OpenWebRTC is an open‑source software implementation of the WebRTC (Web Real‑Time Communication) standard, originally developed and maintained by Ericsson. The project was announced in early 2015 and aimed to provide a complete, cross‑platform stack for real‑time audio, video, and data communication in web and mobile applications.
Overview
OpenWebRTC implements the core specifications of WebRTC, including media capture, encoding/decoding, network transport, NAT traversal, and security. It is built on the GStreamer multimedia framework and utilizes ancillary libraries such as libnice for ICE (Interactive Connectivity Establishment) and libssl for DTLS‑SRTP encryption. The stack exposes a JavaScript API compatible with the standard WebRTC API used in browsers, allowing developers to integrate real‑time communication capabilities into native applications.
Key Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Cross‑platform support | Provides native libraries for iOS, Android, Linux, and macOS, enabling WebRTC functionality on a wide range of devices. |
| GStreamer‑based media pipeline | Leverages GStreamer’s modular architecture for flexible handling of audio and video streams, including support for a variety of codecs (e.g., VP8, H.264, Opus). |
| Standard‑compliant API | Implements the WebRTC JavaScript API, facilitating compatibility with existing web‑centric development workflows. |
| Data channels | Supports SCTP‑based data channels for bidirectional arbitrary data transfer between peers. |
| Security | Implements DTLS‑SRTP for encrypted media transport and follows the security model defined by the WebRTC specifications. |
| Licensing | Distributed under a permissive BSD‑style license, allowing both open‑source and proprietary use. |
Development History
- 2015 – Ericsson announced OpenWebRTC at the Mobile World Congress and released the first public version (0.4).
- 2015–2016 – Subsequent releases (up to version 0.6) added support for iOS, Android, and additional codecs, and refined the API to align with evolving WebRTC drafts.
- 2017 – Activity on the public repository slowed, and Ericsson shifted its internal focus toward other real‑time communication solutions.
- 2020 onward – The official OpenWebRTC repository remains publicly accessible, but no new major releases have been announced; the project is generally regarded as unmaintained by its original developers.
Adoption and Usage
OpenWebRTC has been employed in experimental and prototype applications, particularly those requiring native WebRTC capabilities on mobile platforms where browser support was limited. It has also served as a reference implementation for developers exploring integration of GStreamer with real‑time communication protocols.
Related Projects
- Google’s WebRTC – The reference implementation maintained by Google, widely used in browsers such as Chrome and Firefox.
- Pion – A Go language implementation of WebRTC.
- mediasoup – A Node.js‑based SFU (Selective Forwarding Unit) for scalable media routing.
Current Status
As of the latest available information, OpenWebRTC is no longer actively maintained by Ericsson. The source code remains available under a BSD license, and the community can continue to fork or adapt the project, but there are no recent official updates or roadmap announcements.
See Also
- WebRTC (Web Real‑Time Communication)
- GStreamer
- ICE (Interactive Connectivity Establishment)
References
- Ericsson. “OpenWebRTC – An Open Source WebRTC Stack.” Press release, February 2015.
- OpenWebRTC GitHub repository, https://github.com/EricssonResearch/openwebrtc (accessed 2026).
Note: All information presented is based on publicly available sources and the project's documented releases.