As we promised in a previous post we have blocked Camfrog 4.X.  If you were having high CPU usage problems and high bandwidth usage with 5.X we urge you to wait a few days then try 5.X again.  As mentioned in the previous blog post the high CPU usage and bandwidth were caused by 3.X and 4.X users.

If you are having stability problems we urge you to report them to us.

Download Camfrog 5.1

Today we blocked Camfrog 3.X clients from logging on to the Camfrog central server.  The reason for this is because 3.X is using our old video technology and this is causing 5.X users to have to use twice the CPU resources and Bandwidth they should be using.

How is this possible?

Camfrog 5.X has technology that makes it cross-compatible with our old 3.X versions.  This means that if you are using Camfrog 5.X and a 3.X user is viewing you then your bandwidth and CPU usage is doubled.  This is because your 5.X client is sending out two video streams.  One video stream is a 5.X video stream and the other is a 3.X user video stream.  These double cross-compatible video streams also cause Camfrog client 5.X to use more CPU resources and it causes people hosting Camfrog Servers to send out twice as much bandwidth.

We have given Camfrog users since April (6 months) to upgrade to Camfrog 5.X and we feel now is the right time to ask all 3.X users to upgrade.  If you are having technical problems with 5.X please report your problem so we can fix it as soon as possible.

As more and more users upgrade to Camfrog 5.X you should see your bandwidth and CPU usage decrease significantly.  Room owners should also see their room bandwidth decrease.  We plan to also block Camfrog 4.X in the next few weeks.  Once 5.X is the only Camfrog client available you should see major improvements in our video quality along with lower CPU usage.

We just wanted to make this post so everyone would understand why 3.X is blocked, and we wanted to make it clear that there is a very important technical reason for doing so.  Thank you for using Camfrog and we hope you enjoy the awesome video quality with version 5.X.

Upgrade to Camfrog 5.1

Last month we published information on how to report a Windows Camfrog client problem directly to our development team.  Now with Camfrog Client 1.7 (Mac OS X) you can also report problems directly to our Mac OS X development team.

When having a problem with Camfrog Client (Max OS X) go to the “Camfrog Video Chat” menu next to the Apple menu at the top of your screen.  In that menu choose “Generate File for Technical Support”.  A window will appear that asks you to give a short description of the problem you are having along with your email address.  Please give a short but detailed description about what problem you are having along with instructions on how we can recreate this bug.  Next submit your bug report and we will investigate and try to solve the problem you are having.

You may or may not get an email reply from our development team, but your bug reports are very useful to us and we really appreciate them.  We would like to thank all Windows and Mac users who have submitted bug reports.  Thank you for helping us keep Camfrog stable and fun to use.

Camfrog Mac 1.7 is now available for download. This new version has larger high quality video, MacBook Air compatibility, faster loading video, a webcam organizer for Pro users, a new “Lurkers” user category, and many other upgrades and stability fixes.

Download Camfrog 1.7 (Mac OS X)

Changes List

Did you know you can report Camfrog client stability problems directly to the Camfrog development team?  Ever since Camfrog version 3.91 we have given Camfrog client for Windows a special debug mode that allows users to create special logs and send them on to our developers for investigation.

If you are having stability problems with Camfrog client visit our Frequently Asked Questions page, then scroll down to where it says “I am still having multimedia problems…” and follow the instructions to send a report to our team.

Thank you for filing these reports and helping to keep Camfrog high quality and extremely stable.

Camfrog Client 5.1 for Windows was released today.  The change log shows that Camfrog Client 5.1 has been updated with stability enhancements, the ability to choose your preferred language during installation, and now it’s easy to see who you have already viewed in the video chat room user list.  If you mouse over a user nickname in the user list and the link turns the color magenta, then you know you have already viewed that person.

Upgrade To Camfrog 5.1 Now!

If you seem to be crashing a lot lately with Camfrog client for Windows we may have a solution for you.  Try going to your contact list, then choose the “Actions” menu and choose “Settings”.  Next under “General” check the box that says “Show animated emoticons as text”.  Hopefully this will help you avoid any unexpected crashes until we release a fix for this problem.

Once our new version is updated you can go back to the settings and reactivate emoticons by checking this same box.

Some Mac users may have noticed that not all chat rooms were appearing in their internal video chat room list. We released a quick update to solve this with Camfrog Mac version 1.6. Please upgrade.

We will have a bigger Mac update with more features sometime in the next 30 days.

Camfrog Server 4.1 for Linux was released today.  Camfrog Server for Linux now has easier to use logging similar to the new 4.1 Windows version released last week.  Please upgrade your servers.

Camfrog Server 4.1 for Windows is now available for download. The new server version now has much easier to read logs with a new simple format. We also made some important changes for the coming 5.1 Camfrog Client. Please upgrade your rooms.