Messaging

Before you begin

Register a QuickBlox account. This is a matter of a few minutes and you will be able to use this account to build your apps.
Configure QuickBlox SDK for your app. Check out our Setup page for more details.
Create a user session to be able to use QuickBlox functionality. See our Authentication page to learn how to do it.
Connect to the Chat server. See our Connection page to learn how to do it.
Create a dialog. See our Dialogs page to learn how to do it.

Visit our Key Concepts page to get an overall understanding of the most important QuickBlox concepts.

Subscribe message events

Add the event delegate to receive messages in real-time using the addDelegate() method. The event delegate enables the app to listen to message events associated with receiving a message, delivery receipts, and read receipts.

QBChat.instance.addDelegate(self)

[QBChat.instance addDelegate: self];

You should also implement the QBChatDelegate methods in your chat controller to track events in your chat.

/// MARK: - QBChatDelegate
extension YourViewController: QBChatDelegate {
    // MARK: - Manage chat receive message callback's
    func chatRoomDidReceive(_ message: QBChatMessage, fromDialogID dialogID: String) {
        // Called whenever group chat dialog did receive a message.
        // !!!note Will be called on both recipients' and senders' device (with corrected time from server)
    }
    func chatDidReceive(_ message: QBChatMessage) {
        // Called whenever new private message was received from QBChat.
        // !!!note Will be called only on recipient device
    }
}

/// MARK: - QBChatDelegate
// MARK: - Manage chat receive message callback's
- (void)chatDidReceiveMessage:(QBChatMessage *)message {
    // Called whenever new private message was received from QBChat.
    // !!!note Will be called only on recipient device
}
- (void)chatRoomDidReceiveMessage:(QBChatMessage *)message fromDialogID (NSString*)dialogID {
    // Called whenever group chat dialog did receive a message.
    // !!!note Will be called on both recepients' and senders' device (with corrected time from server)
}

Send text message

To send a message to a private dialog, use the code snippet below.

let message = QBChatMessage()
message.text = "How are you today?"
message.customParameters["save_to_history"] = true
let privateDialog = ...
privateDialog.send(message) { (error) in
}

//MARK: ChatDelegate
func chatDidReceive(_ message: QBChatMessage) {
 }

QBChatMessage *message = [[QBChatMessage alloc] init];
message.text = @"How are you today?";
message.customParameters[@"save_to_history"] = @"1";
QBChatDialog *privateDialog = ...;
[privateDialog sendMessage:message completionBlock:^(NSError * _Nullable error) {
}];

//MARK: ChatDelegate
- (void)chatDidReceiveMessage:(QBChatMessage *)message {
} (edited)

To send a message to a group or public dialog, use the code snippet below.

📘
You need to join the group and public dialog by calling the join() method before you start chatting in a dialog. Once the dialog is joined, you can receive/send messages. See this section to learn how to join the dialog.

let message = QBChatMessage()
message.text = "How are you today?"
message.customParameters["save_to_history"] = true
let groupDialog = ...
groupDialog.send(message) { (error) in
}

//MARK: ChatDelegate
func chatRoomDidReceive(_ message: QBChatMessage, fromDialogID dialogID: String) {
 }

QBChatMessage *message = [[QBChatMessage alloc] init];
message.text = @"How are you today?";
message.customParameters[@"save_to_history"] = @"1";
QBChatDialog *groupDialog = ...;
[groupDialog sendMessage:message completionBlock:^(NSError * _Nullable error) {
}];

//MARK: QBChatDelegate
- (void)chatRoomDidReceiveMessage:(QBChatMessage *)message fromDialogID:(NSString *)dialogID {
}

📘
Make sure to set the save_to_history as true to save the message on the server. If the save_to_history is set as false, the message won't be saved on the server. However, the message will be delivered to the user in either case.

