🚀 AndroidIRCX Update: From Mobile IRC Client to Serious IRC Power Tool

The last time I wrote about AndroidIRCX, it was already more than a simple mobile IRC client. It had SASL, TLS, multiple networks, raw IRC support, encryption work, and the basic idea was clear:

Android users deserve a real IRC client, not a toy.

Since then, a lot has changed.

We are now at AndroidIRCX v1.9.27, and the app has moved through several important stages: better network import, stronger IRCv3 support, WebRTC calling, safer media handling, improved crash recovery, native-library fixes, Google Play compliance work, and many dependency/security updates.

This post is a full overview of what changed since the previous AndroidIRCX article.

📱 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.androidircx

💾 Direct download: https://androidircx.com/

⚡ The Short Version

AndroidIRCX has become a much more serious app.

The biggest changes are:

Current version is v1.9.27
IRC networks can be imported from IRCDBase
IRCv3 diagnostics are now much deeper
IRCv3 replies and message tags are supported better
CHATHISTORY, read markers and metadata support were improved
WebSocket and WebIRC support were added
WebRTC audio/video calling was added and then improved
Media playback and encrypted media previews are safer
Startup crashes around native libraries were fixed
x86/x86_64 native packaging was hardened
SoLoader cache recovery was added
Google Play Age Signals support was added
Firebase, App Check and Crashlytics dependencies were updated
More tests were added around risky areas

This is not just a version bump. This is a real maturity jump.

🌐 IRC Database Integration

One of the most useful changes is the new Load from IRCDBase API option.

Before this, users had to manually add networks, servers, ports, SSL settings and identities. That is fine for experienced IRC users, but it is annoying when you just want to connect and test networks quickly.

Now AndroidIRCX can load approved IRC network presets from:

https://irc.dbase.in.rs/api/irc/server-presets

This means:

users can import IRC networks directly into AndroidIRCX
DBase remains the default setup
imported networks are stored locally
server lists can be merged without duplicating existing entries
invalid hosts and ports are filtered before import
pagination and timeout handling are built into the import service

For network admins, this also matters.

If you want your network to appear in AndroidIRCX, submit it through IRCDBase:

Only networks that explicitly opt in to discovery are eligible for import.

That is important. AndroidIRCX is not scraping random servers and pretending it has permission. Network discovery should be opt-in and transparent.

🧩 IRCv3 Got Much Stronger

AndroidIRCX already had IRCv3 work before, but the newer builds made it much more visible and useful.

The app now includes a full IRCv3 diagnostics screen under:

Settings > Connection & Network

This includes:

capability grid
ISUPPORT information
feature matrix
refresh support
better visibility into what the server actually supports

This is the kind of feature power users care about.

Instead of guessing whether a server supports a capability, you can inspect it directly. That helps with debugging SASL, message tags, CHATHISTORY, replies, read markers and other modern IRC features.

💬 Replies, Message Tags and History

The newer AndroidIRCX versions also improved modern message handling.

Important changes include:

IRCv3 reply support
visual reply indicators on replied messages
Reply button in the selection bar
sending replies with the +draft/reply tag
message tags support
CHATHISTORY navigation
read markers
metadata handling

This makes AndroidIRCX feel less like an old mobile IRC port and more like a modern IRCv3 client.

IRC is old, but that does not mean IRC clients have to feel frozen in 2003.

🔌 WebSocket and WebIRC Support

Another important step is support around WebSocket/WebIRC.

This opens the door for more flexible deployments, especially where normal raw IRC ports are blocked or where networks expose modern connection layers.

AndroidIRCX also added secure WebIRC password storage, so WebIRC credentials are not treated casually.

This matters because WebIRC is powerful but sensitive. If credentials are stored badly, the whole point of secure connection handling is weakened.

📞 WebRTC Audio and Video Calling

One of the bigger feature jumps was WebRTC calling.

AndroidIRCX added:

audio calls
video calls
Privacy Relay support
direct P2P calling for free users
configurable STUN servers
default 480p video
optional 720p
smarter signaling
smaller SDP payloads
retry and fallback handling
clearer connection errors
minimized call mode
PiP/overlay support
ongoing notifications
return and hang-up actions
camera and microphone permission prompts before calls

Later builds improved calling reliability further:

global Privacy Relay initialization
fixes for settings races that could overwrite TURN/STUN settings
editable STUN/TURN server lists
add/remove/reorder fallback support
relay-only policy
nick menu call visibility controls
better relay auto-enable behavior after restore

This is a big deal.

IRC itself does not have native WebRTC calling. AndroidIRCX is adding modern communication features while still keeping IRC as the base.

🎬 Better Media Stability

There were several fixes around media, especially audio and video.

