Seamless application connectivity

A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

• receiving, by a first device in communication with a second device over a first network connection, a request to switch from using the first network connection to using a second network connection for communication between the first device and the second device;
• while maintaining the first network connection between the first device and the second device, establishing, by the first device, the second network connection between the first device and the second device;
• while maintaining both (i) the first network connection between the first device and the second device and (ii) the second network connection between the first device and the second device, mapping, by the first device, the first network connection and the second network connection to a single connection alias that represents, to applications running on the first device, both the first network connection and the second network connection as a single network connection, the single connection alias including an identifier of the first device and an identifier of the second device;
• after mapping the first network connection and the second network connection to the single connection alias and during a period of time:
• receiving, by the first device and from the second device, data over the first network connection and not over the second network connection, and
• transmitting, by the first device and to the second device, data over the second network connection and not over the first network connection;
• and
• after the period of time has elapsed:
• terminating the first network connection,
• receiving, by the first device and from the second device, data over the second network connection and not over the first network connection that has terminated, and
• transmitting, by the first device and to the second device, data over the second network connection and not over the terminated first network connection.

A device comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• an interface that is programmed to receive a request to switch from using a first network connection to using a second network connection for communicating with a second device;
• and
• a connectivity manager that is configured to:
• while maintaining the first network connection between the first device and the second device, establish, by the first device, the second network connection between the first device and the second device;
• while maintaining both (i) the first network connection between the first device and the second device and (ii) the second network connection between the first device and the second device, map, by the first device, the first network connection and the second network connection to a single connection alias that represents, to applications running on the first device, both the first network connection and the second network connection as a single network connection, the single connection alias including an identifier of the first device and an identifier of the second device;
• after mapping the first network connection and the second network connection to the single connection alias and for a period of time:
• receive, by the first device and from the second device, data over the first network connection and not over the second network connection, and
• transmit, by the first device and to the second device, data over the second network connection and not over the first network connection;
• and
• after the period of time has elapsed:
• terminate the first network connection,
• receive, by the first device and from the second device, data over the second network connection and not over the first network connection that has terminated, and
• transmit, by the first device and to the second device, data over the second network connection and not over the terminated first network connection.