Message Template

Define CometChat iOS UI Kit message templates with custom bubble structure, content views, header views, reply views, and interactions.

Overview

A MessageTemplate provides you with the capability to define and customize both the structure and the behavior of the MessageBubble. It acts as a schema or design blueprint for creating a variety of message bubble components, allowing you to manage their appearance and interactions within your application effectively and consistently.

---

Structure

The MessageBubble structure can typically be broken down into the following views:

1. Leading view: This is where the sender’s avatar is displayed. It’s typically on the left of the MessageBubble for messages from others and on the right for messages from the current user.

2. Header view: This displays the sender’s name and is especially useful in group chats where multiple users are sending messages.

3. Reply view: This view can be used to extend the MessageBubble with additional elements. It’s typically placed above the Content view.

4. Content view: This is the core of the MessageBubble where the message content (text, images, videos, etc.) is displayed.

5. Bottom view: This view can be used to extend the MessageBubble with additional elements, such as link previews or a ‘load more’ button for long messages. It’s typically placed beneath the Content view.

6. Thread view: This is where the thread reply icon and reply counts are displayed. It’s located below the footer view.

7. Footer view: This is where the timestamp of the message and its delivery or read status are displayed. It’s located at the bottom of the MessageBubble.

8. Status Info view: This is where the timestamp of the message and its delivery or read status are displayed. It’s located inside the MessageBubble just below the content view.

---

Properties

MessageTemplate provides you with methods that allow you to alter various properties of the MessageBubble. These properties include aspects such as the type and category of a message, the appearance and behavior of the header, content, and footer sections of the message bubble.

1. Type

Using setType() you can set the type of CometChatMessage. This will map your MessageTemplate to the corresponding CometChatMessage. You can set the MessageTemplate’s Type using the following code snippet:

let type = "custom_template" // Replace with your own custom type

// Creating a custom message template
let customMessageTemplate = CometChatMessageTemplate(
    category: category,
    type: type,
    contentView: { message, alignment, controller in
        return UIView() // Replace with your own UI for message list
    },
    bubbleView: nil,
    headerView: nil,
    footerView: nil
) { message, alignment, controller in
    return UIView() // Replace with your own UI for message composer
} options: { message, group, controller in
    return [CometChatMessageOption]() // Replace with your own options
}

2. Category

Using .setCategory() you can set the category of a MessageTemplate. This will create a MessageTemplate with the specified category and link it with a CometChatMessage of the same category.

Please refer to our guide on Message Categories for a deeper understanding of message categories.

let category = "custom_category" // Replace with your own category

// Creating a custom message template
// You can also set UI for bubbleView, headerView and footerView instead of nil
let customMessageTemplate = CometChatMessageTemplate(
    category: category,
    type: type,
    contentView: { message, alignment, controller in
        return UIView() // Replace with your own UI for message list
    },
    bubbleView: nil,
    headerView: nil,
    footerView: nil
) { message, alignment, controller in
    return UIView() // Replace with your own UI for message composer
} options: { message, group, controller in
    return [CometChatMessageOption]() // Replace with your own options
}

3. Header View

The template.headerView method allows you to assign a custom header view to the MessageBubble. By default, it is configured to display the sender’s name.

var allTemplates = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for (index, template) in allTemplates.enumerated() {
    var template = template
    template.headerView = { (baseMessage: BaseMessage?, bubbleAlignment: MessageBubbleAlignment, viewController: UIViewController?) -> (UIView)? in
        return UIView()
    }
}

4. Content View

The template.contentView method allows you to assign a custom content view to the MessageBubble. By default, it displays the Text Bubble, Image Bubble, File Bubble, Audio Bubble, or Video Bubble, depending on the message type.

var allTemplates = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for (index, template) in allTemplates.enumerated() {
    var template = template
    template.contentView = { (baseMessage: BaseMessage?, bubbleAlignment: MessageBubbleAlignment, viewController: UIViewController?) -> (UIView)? in
        return UIView()
    }
}

5. Footer View

The template.footerView method allows you to assign a custom Footer view to the MessageBubble. By default, it displays the receipt and timestamp.

