Upgrading from v4

Upgrade Flutter apps from CometChat SDK v4 to v5 with new Dart implementation, dependency changes, and breaking API updates.

This guide helps you migrate your Flutter application from CometChat SDK v4 to v5.

Installation

Add the CometChat Dependency

Update your pubspec.yaml to the latest v5 SDK:

dependencies:
  cometchat_sdk: ^5.0.5

Then run:

flutter pub get

What’s Changed

New

• All platform channel method calls have been replaced with native Dart implementations, resulting in significant speed and performance improvements.
• The SDK now runs entirely on Dart by default, bringing cross-platform support to iOS, Android, and Web.

Breaking Changes

• onTypingIndicator() now returns Stream<TypingIndicator> instead of Stream<String>. Typing events include sender, receiverId, receiverType, metadata, lastTimestamp, and typingStatus fields. Use TypingIndicator.typingStatus (“started” or “ended”) instead of checking methodName. No EventChannel dependency — works on all platforms including web. Existing MessageListener callbacks (onTypingStarted / onTypingEnded) continue to work unchanged.

Before (v4):

CometChat.onTypingIndicator().listen((String event) {
  final map = jsonDecode(event);
  if (map['methodName'] == 'onTypingStarted') {
    // handle typing started
  } else if (map['methodName'] == 'onTypingEnded') {
    // handle typing ended
  }
});

After (v5):

CometChat.onTypingIndicator().listen((TypingIndicator indicator) {
  print(indicator.sender);         // User object
  print(indicator.receiverId);     // receiver UID or group GUID
  print(indicator.receiverType);   // "user" or "group"
  print(indicator.metadata);       // optional metadata
  print(indicator.typingStatus);   // "started" or "ended"
  print(indicator.lastTimestamp);  // DateTime of the event
});

Removals

• Removed deprecated markAsUnread() method. Use markMessageAsUnread() instead.

Before (v4):

CometChat.markAsUnread(message, onSuccess: ..., onError: ...);

After (v5):

CometChat.markMessageAsUnread(message, onSuccess: ..., onError: ...);

• Removed deprecated receaverUid parameter from startTyping() and endTyping(). Use receiverUid instead.

Before (v4):

CometChat.startTyping(receaverUid: "UID", receiverType: ...);

After (v5):

CometChat.startTyping(receiverUid: "UID", receiverType: ...);

• Removed deprecated fetchPushPreferences(), updatePushPreferences(), and resetPushPreferences() methods. Use fetchPreferences(), updatePreferences(), and resetPreferences() instead.

Before (v4):

final prefs = await CometChatNotifications.fetchPushPreferences();

After (v5):

final prefs = await CometChatNotifications.fetchPreferences();

• Removed deprecated PushPreferences class. Use NotificationPreferences instead.