Question

I am using the following js plugin which allows me to use WebSockets on android and iOS with apps written in html5 (via phonegap in my case).

https://github.com/FreakDev/PhoneGap-Android-HTML5-WebSocket

What else do I need in order to use a websocket?

I have a basic server with bluehost that has PHP and MySQL installed.. What am I going to need to do?

Answer 1

First you can use a library like this one:
http://code.google.com/p/phpwebsocket/

Second, your host must let you create sockets. This mean PHP must have php_sockets.dll (Win) or sockets.so (Linux) extension enabled and a forwarded port from your server.
Also you need to run your php from commend line or somehow keep it alive for ever.

It is just like creating a normal socket in PHP.

*Edit:

1. WebSockets are just some sort of normal sockets. In websocket you can connect to a endpoint which is listening for connections and then communicate with it. Just like normal sockets but with simple differences in protocol and more limitations. For doing so you need a script or application to run for ever and handle all connections from webpages. But a php file will end just after request ended. For keeping a php file running for ever you need to run it from commend line which mean you need to have shell access, or you can use this code to run your php script for ever: (But you must think about a mechanism to call it only once)

   ignore_user_abort(true);

   ini_set(‘max_execution_time’, 0);

   set_time_limit(0);

2. You can test. If your application fail with error messages about not knowing a function like socket_connect or socket_bind then you don’t have socket extension for php.

3. Here is phpwebsocket files for download:
   http://phpwebsocket.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/%20phpwebsocket/
   There is an example there too.

4. As “Tom van der Woerdt” said PHP is not designed for doing socket programming. Go for a non-scripting language and use a dedicated server or at least a vps for opening and managing sockets.