var allTemplates = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for (index, template) in allTemplates.enumerated() {
    var template = template
    template.footerView = { (baseMessage: BaseMessage?, bubbleAlignment: MessageBubbleAlignment, viewController: UIViewController?) -> (UIView)? in
        return UIView()
    }
}

6. Bottom View

The template.bottomView method allows you to assign a custom Bottom view to the MessageBubble. By default, it has buttons such as link previews or a ‘load more’ button for long messages.

var allTemplates = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for (index, template) in allTemplates.enumerated() {
    var template = template
    template.bottomView = { (baseMessage: BaseMessage?, bubbleAlignment: MessageBubbleAlignment, viewController: UIViewController?) -> (UIView)? in
        return UIView()
    }
}

7. Bubble View

The template.bubbleView method allows you to assign a custom Bubble view to the MessageBubble. By default, headerView, contentView, and footerView together form a message bubble.

var allTemplates = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for (index, template) in allTemplates.enumerated() {
    var template = template
    template.bubbleView = { (baseMessage: BaseMessage?, bubbleAlignment: MessageBubbleAlignment, viewController: UIViewController?) -> (UIView)? in
        return UIView()
    }
}

8. Options

The template.options lets you set the list of actions that a user can perform on a message. This includes actions like reacting to, editing, or deleting a message.

var allTemplates = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for (index, template) in allTemplates.enumerated() {
    var template = template
    template.options = { message, group, controller in
        let loggedInUser = CometChat.getLoggedInUser()
        let options = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getMessageOptions(
            loggedInUser: loggedInUser!,
            messageObject: message!,
            controller: controller,
            group: group
        )
        return options
    }
    allTemplates[index] = template
}

---

Customization

Let’s dive into how you can use the properties of MessageTemplate to customize an existing template or add a new one to the MessageList component.

The first step is to fetch the list of existing templates when you want to modify or add to them. This can be done using the getAllMessageTemplates() method from the DataSource of the CometChatUIKit class:

var messageTemplates: [CometChatMessageTemplate] = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

---

Existing Templates

You will need to first get the MessageTemplates object for the type of message you want to customize. In this example, we’ll customize the TextMessage Bubble. The code snippet to get the Text MessageTemplate is as follows:

Swift

var messageTemplates: [CometChatMessageTemplate] = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for i in 0..<messageTemplates.count {
    if messageTemplates[i].type == "text" && messageTemplates[i].category == "message" {
        // Set your own content view
        messageTemplates[i].contentView = { message, alignment, controller in
            // Create your own content view and return
            return UIView()
        }
        
        // Set your own bubble view
        messageTemplates[i].bubbleView = { message, alignment, controller in
            // Create your own bubble view and return
            return UIView()
        }
    }
}

let cometChatMessages = CometChatMessageList()
cometChatMessages.set(templates: messageTemplates)

You will be using the CometChatMessageBubble Component for this example. To apply Template to Messages, you will have to use the MessageList component.

By utilizing this code snippet, you will retrieve text templates:

Swift

// Get text message template
let messageTemplates: CometChatMessageTemplate = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getTextMessageTemplate()

// Configure message list with template
let messageListConfiguration = MessageListConfiguration()
    .set(templates: [messageTemplates])

// Apply to CometChatMessages
let cometChatMessages = CometChatMessages()
    .set(user: user)
    .set(messageListConfiguration: messageListConfiguration)

Ensure to pass and present cometChatMessages. If a navigation controller is already in use, utilize the pushViewController function instead of directly presenting the view controller.

