Category Archives for Announcements

iOS App Update Fixes a Firefox Connectivity Issue

Gruveo is built on WebRTC, a technology that enables browsers with real time communication capabilities. As any new tech, WebRTC is developing very rapidly and is sometimes rough around the edges.

We have recently been alerted about an issue with Gruveo users on 64-bit iOS devices (iPhone 5S and above, as well as newer iPad and iPod touch models) having difficulties connecting to Gruveo running in recent versions of Firefox.

The underlying cause for the issue turned out to be a bug with the particular build of the WebRTC library that the Gruveo app was using. We have promptly switched to a different, working build of WebRTC and submitted an update to the App Store, which just got approved.

Grab the latest version of Gruveo for iOS from the App Store and let us know how it works for you!

Gruveo Goes Polish

We are proud to have added a Polish translation to the Gruveo web app, which is now available in 10 languages. A big shout out goes to MDT Medical for helping us with the translation!

Want to see Gruveo in your language? Let us know.

The New Selfie Mode Puts You in Control of Your Looks

The latest update to the Gruveo iOS app introduces Selfie Mode, which lets you ensure that you look your best on the other end of the video conversation.

Using the Selfie Mode is simple: Tap own video in the upper right corner and enjoy the picture of yourself spanning full-screen, just like the other person would see you. To go back, tap the picture in the upper right again.

You don’t have to be connected to use Selfie Mode, so toggle it to check your hair while you’re waiting for the other person 🙂

The inspiration for Selfie Mode comes from an actual user need. We were contacted by a real estate company that uses Gruveo for virtual apartment tours. Gruveo’s ease of use made it the perfect tool for the job, if not for one thing: It was very hard to ensure the best shot looking at the tiny own video preview window.

As we pondered this use case, we realized that apartment tours are not the only situation that would benefit from better control of the outgoing video, and that’s how Selfie Mode was born. So whether you want to check your makeup, show your kids play to their grandparents, or conduct a virtual apartment tour, Selfie Mode is there for you.

Selfie Mode is currently only available in the iOS app but there are plans to port it to the web version of Gruveo as well.

Announcing Gruveo Instant Connect for Chrome

Imagine that you’re chatting with a friend in your browser and then decide to invite her to a quick Gruveo call. You could open Gruveo in a new tab, click the call button to start a call on a random code, and then send over the link to your friend. But what if you could generate a random call link in just one click, without leaving the page? Or, better yet, what if you could insert a link right into the chat box with one simple keystroke?

Chrome Extension Popout

Just click the Gruveo button to get a random call link.

You can do all of these and more with Gruveo Instant Connect, our new extension for the Chrome browser that hit the Chrome Web Store today. Gruveo Instant Connect makes generating a random Gruveo link almost painfully easy: Just click a button on the browser toolbar to get a call link that you can open, copy or add to calendar. Or, right-click any text box on a page and choose “Insert Gruveo link”. No hassle at all!

Download our shiny new extension today:

[button_1 text="Get%20Gruveo%20Instant%20Connect" text_size="20" text_color="#ffffff" text_bold="N" text_letter_spacing="0" subtext_panel="N" text_shadow_panel="Y" text_shadow_vertical="1" text_shadow_horizontal="0" text_shadow_color="#000000" text_shadow_blur="0" styling_width="25" styling_height="15" styling_border_color="#dd7103" styling_border_size="1" styling_border_radius="15" styling_border_opacity="100" styling_shine="Y" styling_gradient_start_color="#ffbe6b" styling_gradient_end_color="#dd7103" drop_shadow_panel="Y" drop_shadow_vertical="1" drop_shadow_horizontal="0" drop_shadow_blur="1" drop_shadow_spread="0" drop_shadow_color="#000000" drop_shadow_opacity="50" inset_shadow_panel="Y" inset_shadow_vertical="0" inset_shadow_horizontal="0" inset_shadow_blur="0" inset_shadow_spread="1" inset_shadow_color="#fece94" inset_shadow_opacity="50" align="center" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gruveo-instant-connect/jlongfhigcebblbebgmpobcgjhlhegcc"/] P.S. If you like the extension, please rate it 5 stars and give it a +1. That will make us all very happy 🙂

New Feature: Ability to Move Own Video Preview

This one is straight from our short-but-sweet-news dept. Today’s update to the Gruveo web client brings the ability to drag own picture across the screen. Dragging works in all supported browsers on desktop and Android as well as in the embedded version of Gruveo.

One extra nicety is that your “PIP” position is remembered for future calls so you don’t have to readjust it every time.