Amazon Chime SDK adds Content Share and Support for Safari Browsers

Today, AWS announced the latest version of Amazon Chime SDK for JavaScript, Version 1.2.1 (available on npm and GitHub). This new version fully supports the Safari versions 13.0 and above. This update enables users of applications built with the Amazon Chime SDK to share screens or application windows from Safari browsers (previous versions of the Amazon Chime SDK for JavaScript supported Safari only for audio calling, video calling, and viewing shared screens). This post describes the new ContentShare APIs added to SDK Version 1.2.1 and how they can be used by application developers to build applications that support screen share on Safari, Chrome, and Firefox browsers.

AWS achieved support for Safari screen sharing by implementing a video-based screen sharing channel called ContentShare. The channel uses ScreenCapture, an experimental feature introduced by Apple in Safari 13.0, which allows Safari users to share their screen without installing a plugin. Users can enable the feature from the Safari Develop > Experimental Features menu.

ContentShare uses WebRTC video to encode and transport high-resolution screen content. This solution benefits from hardware acceleration for improved performance, and a simplified API. The redesigned API is a generic interface, and can support sharing content from other sources (besides screen media captured from the user’s device) across the ContentShare channel.

The Amazon Chime SDK for JavaScript now includes two API interfaces for screen sharing, ContentShare and legacy ScreenShare. These two channels are not cross compatible. ScreenShare maintains backward compatibility for applications that were written using earlier versions of the Amazon Chime SDK for JavaScript. However, if you are developing a new application, we recommend using the ContentShare channel to ensure that your application works across the full range of browsers supported by the Amazon Chime SDK. Applications using the legacy ScreenShare channel should migrate to the ContentShare channel. AWS expects to eventually deprecate the ScreenShare channel.

To learn more about the screen sharing features of the Amazon Chime SDK, review the ContentShare Guide or visit the Amazon Chime SDK for JavaScript on GitHub.

The Amazon Chime SDK is a set of real-time communications components that developers can use to quickly add audio calling, video calling, and screen sharing capabilities to their own applications. Developers can leverage the same communication infrastructure and services that power Amazon Chime, an online meetings service from AWS, to deliver engaging experiences in their applications. Visit the Amazon Chime SDK page to learn more about the service include features and pricing.