---

Header View

The template.headerView method of MessageTemplate allows you to add custom views to the header of your message bubbles. In the example below, we will add a custom UIView custom_header_view to the header view of every text message in the MessageList.

custom_header_view

import UIKit
import CometChatUIKitSwift

class HeaderViewStyled: UIView {
            
    private let profileImageView: UIImageView = {
        let imageView = UIImageView()
        imageView.layer.cornerRadius = 16
        imageView.clipsToBounds = true
        imageView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return imageView
    }()
            
    private let nameLabel: UILabel = {
        let label = UILabel()
        label.font = UIFont.boldSystemFont(ofSize: 14)
        label.textColor = .black
        label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return label
    }()
            
    private let statusLabel: UILabel = {
        let label = UILabel()
        label.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 12)
        label.textColor = .systemBlue
        label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return label
    }()
            
    override init(frame: CGRect) {
        super.init(frame: frame)
        setupView()
    }
            
    required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
        fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
    }
            
    private func setupView() {
        addSubview(profileImageView)
        addSubview(nameLabel)
        addSubview(statusLabel)
                
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            profileImageView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor),
            profileImageView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: topAnchor),
            profileImageView.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 32),
            profileImageView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 32),
                    
            nameLabel.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: profileImageView.trailingAnchor, constant: 8),
            nameLabel.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: topAnchor),
                    
            statusLabel.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: nameLabel.trailingAnchor, constant: 4),
            statusLabel.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: topAnchor),
        ])
    }
            
    func configure(profileImage: UIImage?, name: String, status: String) {
        profileImageView.image = profileImage
        nameLabel.text = name
        statusLabel.text = status
    }
}

Swift

var allTemplates = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for (index, template) in allTemplates.enumerated() {
    var template = template
    template.headerView = { (baseMessage: BaseMessage?, bubbleAlignment: MessageBubbleAlignment, viewController: UIViewController?) -> (UIView)? in
        let customHeaderView = HeaderViewStyled()
        return customHeaderView
    }
    allTemplates[index] = template
}

let cometChatMessages = CometChatMessageList()
cometChatMessages.set(templates: allTemplates)

Ensure to pass and present cometChatMessages. If a navigation controller is already in use, utilize the pushViewController function instead of directly presenting the view controller.

---

Content View

The template.contentView method of MessageTemplate allows you to add a custom view to the content of your message bubbles. In the example below, we will add a custom custom_message_view_file to the content view of every text message in the MessageList.

custom_message_view_file

import UIKit
import CometChatSDK
import CometChatUIKitSwift

class ContentViewStyled: UIView {

    // MARK: - UI Components
    private lazy var productImageView: UIImageView = {
        let imageView = UIImageView()
        imageView.contentMode = .scaleAspectFit
        imageView.clipsToBounds = true
        imageView.layer.cornerRadius = 8
        imageView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return imageView
    }()
            
    private lazy var separatorView: UIView = {
        let view = UIView()
        view.backgroundColor = .systemGray6
        view.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return view
    }()
            
    private lazy var buyNowButton: UIButton = {
        let button = UIButton(type: .system)
        button.setTitle("Buy Now", for: .normal)
        button.setTitleColor(.systemPurple, for: .normal)
        button.titleLabel?.font = UIFont.boldSystemFont(ofSize: 16)
        button.layer.cornerRadius = 8
        button.layer.borderWidth = 1
        button.layer.borderColor = UIColor.systemPurple.cgColor
        button.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return button
    }()

    // MARK: - Initializer
    override init(frame: CGRect) {
        super.init(frame: frame)
        setupView()
    }

    required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
        fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
    }

    // MARK: - Setup View
    private func setupView() {
        backgroundColor = UIColor.systemGray6
        layer.cornerRadius = 12
        layer.masksToBounds = true
                
        addSubview(productImageView)
        addSubview(separatorView)
        addSubview(buyNowButton)
                
        setupConstraints()
    }
            
    // MARK: - Constraints
    private func setupConstraints() {
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            productImageView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: topAnchor, constant: 16),
            productImageView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor, constant: 16),
            productImageView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: trailingAnchor, constant: -16),
            productImageView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalTo: productImageView.widthAnchor),
                    
            buyNowButton.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: productImageView.bottomAnchor, constant: 16),
            buyNowButton.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor, constant: 16),
            buyNowButton.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: trailingAnchor, constant: -16),
            buyNowButton.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 44),
                    
            separatorView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 1),
            separatorView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor),
            separatorView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: trailingAnchor),
            separatorView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: buyNowButton.bottomAnchor, constant: 16),
            separatorView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bottomAnchor, constant: -16),
        ])
    }
            