Recent releases fixed or improved:

Android video playback crash caused by Media3 conflicts
memory use in media download/upload flows
memory use in DCC file flows
invalid or oversized API responses
crashes when MP3/audio files are shared in channels
audio previews loading only after pressing Play
invalid or unsupported audio links
encrypted media preview screens on MIUI/HyperOS devices

This is exactly the kind of work users do not always notice when everything works, but they notice immediately when it is missing.

Media handling on Android can be messy, especially across different vendors. MIUI/HyperOS, old devices, emulators, x86 builds, and native modules can all behave differently.

The app is now more defensive in those areas.

🛠️ Startup and Native Library Fixes

The latest releases focused heavily on startup stability.

AndroidIRCX fixed several native-library issues:

missing or wrong-architecture native libraries are rejected during release verification
x86 and x86_64 startup stability was improved
stale or mismatched SoLoader cache crashes were fixed
corrupted extracted native libraries can now be cleared before failing startup
the app retries native loading after clearing the bad cache

This came from real crash analysis.

The important part is not only that a crash was fixed. The important part is that release verification was strengthened so bad native packaging is caught earlier.

That means fewer broken builds and fewer users stuck with an app that crashes before it even opens.

📱 Tablet and Large Screen Improvements

AndroidIRCX also improved behavior on tablets and large screens.

Changes include:

better compatibility for devices without NFC, camera or microphone hardware
adaptive landscape/tablet layout handling
Display & UI settings for larger layouts
safer nicklist sizing
nicklist no longer crowds the chat area on wide screens

This matters because IRC is information dense.

On a phone, you fight for every pixel. On a tablet, you should be able to use the extra space properly. The newer builds move AndroidIRCX closer to that.

🛡️ Google Play Compliance and Age Signals

Newer releases added Google Play Age Signals support.

This includes:

age-verification compliance support
safe startup checks for applicable regions
supervised account handling
handling for denied, pending, unknown and unavailable age signals
Android build validation for the compliance gate

This kind of work is not glamorous, but it is necessary if the app is going to stay available through Google Play.

Open-source projects still have to survive store requirements. Ignoring that side of the release process only hurts users later.

🔐 Security and Privacy Hardening

Security work continued across multiple releases.

Important changes include:

protobuf security patches
safer Crashlytics error sanitization
reduced sensitive logging around media and Privacy Relay
safer Play Integrity request nonce generation
fail-closed behavior when secure random generation is unavailable
safer API error handling
secure WebIRC password storage
App Check and Crashlytics dependency updates

I care about this part a lot.

IRC users often handle real credentials: NickServ passwords, SASL passwords, bouncer passwords, oper credentials, WebIRC secrets, certificate fingerprints and private server details.

A mobile IRC client must not leak sensitive values into logs just because debugging is convenient.

AndroidIRCX is moving in the right direction here: fewer secrets in logs, better sanitization and safer failure modes.

🧪 Dependencies, Tests and Release Quality

A lot of work also happened under the hood.

AndroidIRCX updated many dependencies, including:

Firebase app packages
Firebase App Check
Crashlytics
React / React Native related packages
TypeScript and Node type definitions
protobuf packages
media and native modules

Tests were added or improved around:

audio playback safety
media preview handling
IRC Database import
Play Integrity request security
Crashlytics sanitization
modal presentation order
user list and nick context actions
native-library release validation

This is the boring work that makes the app reliable.

Features are easy to announce. Stability is harder. AndroidIRCX needed both, and the newer versions show that the project is taking release quality more seriously.

📦 Current Version

As of June 6, 2026, the repository shows:

Version: 1.9.27
Version code: 131
Latest changelog: Firebase app, App Check and Crashlytics dependency updates, plus Node.js type definition updates

The public release-notes URL currently does not return the text release-notes file directly. It returns the AndroidIRCX landing page HTML instead, and the TLS certificate on the www host is expired. Because of that, I used the GitHub master changelog files and PR/commit history as the accurate source for the newest version.

Relevant source:

🎯 Conclusion

AndroidIRCX changed a lot since the last article.

It is no longer just "an Android IRC client with modern features." It is becoming a serious IRC power tool:

stronger IRCv3 support
better diagnostics
IRCDBase network import
WebIRC/WebSocket support
WebRTC calling
safer media handling
stronger startup recovery
better tablet support
Google Play compliance work
improved dependency and security hygiene

This is the kind of progress IRC on Android needed.

If you are still using old, abandoned Android IRC clients, it is time to test AndroidIRCX again. The app has moved forward fast, and the newer builds are much more stable, much more capable and much more serious.

Download:

📱 Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.androidircx

💾 Direct APK / Website: https://androidircx.com/

Source code:

https://github.com/AndroidIRCx/AndroidIRCx

Join us on DBase:

irc.dbase.in.rs:6697 SSL/TLS

Channel:

#AndroidIRCx

Stay updated. Stay connected.

— munZe konZa