Category Archives for Announcements

Gruveo Comes to Internet Explorer and Safari on Desktop

Last summer, Gruveo had to drop support of desktop Internet Explorer and Safari due to switching to the new WebRTC technology. We’ve been longing to bring Gruveo back to our IE and Safari users ever since, and we are happy to announce that we are doing it today.

Gruveo now works in IE 10+ and Safari 7+ on desktop with the help of the excellent Temasys WebRTC plugin. The plugin is a free, quick install for Windows and Mac OS X that enables the WebRTC functionality in IE and Safari. Gruveo will prompt you to install the plugin if you try to make a call in one of those browsers, and we also provide a detailed installation guide.

The WebRTC plugin comes from a trusted source: Temasys is a Singapore-based company that is part of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards committee and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) working group that are actually defining the WebRTC technology itself.

Once the plugin is installed, Gruveo “just works”, enabling effortless video conversations with other Gruveo users no matter what platform they are on.

There are a few known issues to Gruveo operation in IE and Safari, the status of which you can find here.

Safari and Internet Explorer, we are happy to have you back!

Enjoy Gruveo in Your Language

Great news for our international users: Gruveo is now available in 7 languages in addition to English. The new languages are French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish (Latin America), and Ukrainian.

The language is detected automatically but you can always switch it using the select box in the bottom of the page. Translations for our iOS app are coming soon, too.

Here’s to squashing language barriers with Gruveo!

Gruveo for iOS Gets Updated with Camera Switching, Stability Improvements

We have received lots of feedback after launching the Gruveo iOS app in October, and we have been hard at work incorporating your suggestions. The result is version 1.1 of the Gruveo app that landed in the App Store today.

The 1.1 update features massive improvements to stability and performance, adds important features and squashes annoying bugs. Here are some of the highlights:

• Front/back camera switching… At last!
• Incoming calls no longer break audio in Gruveo
• Video calls now properly begin on speakerphone on iPhone
• Improved UI for switching back from the text chat
• Massive improvements to app stability
• A 64-bit build for even better performance on newer devices
• A new help screen with more information and copyrights

Grab the Gruveo app for iOS today and enjoy these new features!

Do you like this update? What would you like to see next in the Gruveo iOS app? Post a comment below and let us know!

Better Chat Experience in Full Screen Mode

If you have ever used Gruveo in full screen mode, you have surely noticed that you could not text chat and see the other person at the same time. The chat panel was occupying the full screen so you had to be switching back and forth between your call and the chat.

While this makes sense on a smaller phone display, it doesn’t on a 27″ desktop monitor. So we set out to fix it, and we did – by placing the chat in a sidebar on larger screens. Here is what it looks like (click the image to enlarge):

Do you like this new feature? Are there any other areas we could improve in? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Announcing the Gruveo Embed Beta Program

One of the most common questions we’ve been receiving ever since Gruveo was launched is, “Can I add Gruveo to my site?” Well, we’re happy to announce that now you can!

Today, we are rolling out the Gruveo Embed Beta Program that enables your site’s visitors to make video calls without leaving your web property. Just put Gruveo on your site using a simple embed code (like you would embed a YouTube video), and you’re done.

The Gruveo Embed Program is currently a closed beta, which means that we approve individual applicants. To apply to the program, complete a short form over here:

Apply to the Gruveo Embed Beta Program

Looking forward to seeing Gruveo on your site!