    // MARK: - Public Methods
    func configure(with image: UIImage) {
        productImageView.image = image
    }
}

Swift

var allTemplates = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for (index, template) in allTemplates.enumerated() {
    var template = template
    template.contentView = { (baseMessage: BaseMessage?, bubbleAlignment: MessageBubbleAlignment, viewController: UIViewController?) -> (UIView)? in
        let customView = ContentViewStyled()
        return customView
    }
    allTemplates[index] = template
}

let cometChatMessages = CometChatMessageList()
cometChatMessages.set(templates: allTemplates)

Ensure to pass and present cometChatMessages. If a navigation controller is already in use, utilize the pushViewController function instead of directly presenting the view controller.

---

Bottom View

The template.bottomView method of MessageTemplate allows you to add a custom button view to your message bubbles. In the example below, we will add a custom UIView custom_bottom_view_file to the bottom view of every text message in the MessageList.

custom_bottom_view_file

import UIKit

class BottomViewStyled: UIView {
            
    private let warningLabel: UILabel = {
        let label = UILabel()
        label.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 12)
        label.textColor = .systemRed
        label.text = "According to guidelines you cannot share contact"
        label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return label
    }()
            
    private let warningImage: UIImageView = {
        let image = UIImageView()
        image.image = UIImage(systemName: "error-alert")
        image.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return image
    }()
            
    private let warningStack: UIStackView = {
        let stack = UIStackView()
        stack.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        stack.distribution = .fill
        stack.alignment = .center
        stack.axis = .vertical
        stack.spacing = 2
        return stack
    }()
            
    override init(frame: CGRect) {
        super.init(frame: frame)
        setupView()
    }
            
    required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
        fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
    }
            
    private func setupView() {
        backgroundColor = .systemBlue
        layer.cornerRadius = 8
                
        addSubview(warningStack)
        warningStack.addArrangedSubview(warningImage)
        warningStack.addArrangedSubview(warningLabel)
                
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            warningStack.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor, constant: 8),
            warningStack.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: topAnchor, constant: 4),
            warningStack.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: trailingAnchor, constant: -8),
            warningStack.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bottomAnchor, constant: -8)
        ])
    }
}

Swift

var allTemplates = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for (index, template) in allTemplates.enumerated() {
    var template = template
    template.bottomView = { (baseMessage: BaseMessage?, bubbleAlignment: MessageBubbleAlignment, viewController: UIViewController?) -> (UIView)? in
        let customView = BottomViewStyled()
        return customView
    }
    allTemplates[index] = template
}

let cometChatMessages = CometChatMessageList()
cometChatMessages.set(templates: allTemplates)

Ensure to pass and present cometChatMessages. If a navigation controller is already in use, utilize the pushViewController function instead of directly presenting the view controller.

---

Footer View

The template.footerView method of MessageTemplate allows you to add a footer view to your message bubbles. In the example below, we will add a custom UIView file custom_footer_view to the bottom view of every text message in the MessageList.

custom_footer_view

import UIKit

class FooterViewStyled: UIView {
            
    private let reactionsStackView: UIStackView = {
        let stackView = UIStackView()
        stackView.axis = .horizontal
        stackView.spacing = 4
        stackView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return stackView
    }()
            
    override init(frame: CGRect) {
        super.init(frame: frame)
        setupView()
    }
            
    required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
        fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
    }
            
    private func setupView() {
        addSubview(reactionsStackView)
                
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            reactionsStackView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor, constant: 8),
            reactionsStackView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: topAnchor, constant: 8),
            reactionsStackView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: trailingAnchor, constant: -8),
            reactionsStackView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bottomAnchor, constant: -8)
        ])
    }
            
    func configure(reactions: [UIImage]) {
        reactionsStackView.arrangedSubviews.forEach { $0.removeFromSuperview() }
                
        for reaction in reactions {
            let imageView = UIImageView(image: reaction)
            imageView.contentMode = .scaleAspectFit
            imageView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
            reactionsStackView.addArrangedSubview(imageView)
        }
    }
}

