Android App Connecting to Node.js server using Socket.io

I actually solved the problem. I used my PC's local IP http://192.168.0.xxx:7000 and the app was able to connect to the chat server from the emulator. I don't know why this works, but it might help out someone in the future :)

Update:

This is how I ended up structuring the project. I created a singleton class to handle socket connections Android side (you could also do it as a service). When receiving a message, the singleton class broadcasts an intent to the rest of the app. The intent is then picked up by a broadcast receiver in the relevant activity.

Android Side (singleton):

public class SocketSingleton {

    private static SocketSingleton instance;
    private static final String SERVER_ADDRESS = "http://1.2.3.4:1234";
    private SocketIO socket;
    private Context context;

    public static SocketSingleton get(Context context){
        if(instance == null){
            instance = getSync(context);
        }
        instance.context = context;
        return instance;
    }

    public static synchronized SocketSingleton getSync(Context context){
        if (instance == null) {
            instance = new SocketSingleton(context);
        }
        return instance;
    }

    public SocketIO getSocket(){
        return this.socket;
    }

    private SocketSingleton(Context context){
        this.context = context;
        this.socket = getChatServerSocket();
        this.friends = new ArrayList<Friend>();
    }

    private SocketIO getChatServerSocket(){
        try {
            SocketIO socket = new SocketIO(new URL(SERVER_ADDRESS), new IOCallback() {
                @Override
                public void onDisconnect() {
                    System.out.println("disconnected");
                }

                @Override
                public void onConnect() {
                    System.out.println("connected");
                }

                @Override
                public void on(String event, IOAcknowledge ioAcknowledge, Object... objects) {
                    if (event.equals("chatMessage")) {
                        JSONObject json = (JSONObject) objects[0];
                        ChatMessage chatMessage = new ChatMessage(json);

                        Intent intent = new Intent();
                        intent.setAction("newChatMessage");
                        intent.putExtra("chatMessage", chatMessage);
                        context.sendBroadcast(intent);
                    }
                }
                @Override
                public void onError(SocketIOException e) {
                    e.printStackTrace();
                }
            });
            return socket;
        } catch (MalformedURLException ex) {
            ex.printStackTrace();
        }
        return null;
    }
}

Android Side (activity):

public class ChatActivity extends Activity {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_chat);
    IntentFilter newChatMessageFilter = new IntentFilter("newChatMessage");
    this.registerReceiver(new MessageReceiver(), newChatMessageFilter);

    ...

    public class MessageReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
        @Override
        public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent){
            final ChatMessage chatMessage =(ChatMessage) intent.getExtras().get("chatMessage");
            runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
                @Override
                public void run() {
                    mAdapter.add(chatMessage);
                    mAdapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
                }
            });
        }
    }
} 

Server Side:

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var server = require('http').createServer(app).listen(1234);
var io = require('socket.io').listen(server);

io.sockets.on('connection', function(client){

    console.log("client connected: " + client.id);

    client.on("sendTo", function(chatMessage){
        console.log("Message From: " + chatMessage.fromName);
        console.log("Message To: " + chatMessage.toName);


        io.sockets.socket(chatMessage.toClientID).emit("chatMessage", {"fromName" : chatMessage.fromName,
                                                                    "toName" : chatMessage.toName,
                                                                    "toClientID" : chatMessage.toClientID,
                                                                    "msg" : chatMessage.msg});

    });
});

You're emulator network is different from your PC's as I have heard. So if you could by change try this on an actual phone that is connected to the same network as your PC.

You probably wont be able to ping 10.0.2.2 from your emulator or the other way around from your pc to emulator.