Jitsi (from Bulgarian: жици — "wires") is a collection of free and open-source multiplatform voice (VoIP), video conferencing and instant messaging applications for the Web platform, Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS and Android.[4][5][6][7] The Jitsi project began with the Jitsi Desktop (previously known as SIP Communicator). With the growth of WebRTC, the project team focus shifted to the Jitsi Videobridge for allowing web-based multi-party video calling. Later the team added Jitsi Meet, a full video conferencing application that includes web, Android, and iOS clients. Jitsi also operates meet.jit.si, a version of Jitsi Meet hosted by Jitsi for free community use. Other projects include: Jigasi, lib-jitsi-meet, Jidesha, and Jitsi.[8][9][10]
Work on Jitsi (then SIP Communicator) started in 2003 in the context of a student project by Emil Ivov at the University of Strasbourg.[17] It was originally released as an example video phone in the JAIN-SIP stack and later spun off as a standalone project.[18]
In 2009, Emil Ivov founded the BlueJimp company, which has employed some of Jitsi's main contributors,[19][20] in order to offer professional support and development services[21] related to the project.
In 2011, after successfully adding support for audio/video communication over XMPP's Jingle extensions, the project was renamed to Jitsi since it was no longer "a SIP only Communicator".[22][23] This name originates from the Bulgarian "жици" (wires).[24]
Jitsi introduced the Videobridge in 2013 to support multiparty video calling with its Jitsi clients using a new Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU) architecture. Later that year initial support was added to the Jitsi Videobridge allowing WebRTC calling from the browser. To demonstrate how Jitsi Videobridge could be used as a production service, BlueJimp offered a free use of its hosted system at meet.jit.si.[25]
On November 4, 2014, "Jitsi + Ostel" scored 6 out of 7 points on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's secure messaging scorecard. They lost a point because there has not been a recent independent code audit.[26]
On February 1, 2015, Hristo Terezov, Ingo Bauersachs and the rest of the team released[27] version 2.6 from their stand at the Free and Open Source Software Developers' European Meeting 2015 event in Brussels. This release includes security fixes, removes support of the deprecated MSN protocol, along with SSLv3 in XMPP. Among other notable improvements, the OS X version bundles a Java 8 runtime, enables echo cancelling by default, and uses the CoreAudio subsystem. The Linux build addresses font issues with the GTK+ native look and feel, and fixes some long-standing issues about microphone level on call setup when using the PulseAudio sound system. This release also adds the embedded Java database Hyper SQL Database to improve performance for users with huge configuration files, a feature which is disabled by default. A full list of changes is available on the project web site.[28]
Atlassian acquired BlueJimp on April 5, 2015. After the acquisition, the new Jitsi team under Atlassian ceased meaningful new development work on the Jitsi Desktop project and expanded its efforts on projects related to the Jitsi Videobridge and Jitsi Meet. Regular contributions from the open source community have maintained the Jitsi Desktop project.[29][30][31]
In 2017, jitsi was added as a widget to Element[32] instant messaging client.
Jitsi Meet is an open source JavaScript WebRTC application used primarily for video conferencing. In addition to audio and video, screen sharing is available, and new members can be invited via a generated link. The interface is accessible via web browser or with a mobile app.[38] The Jitsi Meet server software can be downloaded and installed on Linux-based computers.[39] Jitsi owner 8x8 maintains a free public-use server for up to 100 participants at meet.jit.si.[40]
Jitsi implemented end-to-end encryption (E2EE) with dynamic key management in 2021.[41] The original static E2EE configurations[42] that were initially required while the dynamic key management system was first implemented have since been deprecated and removed and additional support for mobile applications added.[43] In addition, the Jitsi Videobridge (JVB) adds an additional layer of TLS encryption at the transport layer between the server and the desktop/mobile/API clients for enhanced security.
Recording: Jitsi offers the ability to record meetings by streaming them to youtube. Self-installed Jitsi Meet deployments need to install and set up Jibri to support this capability.[44] The client also has the capability to save a local recording.
Using only a standards compliant web browser to run Jitsi Meet in a browser, no additional client software besides a browser is required to join a Jitsi meeting.[45]
Jitsi Videobridge is a video conferencing solution supporting WebRTC that allows multiuser video communication. It is a Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU) and only forwards the selected streams to other participating users in the video conference call, therefore, CPU horsepower is not that critical for performance.[46][47]
Jitsi spawned some sister projects such as the Jitsi Videobridge Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU) and Jitsi Meet, a video and web conferencing application. To prevent misunderstanding due to the increasing popularity of these other Jitsi projects, the Jitsi client application was rebranded as Jitsi Desktop.
Originally the project was mostly used as an experimentation tool because of its support for IPv6.[48][49] Through the years, as the project gathered members, it also added support for protocols other than SIP.
Jitsi Desktop is no longer actively maintained by the Jitsi team, but it is still maintained by the community.[35]
Features
Jitsi Desktop's conference call window on Mac OS X
In an April 2020 test of video conferencing services, US product review owned by the New York TimesWirecutter recommended Jitsi Meet as one of its two picks (after the more feature-rich Cisco Webex which it found preferable for large groups and enterprises), stating that Jitsi was "easy to use and reliable" and that "in our testing, the video quality and audio quality were both great — noticeably sharper and crisper than on ZoomorWebex".[55]
During the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, 8x8 reported 10.4 million active users globally per month.[56]
Several organisations and universities have set up their own Jitsi based video conferencing services, among them fairkom with fairmeeting, hosted on a scalable kubernetes cluster in the EU[57]orGoethe University Frankfurt.[58]
The non-profit-organisation Digitalcourage discourages in 2023 the usage of the free meet.jit.si service, as it is not free of tracking, requires authentication at either Google, GitHuborFacebook and is hosted at AWS which is not considered GDPR compliant.[59][60][61]
^Ivov, Emil; Corretgé, Saúl Ibarra (24 August 2021). "End-to-End Encryption in Jitsi Meet"(PDF). jitsi.org. Jitsi. Archived(PDF) from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