Swift

var allTemplates = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for (index, template) in allTemplates.enumerated() {
    var template = template
    template.footerView = { (baseMessage: BaseMessage?, bubbleAlignment: MessageBubbleAlignment, viewController: UIViewController?) -> (UIView)? in
        let customView = FooterViewStyled()
        return customView
    }
    allTemplates[index] = template
}

let cometChatMessages = CometChatMessageList()
cometChatMessages.set(templates: allTemplates)

Ensure to pass and present cometChatMessages. If a navigation controller is already in use, utilize the pushViewController function instead of directly presenting the view controller.

---

Bubble View

The template.bubbleView method of MessageTemplate allows you to add a bubble view to your message bubbles. In the example below, we will add a custom UIView custom_bubble_view to the bubble view of every text message in the MessageList.

custom_bubble_view

import UIKit

class CustomMessageView: UIView {
    
    // MARK: - Subviews
    private let messageLabel: UILabel = {
        let label = UILabel()
        label.textColor = .white
        label.numberOfLines = 0
        label.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 16)
        label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return label
    }()
    
    private let timeLabel: UILabel = {
        let label = UILabel()
        label.text = "4:56 pm"
        label.textColor = .gray
        label.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 12)
        label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return label
    }()
    
    private let doubleTickImageView: UIImageView = {
        let imageView = UIImageView()
        imageView.image = UIImage(named: "double_tick")
        imageView.contentMode = .scaleAspectFit
        imageView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return imageView
    }()
    
    private let bubbleView: UIView = {
        let view = UIView()
        view.backgroundColor = UIColor.systemPurple
        view.layer.cornerRadius = 12
        view.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return view
    }()
    
    private let timeStackView: UIStackView = {
        let stackView = UIStackView()
        stackView.axis = .horizontal
        stackView.spacing = 4
        stackView.alignment = .center
        stackView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return stackView
    }()
    
    // MARK: - Initialization
    init(message: BaseMessage) {
        super.init(frame: .zero)
        
        // Add subviews
        addSubview(bubbleView)
        addSubview(timeStackView)
        bubbleView.addSubview(messageLabel)
        timeStackView.addArrangedSubview(timeLabel)
        timeStackView.addArrangedSubview(doubleTickImageView)
        
        // Constraints for bubble view
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            bubbleView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor, constant: 16),
            bubbleView.trailingAnchor.constraint(lessThanOrEqualTo: trailingAnchor, constant: -16),
            bubbleView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: topAnchor, constant: 8),
            bubbleView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: timeStackView.topAnchor, constant: -4),
            
            messageLabel.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bubbleView.leadingAnchor, constant: 12),
            messageLabel.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bubbleView.trailingAnchor, constant: -12),
            messageLabel.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bubbleView.topAnchor, constant: 8),
            messageLabel.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bubbleView.bottomAnchor, constant: -8)
        ])
        
        // Constraints for time stack view
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            timeStackView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bubbleView.leadingAnchor),
            timeStackView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bubbleView.bottomAnchor, constant: 4),
            timeStackView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bottomAnchor, constant: -8)
        ])
        
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            doubleTickImageView.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 16),
            doubleTickImageView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 16)
        ])
        
        // Configure with message data
        if let textMessage = message as? TextMessage {
            messageLabel.text = textMessage.text
            var status = "Sent"
            doubleTickImageView.image = UIImage(named: "single-tick")
            
            if textMessage.readAt > 0 {
                status = "Read"
                doubleTickImageView.image = UIImage(named: "message-read")
            } else if textMessage.deliveredAt > 0 {
                status = "Delivered"
                doubleTickImageView.image = UIImage(named: "double-tick")
            }

            let dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
            dateFormatter.dateFormat = "hh:mm a"
            let time = dateFormatter.string(from: Date(timeIntervalSince1970: TimeInterval(textMessage.sentAt)))

            timeLabel.text = "\(time)"
        }
    }
    
    required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
        fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
    }
}

Swift

var allTemplates = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for (index, template) in allTemplates.enumerated() {
    var template = template
    template.bubbleView = { (baseMessage: BaseMessage?, bubbleAlignment: MessageBubbleAlignment, viewController: UIViewController?) -> (UIView)? in
        let customBubbleView = CustomBubbleView()
        return customBubbleView
    }
    allTemplates[index] = template
}

let cometChatMessages = CometChatMessages()
cometChatMessages.set(templates: allTemplates)

Ensure to pass and present cometChatMessages. If a navigation controller is already in use, utilize the pushViewController function instead of directly presenting the view controller.