Send message with attachment

Chat attachments are supported by the content API. In order to send a chat attachment, you need to upload the file to QuickBlox cloud storage and obtain a link to the file (file UID). Then you need to include this UID into the chat message and send it.

let url = URL(fileURLWithPath:"file_path")
//for image
QBRequest.uploadFile(with: url, fileName: fileName, contentType: "image/png", isPublic: true, successBlock: { (response, uploadedBlob) in
    
    let attachment = QBChatAttachment()
    attachment.id = uploadedBlob.uid
    attachment.name = uploadedBlob.name
    //for image
    attachment.type = "image"
    attachment.url = uploadedBlob.publicUrl()
    
    let message = QBChatMessage()
    message.text = "Image Attachment"
    //Set attachment
    message.attachments = [attachment]
    //Send message with attachment
    chatDialog.send(message, completionBlock: { (error) in  
    })
}, statusBlock: { (request, status)  in
    //Update UI with upload progress
}, errorBlock: { (response) in
    //show upload error
})

NSURL *fileUrl = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:@"file_path"]; //Local file url
//for image
[QBRequest uploadFileWithUrl:fileUrl fileName:@"image.png" contentType:@"image/png" isPublic:YES successBlock:^(QBResponse * _Nonnull response, QBCBlob * _Nonnull blob) {
    //Create attachment
    QBChatAttachment *attachment = [[QBChatAttachment alloc] init];
    attachment.ID = blob.UID;
    //for image
    attachment.type = @"image";
    attachment.url = blob.publicUrl;
    //Create message
    QBChatMessage *message = [[QBChatMessage alloc] init];
    message.text = @"Image attachment";
    //Set attachment
    message.attachments = @[attachment];
    //Send message with attachment
    [chatDialog sendMessage:message completionBlock:^(NSError * _Nullable error) {}];
} statusBlock:^(QBRequest * _Nonnull request, QBRequestStatus * _Nonnull status) {
    //Update UI with upload progress
} errorBlock:^(QBResponse * _Nonnull response) {
    //show upload error
}];

The same flow is supported on the message receiver's side. When you receive a message with an attachment, you need to get the file UID, and then download the file from the cloud storage.

func chatDidReceive(_ message: QBChatMessage) {
    if let attachment = message.attachments?.first,
        let uid = attachment.id {
        QBRequest.downloadFile(withUID: uid, successBlock: { (response, data) in
            //process file data
        }, statusBlock: { (response, status) in
            //Update UI with dowonload progress
        }, errorBlock: { (response) in
            //show download error
        })
    }
}

- (void)chatDidReceiveMessage:(QBChatMessage *)message {
    QBChatAttachment *attachment = message.attachments.firstObject;
    [QBRequest downloadFileWithUID:attachment.ID successBlock:^(QBResponse * _Nonnull response, NSData * _Nonnull fileData) {
        //process file data
    } statusBlock:^(QBRequest * _Nonnull request, QBRequestStatus * _Nonnull status) {
        //Update UI with download progress
    } errorBlock:^(QBResponse * _Nonnull response) {
        //show download error
    }];
}

Send message with extra data

You have an option to extend the message with additional fields. Specify one or more key-value items in the message. Using these items, you can implement the ability for a user to send self-location information to another user or notification messages signifying that a user has left a group, etc.

let message = QBChatMessage()
message.text = "How are you today?"
message.customParameters["save_to_history"] = "1"
message.customParameters["customParam1"] = "book"
message.customParameters["customParam2"] = "21"

let dialog = ...
dialog.send(message) { (error) in
   
}

QBChatMessage *message = [[QBChatMessage alloc] init];
message.text = @"How are you today?";
message.customParameters[@"save_to_history"] = @"1";
message.customParameters[@"customParam1"] = @"book";
message.customParameters[@"customParam2"] = @"21";

QBChatDialog *dialog = ...;
[dialog sendMessage:message completionBlock:^(NSError * _Nullable error) {
    
}];

Argument	Required	Description
message	yes	Specifies message fields that should be set.

