Introduction

In this tutorial, I will walk you through the complete process of integrating the MirrorFly Chat SDK into your React Native app. With our React Native Chat SDK, you can create a real-time chat app within just 10 Mins.

Moving forward, we'll cover the following steps:

  • Install the SDK
  • Initialize SDK
  • Register users
  • Connect to the MirrorFly server
  • Send and receive messages

Before you begin, please ensure you have the following prerequisites:

  • Node: 14.20.0
  • npm: 6.14.10
  • react-native: 0.69.12

Now, let's begin the integration.

Get Started

  • Go to the MirrorFly Console Page.
  • Create your MirrorFly account
  • build react native chat app
  • Install the npm dependencies

                        {
                        "@react-native-async-storage/async-storage": "^1.17.7",//Any version
                        "react-native-get-random-values": "1.7.1",//must use version >=1.7.1
                        "react-native-document-picker" :"8.1.1",// must use version >=8.1.1
                        'realm': "^10.8.0",
                        'react-native-fs':  "^2.18.0",
                        '@react-native-community/netinfo': "^8.0.0",
                        'moment': "2.29.4",
                        'rn-fetch-blob': "^0.12.0",
                        'react-native-compressor': "1.6.1",
                        'react-native-convert-ph-asset': "^1.0.3",
                        'react-native-mov-to-mp4' :"^0.2.2"
                    }
                        

Now, the integration begins.

Step 1 : Install Dependencies

  • Begin by updating your package.json files.
  • Carefully check for any duplicate packages. This is particularly crucial if you encounter issues on iOS.

                           npm install 
                  

Step 2 : Copy SDK Files

  • Go to the dist folder of the MirrorFly Chat SDK and copy all the extracted files.
  • Create a new directory in your React Native project and paste all the copied SDK files into it.

Step 3 : Create SDK.js

  • Inside your project, create a new file named SDK.js.
  • Import the SDK into the SDK.js file:

                    import './index';
                    const SDK = window.SDK;
                    export default SDK;
                  

Step 4 : Initialize Chat SDK

Now that you've successfully integrated the SDK into your project, it's time to initialize it.

  • To achieve this, you'll be using the initializeSDK method.
  • Paste the license key you obtained in the Get Started section on the licensekey param.

                     const initializeObj = {
                         apiBaseUrl: `API_URL`,
                         licenseKey: `LICENSE_KEY`,
                         isTrialLicenseKey: `TRIAL_MODE`,
                         callbackListeners: {},
                     };
                     await SDK.initializeSDK(initializeObj);  
                  

Step 5 : Register a User

To utilize the chat functionality, you must first register a user. Use the register method for this purpose:


                         await SDK.register(`USER_IDENTIFIER`); 
                  

Upon successful registration, you will receive a response containing a username and password, which are essential for connecting to the server.

Sample Response


                   {
                         statusCode: 200,
                         message: "Success",
                         data: {
                         username: "123456789",
                         password: "987654321"
                         }
                     }
                    

Step 6 : Connect to MirrorFly Server

Utilize the credentials acquired during registration to establish a connection to the MirrorFly server. You can achieve this by using the connect method:


                   await SDK.connect(`USERNAME`, `PASSWORD`);
                    

Sample Response


                         { 
                         message: "Login Success", 
                         statusCode: 200 
                          }   
                    

Step 7 : Send a Message

To send a message to another user, employ the sendTextMessage method:


                   await SDK.sendTextMessage(`TO_USER_JID`, `MESSAGE_BODY`,`MESSAGE_ID`,`REPLY_TO`);
                    

Ensure that you provide the JID of the recipient, the message body, a unique message ID, and an optional reference to the message being replied to.

Sample Response


                     { 
                         "message": "",// String - Success/Error Message 
                         "statusCode": "" // Number - status code 
                     } 
                    

Step 8 : Receive a Message

To receive messages from other users, implement the messageListener function. This function will be triggered each time you receive a new message. You can add this callback method during the initialization process.


                      function messageListener(response) {
                         console.log("Message Listener", response);
                     }
                    

Step 9 : Get Recent Chats

To get the recent chat list on your app, you need to add the following code:


                      await SDK.getRecentChatsDB();
                      
                    

Sample Response


                     { 
                         "message": "",// String - Success/Error Message 
                         "statusCode": "" // Number - status code 
                         "data": [ 
                           { 
                             "chatType": "chat", 
                             "createdAt": "2023-09-06 10:52:46", 
                             "deleteStatus": 0, 
                             "fromUserId": "", // String - fromUserId 
                             "msgBody": { 
                               "nickName": "", 
                               "mid": "",// String - user mid 
                               "message": "",// String - User Text Mesaage 
                               "message_type": "",// String - User Text Mesaage Type 
                               "replyTo": "", 
                               "mentionedUsersIds": "" 
                             }, 
                             "msgId": "",// String - user msgId 
                             "msgStatus": 1, 
                             "msgType": "",// String - msgType 
                             "muteStatus": 0, 
                             "publisherId": "",// String - user Number 
                             "timestamp":"",// number timestamp 
                             "toUserId": "", 
                             "unreadCount": 0, 
                             "userId": "",// String - userId 
                             "userJid": "",// String - userJid 
                             "profileDetails": { 
                               "nickName": "",// String - User Name 
                               "image": "",// String - image 
                               "status": "",//String - User status 
                               "colorCode": "#7b0b88", 
                               "userId": "",// String - userId 
                               "userJid": "",// String - userJid 
                               "email": "",//String - User Email-Id 
                               "mobileNumber": "",//String - User mobile number 
                               "isAdminBlocked": 0 
                             } 
                           }, 
                         ] 
                       } 
                     
                                          
                    

