Due to the corona crisis, we have started using many more video conferencing tools, such as MS Teams, Google Meet and Zoom. Less well known is Jami who has a lot to offer. This tool is multiplatform, open source and free. You can communicate encrypted via text, audio and video. And once the connection is there, everything runs without a central server.
Jami has its roots in the Linux world, it is also the successor to Gnu Ring. But Jami is now available for almost all other platforms, including Windows, macOS, Android as iOS. The makers are especially proud of the distributed concept. This means that the actual communication does not run through a central server and that has some advantages. For example, there is more guarantee of privacy (certainly in combination with the end-to-end encryption based on tls 1.3), there are no bandwidth limitations (at most your own internet speed) and no limits on the forwarding of documents. Do you want to know more about this? Then look up www.jami.net for the necessary feedback. Some time ago, the developers also added support for high efficiency video coding. It now combines a higher compression rate with a better quality. In short, Jami has quite a few assets to offer.
Installation (Windows)
You can find the button on the Jami website Download Jami. This will take you to a page with links for various platforms. In this article, we’ll focus on Jami for Windows and Android. We’ll start with the first and it turns out to be a 64-bit version. Make sure your Windows has the correct system architecture: open the explorer, right-click on This PC and choose Properties. If you at Type of system 64-bit operating system, you’re in the right place.
The installation of the tool requires little more than one push of a button Install. First click on Advanced if you want to have a different installation path than the default path Program Files Savoir-Faire Linux Jami. Well, the tool does not completely deny its preferred origin.
It may take a while for the tool to seem to respond, but you should be able to start it a little later. On one of our test devices, the message did appear that a restart of the system was necessary.
Account
When you start Jami for the first time, you must first create an account. So click on Create local account and enter a profile name. You can immediately add a profile photo via the camera or folder icon. Unless you only want to communicate within your own network, leave the tick next to Register a public username. Also enter a username here and place a check mark for safety Choose a password for enhanced security. Enter a strong password twice and press Next one. In the next window, press the button Export, with that you make a backup copy of your account information.
There are other options in the start window. Import from device, with this you can import a previously created account on another device. Import from backup, this will retrieve your account information from the previously made backup.
Settings
In principle, you can immediately start looking for contacts, but it is better to first check and fine-tune the settings via the gear icon. Make sure that the button at Jami account is on Switch state. Here you will read your so-called ring ID off. With the latter you can also identify yourself with conversation partners.
In the section General turn on the toggle button Run on Startup if you do not want Jami to start automatically with Windows. Another toggle button allows you to enable or disable desktop notifications for Jami and have the tool minimize when closing. If you plan to exchange documents, click the folder icon to save yourDownload folder configure.
Somewhat surprising: when you Always record calls On, your conversation will be recorded and saved in the folder you access Save in. You can record the recording quality with a slider 0.1 until 5 Mbps.
In the section Audio / video finally choose the microphone and speaker for your audio calls and the webcam and the desired format, for example 1280×720 [30 fps]. If necessary, turn on the switch button Enable hardware acceleration, so that your Jami can also use hevc, if your hardware supports this of course.
Installation (Android)
As with iOS, you can also find the Jami app for Android in the official app store, in this case the Play Store. The installation is done in no time and, just like with Windows, you must first create an account. Tap on Create a Jami account and preferably enter a username that has not been registered before.
Confirm with Choose username. For more safety, turn on the switch button Choose a password to encrypt the account key on this device and enter your password twice. Confirm with create an account.
An alternative is to import your account from another mobile device (Connect from another device) or from an imported backup file (default export.gz) retrieves via Connecting from backup.
The settings window in Android can be reached via the button with the three dots after which youSettings choose. Most options are self-explanatory. Bee Advanced video settings you can set the desired video bitrate and resolution, among other things. By default, Jami is set to automatically run the app in the background as soon as your system boots, but you can also disable that here.
Chat conversation
You have now set everything to your liking and can close the settings window. Do you want to add another account to your Jami installation? Click on your own profile picture at the top left and on Add account +. You will then return to the start window.
On Android, tap your username at the top and choose the desired method. You can then easily switch between your accounts via the arrow at the top. Tap on Start conversation to start your (first) conversation.
You can enter arbitrary names in the search box until you arrive at a registered name, but that does not seem the most convenient way to us. We assume that you prefer to add contacts in a more targeted way and that you know the username or ring ID of an acquaintance. By the way, you can also scan the qr code with your mobile Jami app to add a user to your contact list. To do this, tap the qr icon and choose Scan code.
The added contacts appear in a list. You only have to select such a contact and enter your message. The other party sees the contact request appear (at Invitations or at Contact requests) and can accept, decline or block that request.
File exchange
As indicated, it is also possible to exchange files with Jami. In Android, tap the button with the three dots next to the input bar and choose Send file and navigate to the file. In Windows, click on the paper clip at the bottom and also refer to the intended file here.
In principle, it should also be possible to share your screen on a desktop. According to www.jami.net/help you should do that by right clicking on a conversation window and Share screen but that option turned out to be strangely not available on our test aircraft.
Recorded messages
Later in this article we will talk about real-time audio and video calls, but you can also leave audio and video messages, for example, when the conversation partner is not home. In Windows you will find the buttons for this to the left of the input bar, with Android you tap the button with the three dots and choose Record sound message or Record video message, in m4a and webm respectively.
In both cases, a small recording window will appear that you can send immediately afterwards. On a mobile device, you still have to give Jami your permission to use the device audio and video the first time. The recipient of the video message then only has to click on the green check mark to start the transfer. The transfer speed on our test aircraft turned out to be variable.
Audio and video calls
But with Jami you can also hold real-time audio and video calls. For this you will find two icons at the top right of both Windows and Android: a telephone and a camera.
During an audio conversation, you will see the profile picture of the conversation partner by default. At the bottom you will find buttons to put the other party on hold, to chat, to mute the microphone, to record the audio call or to invite other contacts to your audio conversation. You will see similar buttons during a video call. Your own image appears in thumbnail by default, while the image of your conversation partner is shown in full regalia.
We experienced ourselves that the forwarding of images in the Windows versions was not always reliable. Apparently Jami is a little too attached to the Linux platform for certain parts and therefore indirectly also to Android. The Windows edition also requires some key work. A nice challenge for the next version.
