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Any OS that supports the client-side libraries. In our case, these are all major OPs - Windows, Linux, Macintosh. The Ably Realtime client library is available in the most popular languages and platforms including JavaScript, iOS, Android, Java, .NET, Node.js, Ruby, and more.
Are there any limitations around the number of open Ably connections?
Customers should reuse the same Ably Realtime instance (which is representation of a single connection to Ably) to subscribe on multiple channels. We couldn't identify any reasons to create multiple connections other than the hard limit of inbound messages per connection which is 100 messages per second and the hard limit of 200 channels per connection. If your subscription fits into these limitations, you do not need to deal with the complexity of managing multiple Ably Realtime instances but can only use a single connection.
Are there any limitations around the number of channel subscriptions per connection?
Yes. There is a hard limit of a maximum of 200 channels per connection.
When should I open the channel subscription?
We do not recommend subscribing to a channel too much before fixture start time. We suggest 3 hours before the kickoff should be a sensible interval of time to create your subscription. In case you start creating subscriptions for games that will start in a few days, you will start hitting the limits for maximum channels per connection. Creating a subscription to channel with no publisher will not result in an error. Please keep in mind that each Ably access token has expiration time and needs to be refreshed so if you create a subscription too early, you will have to refresh the token multiple times.