Set the following fields of the message:

Field	Required	Description
text	no	Message text.
customParameters	no	Extra data. Specify any key-value pairs. In each pair, the key and value are both string values. Set the `save_to_history` as `1` to save a message to the history.

Retrieve chat history

Every dialog stores its chat history that you can retrieve using the messages(withDialogID:extendedRequest:) method. The request below will return messages for a specific dialog, sorted by the date_sent field in descending order, limited to 50 dialogs on the page.

let page = QBResponsePage(limit: 50, skip: 100)
let extendedRequest = ["sort_desc": "date_sent", "mark_as_read": "0"]
QBRequest.messages(withDialogID: "5356c64ab35c12bd3b108a41", extendedRequest: extendedRequest, for: page, successBlock: { (response, messages, page) in

}, errorBlock: { (response) in
    
})

QBResponsePage *responsePage = [QBResponsePage responsePageWithLimit:50 skip:0];
NSDictionary *extReq = @{@"sort_desc": @"date_sent", @"mark_as_read": @"0"};
[QBRequest messagesWithDialogID:@"5356c64ab35c12bd3b108a41" extendedRequest:extReq forPage:responsePage successBlock:^(QBResponse *response, NSArray *messages, QBResponsePage *page) {

} errorBlock:^(QBResponse *response) {
                     
}];

🚧
If you want to mark all retrieved chat messages as a read, set the mark_as_read parameter as 1 in the extendedRequest. If you decide not to mark chat messages as read, just set the mark_as_read parameter as 0.

If you want to retrieve only messages updated after some specific date time and order the search results, you can apply operators. This is useful if you cache messages somehow and do not want to obtain the whole list of messages on every app start. Thus, you can apply search and sort operators to list messages on the page so that it is easier to view specific messages. The operators are set as key-value parameters in the extendedRequest dictionary.

If you want to get a paginated list of messages from the server, you can set the key-value parameters in the extendedRequest dictionary.

Pagination parameter	Description
skip	Skip N records in search results. Useful for pagination. Default (if not specified): 0.
limit	Limit search results to N records. Useful for pagination. Default value: 100.

Search operators

You can use search operators to get more specific search results.

Search operators	Applicable to types	Applicable to fields	Description
lt	number, string, date	date_sent, sender_id, recipient_id, updated_at	Less Than operator.
lte	number, string, date	date_sent, sender_id, recipient_id, updated_at	Less Than or Equal to operator.
gt	number, string, date	date_sent, sender_id, recipient_id, updated_at	Greater Than operator.
gte	number, string, date	date_sent, sender_id, recipient_id, updated_at	Greater Than or Equal to operator.
ne	number, string, date	_id, message, date_sent, sender_id, recipient_id	Not Equal to operator.
in	number, string, date	date_sent, sender_id, recipient_id	IN array operator.
nin	number, string, date	date_sent, sender_id, recipient_id	Not IN array operator.
or	number, string, date	date_sent, sender_id, recipient_id	All records that contain a value 1 or value 2.
ctn	string	message	All records that contain a particular substring.

Sort operators

You can use sort operators to order the search results.

Sort operator	Applicable to types	Description
sort_asc	All types	Search results will be sorted in ascending order by the specified field.
sort_desc	All types	Search results will be sorted in descending order by the specified field.

Update message

Update the message text using the updateMessage(withID:text:dialogID:) method below.

let messageId = "5b23aa4f5d0b0be0900041aa"
let text = "Edited text"
let dialogId = "5356c64ab35c12bd3b108a41"
QBRequest.updateMessage(withID: messageId, text: text, dialogID: dialogId, successBlock: { (response) in

}, errorBlock: { (response) in

})

NSString *messageId = @"5b23aa4f5d0b0be0900041aa";
NSString *text = @"Edited text";
NSString *dialogId = @"5356c64ab35c12bd3b108a41";
[QBRequest updateMessageWithID: messageId text: text dialogID: dialogId successBlock:^(QBResponse * _Nonnull response) {

} errorBlock:^(QBResponse * _Nonnull response) {

}];

Delete message

Any user in the occupantIDs can delete a message from the dialog. As a result, the message will be deleted from the current user history, without affecting the histories of other users.