---

Options List

The template.options method in the MessageTemplate allows you to customize the options that appear in the action sheet when a message is long-pressed. By default, CometChat UIKit provides a set of options like “Edit”, “Share”, “Translated message”, and “Delete”.

However, if you wish to override or modify these options, you can use the template.options method and pass a list of getMessageOptions. This list of options will replace the default set.

Swift

var allTemplates = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for (index, template) in allTemplates.enumerated() {
    var template = template
    template.options = { message, group, controller in
        let loggedInUser = CometChat.getLoggedInUser()
        var options = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getMessageOptions(
            loggedInUser: loggedInUser!,
            messageObject: message!,
            controller: controller,
            group: group
        )
        
        for (index, option) in (options ?? []).enumerated() {
            if option.id == "replyInThread" {
                // Create custom options
                let forwardOption = CometChatMessageOption(id: "customOptionId", title: "Forward", icon: UIImage(systemName: "chevron.right"))
                let favoriteOption = CometChatMessageOption(id: "favoriteOptionId", title: "Mark as Favorite", icon: UIImage(systemName: "star"))
                let deleteOption = CometChatMessageOption(id: "deleteOptionId", title: "Delete", icon: UIImage(systemName: "trash"))

                options?[index...index] = [forwardOption, favoriteOption, deleteOption]
            }
        }
        return options ?? []
    }
    allTemplates[index] = template
}

let cometChatMessages = CometChatMessageList()
cometChatMessages.set(templates: allTemplates)

Ensure to pass and present cometChatMessages. If a navigation controller is already in use, utilize the pushViewController function instead of directly presenting the view controller.

---

Status Info View

The template.statusInfoView method of MessageTemplate enables you to add a status info view to your message bubbles. This is a user-defined component used to display the statusInfo view, which shows the timestamp and read-receipt of the message.

In the example below, we will integrate a custom UIView file named custom_status_view into the status info view of every text message in the MessageList.

custom_status_view

import UIKit
import CometChatSDK
import CometChatUIKitSwift

class StatusInfoView: UIView {
    
    private let timeLabel: UILabel = {
        let label = UILabel()
        label.text = "4:56 pm"
        label.textColor = .gray
        label.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 12)
        label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return label
    }()
    
    private let doubleTickImageView: UIImageView = {
        let imageView = UIImageView()
        imageView.image = UIImage(named: "double_tick")
        imageView.contentMode = .scaleAspectFit
        imageView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return imageView
    }()
    
    private let timeStackView: UIStackView = {
        let stackView = UIStackView()
        stackView.axis = .horizontal
        stackView.spacing = 4
        stackView.alignment = .center
        stackView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return stackView
    }()
    
    // MARK: - Initialization
    init(baseMessage: BaseMessage) {
        super.init(frame: .zero)
        
        // Add subviews
        addSubview(timeStackView)
        timeStackView.addArrangedSubview(timeLabel)
        timeStackView.addArrangedSubview(doubleTickImageView)
        
        // Constraints for time stack view
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            timeStackView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor),
            timeStackView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bottomAnchor, constant: 4),
            timeStackView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bottomAnchor, constant: -8)
        ])
        
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            doubleTickImageView.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 16),
            doubleTickImageView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 16)
        ])
        
