Instant messaging apps like Whatsapp, Kik Messenger, and Snapchat are hot right now and there are some existing instant messaging protocols that could be used to build your own Delphi XE6 Firemonkey instant messaging app. The XMPP (formerly Jabber) protocol is an open instant messaging protocol. There are various client components out there in Delphi for Windows using the VCL but I was unable to find one that would work on mobile. On the server side there are various open source XMPP servers but the one I found that seems really good is called OpenFire. The OpenFire server runs on Windows and Linux (and probably others as it is built in Java). There are various different plugins available for it including an HTTP REST API which allows you to make HTTP requests to the admin side to control actions like adding new users, friending users, and more. I hired an expert developer on oDesk to create a XMPP component to run cross platform on Android, IOS, Windows, and OSX in Delphi XE6 Firemonkey. The developer build a working instant message demo client and a working XMPP protocol component with Firemonkey and I am making them available. It does use the OXML library for Delphi which is also cross platform to handle the XML protocol that XMPP is based on. Sockets are handled by the Indy component suite. The demo client runs on Windows, Mac, IOS, and Android and should compile without too much trouble in Delphi XE5, Delphi XE6, and AppMethod. I have not tested the component or demo on any other server besides OpenFire.
Download the Delphi XE6 Firemonkey XMPP (Jabber) Component and Demo Client for Android, IOS, Windows, and OSX.