The owner of the dialog can completely remove messages from all users' histories. This is achieved by setting the forAllUsers parameter to true.

let messages: Set<String> = ["5b23aa4f5d0b0be0900041aa", "bc23aa4f5d0b0be0900041ad"]
QBRequest.deleteMessages(withIDs: messages, forAllUsers: forAllUsers, successBlock: { (response) in
            
}, errorBlock: { (response) in
    
})

NSSet *messages = [NSSet setWithArray:@[@"5b23aa4f5d0b0be0900041aa", @"bc23aa4f5d0b0be0900041ad"]];
[QBRequest deleteMessagesWithIDs:messages forAllUsers:NO successBlock:^(QBResponse * _Nonnull response) {
    
} errorBlock:^(QBResponse * _Nonnull response) {
    
}];

Argument	Required	Description
messages	yes	A set of strings with messages IDs
forAllUser	yes	A boolean parameter. Delete message for everyone. Set it as `true` to perform. Only the owner can do it.

Check if a message is sent

The message is considered as sent if it has been delivered to the server. To get to know that a message has been delivered to the server, make sure to enable a stream management before connecting to the Chat server. See this section to learn how to enable the stream management.

Thus, you send a message to the server and if no error is returned, it is considered as sent (by default). There is no field for a sent status in the message model.

chatDialog.send(message) { (error) in
    if error == nil {
        // status - 'sent'
    }
}

QBChatDialog *chatDialog = ...;
[chatDialog sendMessage:message completionBlock:^(NSError * _Nullable error) {
    if(!error) {
        //status - 'sent'
    }
}];

🚧
You should enable Stream Management before you do the login() because the Stream Management is initialized while Chat login is performed.
The Stream Management defines an extension for active management of a stream between a client and server, including features for stanza acknowledgments.

Mark message as delivered

As a sender, you may want to be informed that a message has been successfully delivered to the recipient. The mark-as-delivered functionality allows to notify the sender about message delivery.

To track the event when the message has been delivered to the user, use the chatDidDeliverMessage(messageID:dialogID:) method of the QBChatDelegate delegate.

// ...
QBChat.instance.addDelegate(self)
// ...
    
//MARK: QBChatDelegate
func chatDidDeliverMessage(withID messageID: String, dialogID: String, toUserID userID: UInt) {
    
}

// ...
[QBChat.instance addDelegate:self];
// ...
    
//MARK: QBChatDelegate
- (void)chatDidDeliverMessageWithID:(NSString *)messageID dialogID:(NSString *)dialogID toUserID:(NSUInteger)userID {
    
}

Use the mark(asDelivered:) method to mark a message as delivered. As a result, the server will notify a sender about the delivery receipt.

let receivedMessage: QBChatMessage = ...

QBChat.instance.mark(asDelivered: receivedMessage) { (error) in
    
}

QBChatMessage *receivedMessage = ...;

[QBChat.instance markAsDelivered:receivedMessage completion:^(NSError * _Nullable error){
    
}];

Argument	Required	Description
receivedMessage	yes	A message received from the sender.

A message can be marked as delivered automatically by the server once a message is successfully delivered to the recipient. Set the markable as true using the send() method if you want, as a sender, to receive message delivery receipts from other recipients. Thus, the markable parameter enables the sender to request the delivery receipt. It also enables the recipient to confirm the message delivery. However, if markable is false or omitted, then you can notify a sender about the delivery receipt using the mark(asDelivered:) method.

let message = QBChatMessage()
message.markable = true
message.text = "How are you today?"
    
chatDialog.send(message) { (error) in
    
}

QBChatMessage *message = [QBChatMessage new];
message.markable = YES;
message.text = @"How are you today?";
    
[chatDialog sendMessage:message completionBlock:^(NSError * _Nullable error) {
    
}];

📘
Make sure to understand, that marking-as-delivered operation just confirms the fact of message delivery. The message acquires the delivered status when the message delivered event is received.
When a message is marked as delivered, the IDs of users who have received the message are stored in the message model, on the server. Thus, you can request a chat history from the server to get to know who received the message using the messages(withDialogID:) method. See this section to learn how to retrieve chat history.

