Android - Sockets vs Polling

Question

As part of an Android app I\'m developing there is a chat room feature. We have a server which can process the incoming messages and store the messages. Is it better to keep

Answer 1

I would keep the socket open if you are worried about instant messaging, it takes time to setup the socket connection especially if you are using the GSM connection. I have seen it take 10 secs or more to open up a socket on 3G, much less if on WiFi.