        // Configure with message data
        if let textMessage = baseMessage as? TextMessage {
            var status = "Sent"
            doubleTickImageView.image = UIImage(named: "single-tick")
            
            if textMessage.readAt > 0 {
                status = "Read"
                doubleTickImageView.image = UIImage(named: "message-read")
            } else if textMessage.deliveredAt > 0 {
                status = "Delivered"
                doubleTickImageView.image = UIImage(named: "double-tick")
            }

            let dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
            dateFormatter.dateFormat = "hh:mm a"
            let time = dateFormatter.string(from: Date(timeIntervalSince1970: TimeInterval(textMessage.sentAt)))

            timeLabel.text = "\(time)"
        }
    }
    
    required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
        fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
    }
}

Swift

var allTemplates = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates()

for (index, template) in allTemplates.enumerated() {
    var template = template
    template.statusInfoView = { (baseMessage: BaseMessage?, bubbleAlignment: MessageBubbleAlignment, viewController: UIViewController?) -> UIView? in
        if let baseMessage = baseMessage {
            return CustomStatusView(baseMessage: baseMessage)
        }
        return nil
    }
    allTemplates[index] = template
}

let cometChatMessages = CometChatMessages()
cometChatMessages.set(templates: allTemplates)

Ensure to pass and present cometChatMessages. If a navigation controller is already in use, utilize the pushViewController function instead of directly presenting the view controller.

---

New Template

Creating an entirely new template for custom messages is one of the powerful features of CometChat’s MessageTemplate. To add a new template, you can create a new one and then add it to the list of existing templates.

First, let’s see how to send a custom message:

Swift

// Creating a text template
let textTemplate = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getTextMessageTemplate()

// Set content view for TextMessage template
textTemplate.contentView = { message, alignment, controller in
    // Create your own content view and return
    return UIView()
}

// Set bubble view for TextMessage template
textTemplate.bubbleView = { message, alignment, controller in
    // Create your own bubble view and return
    return UIView()
}

// Creating an audio template
let audioTemplate = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAudioMessageTemplate()

// Set content view for AudioMessage template
audioTemplate.contentView = { message, alignment, controller in
    // Create your own content view and return
    return UIView()
}

// Set bubble view for AudioMessage template
audioTemplate.bubbleView = { message, alignment, controller in
    // Create your own bubble view and return
    return UIView()
}

let type = "custom_template" // Replace with your own custom type
let category = "custom_category" // Replace with your own category

// Creating a custom message template
// You can also set UI for bubbleView, headerView and footerView instead of nil
let customMessageTemplate = CometChatMessageTemplate(
    category: category,
    type: type,
    contentView: { message, alignment, controller in
        return UIView() // Replace with your own UI for message list
    },
    bubbleView: nil,
    headerView: nil,
    footerView: nil
) { message, alignment, controller in
    return UIView() // Replace with your own UI for message composer
} options: { message, group, controller in
    return [CometChatMessageOption]() // Replace with your own options
}

// Custom list of templates
let messageTypes = [
    textTemplate,
    audioTemplate,
    customMessageTemplate
]

var templates = [(type: String, template: CometChatMessageTemplate)]()
for template in messageTypes {
    templates.append((type: template.type, template: template))
}

// Passing template list to message list
let messageList = CometChatMessageList()
messageList.set(templates: templates)

Find the example below:

Swift

import UIKit

class CustomBubbleView: UIView {
    
    // MARK: - Subviews
    private let profileImageView: UIImageView = {
        let imageView = UIImageView()
        imageView.contentMode = .scaleAspectFill
        imageView.clipsToBounds = true
        imageView.layer.cornerRadius = 25
        imageView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        imageView.image = UIImage(named: "profile_placeholder")
        return imageView
    }()
    
    private let nameLabel: UILabel = {
        let label = UILabel()
        label.text = "Safiya Fareena"
        label.textColor = .white
        label.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 16, weight: .semibold)
        label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return label
    }()
    
    private let timeLabel: UILabel = {
        let label = UILabel()
        label.text = "4:56 pm"
        label.textColor = .white
        label.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 12)
        label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return label
    }()
    
    private let doubleTickImageView: UIImageView = {
        let imageView = UIImageView()
        imageView.contentMode = .scaleAspectFit
        imageView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        imageView.image = UIImage(named: "double_tick")
        return imageView
    }()
    