You can also update the delivered_ids field in the message model, on the server, by using the method below. As a result, the ID of the user who has received the message will be added to the array of delivered_ids field. However, the server won't notify the user about the change in the message model.

let dialog = ...
let dialogID = dialog.id
let receivedMessage: QBChatMessage = ...
let receivedMessageID: String = receivedMessage.id
let markMessagesAsDeliveredSet = Set<String>([receivedMessageID])

QBRequest.markMessages(asDelivered: markMessagesAsDeliveredSet, dialogID: dialogID, successBlock: { (response) in
    
}, errorBlock: { (response) in
    
})

QBChatDialog *dialog = ...;
NSString *dialogID = dialog.ID;
QBChatMessage *receivedMessage = ...;
NSString *receivedMessageID = receivedMessage.ID;
NSSet<NSString *> *markMessagesAsDeliveredSet = [NSSet setWithArray:@[receivedMessageID]

[QBRequest markMessagesAsDelivered:markMessagesAsDeliveredSet dialogID:dialogID successBlock:^(QBResponse * _Nonnull response) {
    
} errorBlock:^(QBResponse * _Nonnull response) {
    
}];

Argument	Required	Description
markMessagesAsDeliveredSet	yes	A set of strings with messages IDs.
dialogID	yes	The ID of the dialog.

Mark message as read

As a sender, you may want to be informed that a message has been read by the recipient. The mark-as-read functionality allows to notify the sender that a message has been read.

To track the event when the message has been read by the user, the chatDidReadMessage(messageID:dialogID:readerID:) method of the QBChatDelegate is used.

//MARK: QBChatDelegate
func chatDidReadMessage(withID messageID: String, dialogID: String, readerID: UInt) {
    
}

//MARK: QBChatDelegate
- (void)chatDidReadMessageWithID:(NSString *)messageID dialogID:(NSString *)dialogID readerID:(NSUInteger)readerID {
    
}

Use the read() method to mark a message as read. As a result, the server will notify a sender about the read receipt.

let receivedMessage: QBChatMessage = ...

QBChat.instance.read(receivedMessage) { (error) in
    
}

QBChatMessage *receivedMessage = ...;

[QBChat.instance readMessage:receivedMessage completion:^(NSError * _Nullable error) {
    
}

Argument	Required	Description
receivedMessage	yes	A message received from the sender.

📘
When a message is marked as read, the IDs of users who have read the message are stored in the message model, on the server. Thus, you can request a chat history from the server to get to know who read the message using the messages(withDialogID:) method. See this section to learn how to retrieve chat history.

You can also update the read_ids field in the message model, on the server, by using the method below. As a result, the ID of the user who has read the message will be added to the array of read_ids field. However, the server won't notify the user about the change in the message model.

let dialog = ...
let dialogID = dialog.id
let receivedMessage: QBChatMessage = ...
let receivedMessageID: String = receivedMessage.id
let markMessagesAsReadSet = Set<String>([receivedMessageID])

QBRequest.markMessages(asRead: markMessagesAsReadSet, dialogID: dialogID, successBlock: { (response) in
    
}, errorBlock: { (response) in
    
})

QBChatDialog *dialog = ...;
NSString *dialogID = dialog.ID;
QBChatMessage *receivedMessage = ...;
NSString *receivedMessageID = receivedMessage.ID;
NSSet<NSString *> *markMessagesAsReadSet = [NSSet setWithArray:@[receivedMessageID]

[QBRequest markMessagesAsRead:markMessagesAsReadSet dialogID:dialogID successBlock:^(QBResponse * _Nonnull response) {
    
} errorBlock:^(QBResponse * _Nonnull response) {
    
}];

Argument	Required	Description
markMessagesAsReadSet	yes	A set of strings with received messages IDs.
dialogID	yes	The ID of the dialog that received messages.

