The thinking behind the instant messaging application - Why create InstaChat ?
About the Instant Messaging Application
The popular instant messaging applications, such as whatsup, always need a central service to which all users send and receive their messages. It's convenient becase the central service can store the messages and deliver them to the recipient when they are online. And notifify the recipient when they are offline.
But the central service can also be a single point of failure. If the central service goes down, no one can send or receive messages. Or if the central service decides to ban a user, the user will lose all messages and contacts. Or because of a conflict of interest, it may be difficult for a user to move to another service and transfer all their messages and contacts.
Simply put, the company owns the infrastructure and has total control over the data stored. The user has no choice but to trust the company and accept the terms of service.
A Peer-to-Peer Network approach
We can have conversations in real life without a central service. We verify the identity of the person we are talking to by their face and voice. We speak directly to the person we are talking to.
We can have a similar experience in the digital world through a peer-to-peer network where every user is equal. Verifying identity through the digital signature. And the amazing thing about the Internet is that we can connect to anyone in the world if we know their IP address.
But if your recipient is offline how do you send a message?
We have a solution in the real world. We write a letter and put it in the mailbox. The postman will deliver the letter for us. We can have a similar service in the digital world. A service just for delivering messages and notififying the recipient. Your message is your message. The service doesn't have control over your message. You totally own your message and contacts.
So I put my thoughts together and build this web application with the help of WebRTC and a freamwork called Peer.js. And could be profitable by selling the service of delivering messages and notififying the recipient.
After finised the beta version. I realised that the web application also solved my other problems. I can send a file directly to my friend or start a video call. All I have to do is send them a link with my identity number.