Step 10 : Message Receipts

To get the message seen status, you’ll need to use the following method:


                      await SDK.sendSeenStatus(`TO_USER_JID`, `MESSAGE_ID`);
                      
                    

Step 11 : Delete Message For The Sender

To delete a message sent from the sender’s end, you’ll need to use the following code:


                     await SDK.deleteMessagesForMe(`TO_JID`, `MESSAGE_IDS`);
                      
                    

Sample Response


                     { 
                          statusCode: "", // Number - status code
                           message: "", // String - Success/Error Message
                     } 
                    

Step 12 : Delete Message For Both Sender & Receiver

To delete a message sent from both the sender and recipient’s end, you’ll need to use the following code:


                     await SDK.deleteMessagesForEveryone(`TO_JID`, `MESSAGE_IDS`);
                      
                    

Sample Response


                     { 
                         statusCode: "", // Number - status code 
                         message: "", // String - Success/Error Message 
                       } 
                    

Step 13 : Push Notifications

To enable push notifications, you need to integrate Firebase into your app. Follow the steps below to achieve this:

  • Go to the firebase console and create a new project with your app package name. Ex: com.testapp
  • Next, download the google-service.json
  • Go to your /android/app/ folder in your App and add the google-service.json file.

React Native Firebase Installation

Install the firebase package for react native using the following code:

Using NPM


                        npm install --save @react-native-firebase/app
                        @react-native-firebase/messaging 
                    

Using Yarn


                     yarn add @react-native-firebase/app 
                     @react-native-firebase/messaging 
                

Add Firebase Configurations To Android

You must enable the google-services plugin to allow Firebase to use the credentials in Android.

To do this, you’ll need to modify 2 files in the Android directory.

  • You need to add the google-services plugin as a dependency inside of your /android/build.gradle file

                           buildscript { 
                               dependencies { 
                                   // ... other dependencies 
                                   classpath ("com.google.gms:google-services:4.3.15") 
                                   // Add me --- /\ 
                              } 
                         } 

                    
  • Next, add the following to the /android/app/build.gradle file to execute the file.

                           apply plugin: 'com.android.application' 
                           apply plugin: 'com.google.gms.google-services' // <- Add this line  
                    

Lastly, Add the following to your AndroidManifest.xml file and execute the plugin.


                           <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS"/>
                    

Register User with FCM token


                       import messaging from '@react-native-firebase/messaging'; 
                       const fcmToken = await messaging().getToken(); 
                       await SDK.register('USER_IDENTIFIER', 'FCM_TOKEN'); 
                    

Sample Response


                     { 
                       statusCode: 200, 
                       message: "Success", 
                       data: { 
                         username: "123456789", 
                         password: "987654321" 
                       } 
                         }   
                  

Configuration For Background Message Handling

Add the following code to the index.js file.


                     import messaging from '@react-native-firebase/messaging'; 
                     const fcmToken = await messaging().getToken(); 
                     await SDK.register('USER_IDENTIFIER', 'FCM_TOKEN'); 
                 

Sample Response


                  { 
                   msgType: "", // String - value "receiveMessage" 
                   chatType: "", // String - Chat Type - "chat" - Single 
                   publisherJid: "", // String - Jid - One Who Sends the Message 
                   publisherId: "", // String - Id - One Who Sends the Message 
                   fromUserJid: "", // String - From User Jid - 
                                   // Will Be Same as PublisherJid in Case of Single Chat 
                   fromUserId: "", // String - From User Id 
                   toUserJid: "", // String - Jid - One Who Receives the Message 
                   toUserId: "", // String - To User Id - One Who Receives the Message 
                   metaData: {}, //Object - Meta data for the message 
                   msgBody: { 
                     message: "", // String - Message Body 
                     message_type: "", // String - Message Type text, image, video, audio & file 
                     nickName: "", // String - User Nickname 
                     mentionedUsersIds: [] // Array - Mentioned Ids In case of Group 
                     media: { // For Media Message Only 
                       androidHeight: 0, 
                       androidWidth: 0, 
                       audioType: "" // String - "file" or "recording" 
                       caption: "", // String - Media Caption 
                       duration: "", // String - Duration - For Audio/Videos 
                       fileName: "", // String - File Name 
                       file_key: "", // String - File Key 
                       file_size: "", // Number - File Size 
                       file_url: "", // String - File Url 
                       is_downloaded: "", // Number - Downloaded Status 
                       is_uploading: "", // Number - Uploading Status 
                       local_path: "", // String - Local Path 
                       msgId: "", // String - Message Id 
                       originalHeight: 0, // Number 
                       originalWidth: 0, // Number 
                       thumb_image: "", // Base64 - Thumb Image 
                       webHeight: 0, // Number 
                       webWidth: 0, // Number 
                     } 
                   }, 
                   msgId: "", // String - Message Id 
                   topicId: "", //String - Topic Id for the message 
                   msgStatus: "", // Number - Message Status 
                   timestamp: 1681185232284, // Number - TimeStamp - Milliseconds 
                   profileDetails:{ 
                     { 
                         email: "", // String 
                         fromUser: "", // String 
                         image: "", // String - File Url 
                         mobileNumber: "", // String 
                         nickName: "", // String 
                         status: "", // String 
                         thumbImage: "", // Base64 - Thumb Image 
                         userId: "", // String 
                     } 
                 } 
                 

Conclusion

Now, we’ve come to the end of this Tutorial. To give a quick recap, you came across the complete steps to add chat functionality to your React native app using MirrorFly SDK. Next, you’ve learnt the steps to add features like send/ receive messages, chat receipts and push notifications (by integrating firebase).

So yes, now you have all the steps to build a React Native chat app.

If you have any questions on these steps, you can directly contact our tech support team or you can refer to our Documentation.

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