Send typing indicators

You may want, as a sender, to let the recipient know that you are typing the message or have stopped typing the message. Use typing indicators as a form of chat-specific presence. Typing indicators allow to indicate if users are typing messages in a dialog at the moment.

There are the following typing notifications supported.

typing. The user is composing a message. The user is actively interacting with a message input interface specific to this chat session (e.g. by typing in the input area of a chat window).
stopped. The user had been composing but now has stopped. The user has been composing but has not interacted with the message input interface for a short period of time (e.g. 30 seconds).

To track the event when the sender is typing the message, use the onUserIsTyping(userID:) method of the delegate.

chatDialog.onUserIsTyping = { (userID: UInt) in
    
}

chatDialog.onUserIsTyping = ^(NSUInteger userID) {
    
};

To track the event when the sender has stopped typing, use the onUserStoppedTyping(userID:) method of the delegate.

chatDialog.onUserStoppedTyping = { (userID: UInt) in
    
}

chatDialog.onUserStoppedTyping = ^(NSUInteger userID) {
    
};

To notify a recipient that a sender is typing the message, use the sendUserIsTyping() method. As a result, the server will notify a recipient about the event.

chatDialog.sendUserIsTyping()

[chatDialog sendUserIsTyping];

To notify a recipient that a sender had been composing a message but now has stopped, use the sendUserStopTyping() method. As a result, the server will notify a recipient about the event.

chatDialog.sendUserStopTyping()

[chatDialog sendUserStoppedTyping];

Send system messages

There is a way to send system messages to other users about some events. For example, a system message can be sent when a user has joined or left a group dialog. System messages are handled over a separate channel and are not mixed up with regular chat messages. Thus, they are handled by chatDidReceiveSystemMessage() callback of QBChatDelegate. See this section to learn how to add QBChatDelegate.

System messages are also not shown in the dialog history and, consequently, are not stored on the server. This means that these messages will be delivered only to online users. Send system messages using the sendSystemMessage() method.

enum MessageType : String {
    case createGroupDialog = "1"
    case addUsersToGroupDialog = "2"
    case leaveGroupDialog = "3"
}

var message: QBChatMessage = QBChatMessage()
let params = NSMutableDictionary()
params["notification_type"] = MessageType.leaveGroupDialog.rawValue
params["dialog_id"] = "5356c64ab35c12bd3b108a41"
message.customParameters = params
message.recipientID = 344

 
QBChat.instance.sendSystemMessage(message) { (error) in
}
 
 
#pragma mark -
#pragma mark QBChatDelegate
 
func chatDidReceiveSystemMessage(message: QBChatMessage!) {
 
}

typedef NS_ENUM(NSUInteger, NotificationMessageType) {
    NotificationMessageTypeCreate = 1,
    NotificationMessageTypeAdding = 2,
    NotificationMessageTypeLeave = 3
};

QBChatMessage *message = [QBChatMessage message];
 
NSMutableDictionary *params = [NSMutableDictionary dictionary];
params[@"notification_type"] = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", @(NotificationMessageTypeLeave)];
params[@"dialog_id"] = @"5356c64ab35c12bd3b108a41";
[message setCustomParameters:params];
 
[message setRecipientID:344];
 
[[QBChat instance] sendSystemMessage:message completion:^(NSError * _Nullable error) {
 
}];
 
 
#pragma mark -
#pragma mark QBChatDelegate
 
- (void)chatDidReceiveSystemMessage:(QBChatMessage *)message{
 
}

Argument	Description
message	Specifies system message fields that should be set.

Set the following fields of the message:

Field	Required	Description
recipientID	yes	ID of the recipient.
customParameters	no	Extra data. Specify one or more key-value pairs. In each pair, the key and value are both string values.