    private let separatorView: UIView = {
        let view = UIView()
        view.backgroundColor = UIColor.white.withAlphaComponent(0.5)
        view.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return view
    }()
    
    private let addContactButton: UIButton = {
        let button = UIButton(type: .system)
        button.setTitle("Add Contact", for: .normal)
        button.setTitleColor(.white, for: .normal)
        button.titleLabel?.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 14, weight: .medium)
        button.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return button
    }()
    
    private let messageButton: UIButton = {
        let button = UIButton(type: .system)
        button.setTitle("Message", for: .normal)
        button.setTitleColor(.white, for: .normal)
        button.titleLabel?.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 14, weight: .medium)
        button.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return button
    }()
    
    private let backgroundCardView: UIView = {
        let view = UIView()
        view.backgroundColor = UIColor.systemPurple
        view.layer.cornerRadius = 12
        view.clipsToBounds = true
        view.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return view
    }()
    
    private let timeStackView: UIStackView = {
        let stackView = UIStackView()
        stackView.axis = .horizontal
        stackView.spacing = 4
        stackView.alignment = .center
        stackView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return stackView
    }()
    
    private let buttonStackView: UIStackView = {
        let stackView = UIStackView()
        stackView.axis = .horizontal
        stackView.spacing = 1
        stackView.distribution = .fillEqually
        stackView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        return stackView
    }()
    
    // MARK: - Initialization
    override init(frame: CGRect) {
        super.init(frame: frame)
        setupViews()
    }
    
    required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
        fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
    }
    
    private func setupViews() {
        // Add subviews
        addSubview(backgroundCardView)
        backgroundCardView.addSubview(profileImageView)
        backgroundCardView.addSubview(nameLabel)
        backgroundCardView.addSubview(timeStackView)
        timeStackView.addArrangedSubview(timeLabel)
        timeStackView.addArrangedSubview(doubleTickImageView)
        backgroundCardView.addSubview(separatorView)
        backgroundCardView.addSubview(buttonStackView)
        buttonStackView.addArrangedSubview(addContactButton)
        buttonStackView.addArrangedSubview(messageButton)
        
        // Constraints for the card
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            backgroundCardView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor, constant: 16),
            backgroundCardView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: trailingAnchor, constant: -16),
            backgroundCardView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: topAnchor, constant: 8),
            backgroundCardView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bottomAnchor, constant: -8)
        ])
        
        // Constraints for profile image
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            profileImageView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: backgroundCardView.leadingAnchor, constant: 16),
            profileImageView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: backgroundCardView.topAnchor, constant: 16),
            profileImageView.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 50),
            profileImageView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 50)
        ])
        
        // Constraints for name label
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            nameLabel.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: profileImageView.trailingAnchor, constant: 12),
            nameLabel.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: profileImageView.centerYAnchor),
            nameLabel.trailingAnchor.constraint(lessThanOrEqualTo: timeStackView.leadingAnchor, constant: -8)
        ])
        
        // Constraints for time stack view
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            timeStackView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: backgroundCardView.trailingAnchor, constant: -16),
            timeStackView.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: nameLabel.centerYAnchor),
            doubleTickImageView.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 16),
            doubleTickImageView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 16)
        ])
        
        // Constraints for separator
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            separatorView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: backgroundCardView.leadingAnchor, constant: 16),
            separatorView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: backgroundCardView.trailingAnchor, constant: -16),
            separatorView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: profileImageView.bottomAnchor, constant: 16),
            separatorView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 1)
        ])
        
        // Constraints for button stack
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            buttonStackView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: backgroundCardView.leadingAnchor),
            buttonStackView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: backgroundCardView.trailingAnchor),
            buttonStackView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: separatorView.bottomAnchor, constant: 8),
            buttonStackView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: backgroundCardView.bottomAnchor, constant: -8)
        ])
    }
}

Make sure to set new type and category in the message Request builder in order to fetch those respective messages as shown in the example above.

---

Next Steps

• Message List — Display and customize the message list
• Message Bubble Styling — Customize message bubble appearance
• Message Composer — Customize the message input component

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