What do Microsoft Word and Adobe have in common? Both had established market spaces completely disrupted by new entrants that brought realtime collaboration to the user experience. Whilst the barrier to entry for adding features akin to Figma, Google Docs, and Miro had been high, it is now possible to build new collaborative applications, or even simply add collaborative features to existing applications – without building the realtime infrastructure that powers them.

More aspects of our work and life are online than ever before, and the trend towards remote work and increasingly remote teams is set to continue. Whilst we enjoy the freedom and flexibility that remote work provides, remote teams also face a significant challenge: establishing (and desiring) a sense of connection despite the physical distance between individuals.

This post will walk through the creation of a realtime chat application with Next.js and deploying it to Vercel.

As users now expect applications to provide instant updates, live chats, and dynamic content, modern web development requires the ability to deliver realtime experiences and communication between users and servers. WebSocket is a communication protocol that allows full-duplex two-way communication between a client and a server over a single TCP connection. The connection persists unless it is explicitly told to disconnect or in case of network or server failure.

React is one of the most popular JavaScript libraries in the world, and is known for its performance, scalability, and flexibility. Whether it’s single-page apps, high fidelity frontends, or even in some cases static sites, there's a high chance React is being used to build them. Today, we are pleased to announce that we have now baked in support for React Hooks within our Ably JavaScript SDK.

When building a React web application, one feature you might be considering is a notification system. Notifications enhance the user experience by providing real time updates, alerts, or calls to action. However, the big question is whether to build a custom notification system from scratch or go for an off-the-shelf solution. This choice isn't simple and can influence your project's overall cost, resource allocation, and success.