and fixes

Remember YouTube audio settings

YouTube video audio will now be saved locally, and restored on new sessions. This means no more unexpected ear-shattering audio in the middle of the night.

Additionally, video audio now defaults to 50%.

Allow audio when screen-sharing

Screen-sharing now allows an audio stream along with video, and works the same way as every other video source. Additionally, frame rate for screen-sharing should be on-par with other video, or around 15 fps.