Using SendBirdSDK and SendBirdUIKit together?

Sendbird Chat UIKit iOS
1

[Problem/Question]
I have an application in iOS that I would like to integrate chat into. I would like to leverage SendBirdUIKit for the UI.

I’ve asked ChatGTP how I can create a one to one chat experience. It tells me I need to use both SendBirdUIKit and the SendBirdSDK to achieve what I want to do. Here is what it is telling me:

1. Install SendBirdUIKit and SendBirdSDK:

You can install SendBirdUIKit and SendBirdSDK using CocoaPods or Swift Package Manager. Here, I will use CocoaPods:

Add the following to your Podfile:

platform :ios, '10.0'
use_frameworks!

target 'YourAppTarget' do
  pod 'SendBirdSDK'
  pod 'SendBirdUIKit'
end

Then, run pod install in your terminal to install the dependencies.

2. Import SendBirdUIKit:

In your ViewController or the file where you want to implement the chat functionality, import SendBirdUIKit:

import SendBirdUIKit

3. Initialize SendBirdSDK:

In your AppDelegate file, import SendBirdSDK and initialize it with your application ID within the didFinishLaunchingWithOptions method:

import SendBirdSDK

func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
    SBDMain.initWithApplicationId("YOUR_APP_ID")
    return true
}

Replace "YOUR_APP_ID" with your actual SendBird application ID.

4. Connect to SendBird server:

Before you can create a chat, you need to connect to the SendBird server with a user. Here’s an example of how to connect:

func connectToSendBird(userId: String, completionHandler: @escaping (Result<SBDUser, Error>) -> Void) {
    SBDMain.connect(withUserId: userId) { (user, error) in
        if let error = error {
            completionHandler(.failure(error))
        } else if let user = user {
            completionHandler(.success(user))
        }
    }
}

Call this function with a unique userId to connect to the SendBird server.

5. Open one-on-one chat:

After connecting to the server, use the following code to create a one-on-one chat:

func openOneToOneChat(targetUserId: String) {
    let channelListParams = SBDGroupChannelListQuery()
    channelListParams?.limit = 10
    channelListParams?.userIdsFilter = [targetUserId]
    channelListParams?.memberStateFilter = .joined

    channelListParams?.loadNextPage(completionHandler: { (channels, error) in
        if let error = error {
            print("Error loading channels: \(error)")
            return
        }
        
        if let channel = channels?.first {
            self.openChat(channel: channel)
        } else {
            self.createOneToOneChannel(targetUserId: targetUserId)
        }
    })
}

func createOneToOneChannel(targetUserId: String) {
    let params = SBDGroupChannelParams()
    params.isDistinct = true
    params.addUserIds([targetUserId])
    
    SBDGroupChannel.createChannel(with: params) { (channel, error) in
        if let error = error {
            print("Error creating channel: \(error)")
            return
        }
        
        if let channel = channel {
            self.openChat(channel: channel)
        }
    }
}

func openChat(channel: SBDGroupChannel) {
    let channelVC = SBUChannelViewController(channel: channel)
    let navigationController = UINavigationController(rootViewController: channelVC)
    self.present(navigationController, animated: true, completion: nil)
}

Call the openOneToOneChat(targetUserId:) function with the target user’s ID when you want to open a chat.

My question becomes… should I really be using both the UIKit and SDK to achieve this. My app has a little message user button next to each users profile. My goal is to make a function that passes the user information to sendbird and creates a one to one group channel then displays the chat box.

Important Note:
The lastest knowledge ChatGTP 4 has on Sendbird UI is version version 2.1.2. So what it is suggest may be outdated. I am using the latest version.

// If problem, please fill out the below. If question, please delete.
[UIKit Version]
Latest

2

Hi @tegan.

If you look at our documentation, it is explained as follows.

  • If you are using Swift Packages or CocoaPods, you don’t need to add SendBirdChatSDK.

  • If you are using Carthage, then you need to add SendBirdUIKit and SendBirdChatSDK into your Cartfile.

Please follow our documentation. If you face a problem, please let us know.

Seems you are using Sendbird UIKit version 2. I recommend you use Sendbird UIKit version 3

3

That did the trick! Thanks

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