Add VIH Messenger to your app

🧭 Overview

The SDK ships the full messaging experience — sign-in, the list of enterprises on your channel, and real-time two-way chat — as a self-contained module. You supply two things from the VIH team (a channel hashcode and an API base URL), wire one entry point, and the SDK renders and manages the rest.

Android and iOS use the same hashcode for a given channel, so a user is reachable identically on both platforms.

📋 Requirements

🔑 What you'll need

Before you integrate, get these from the VIH team for your channel:

• Channel hashcode — a per-tenant identifier (e.g. 046c8dd…07e43) that scopes the app to your channel. Identical on Android and iOS.
• API base URL — the backend host for your environment. On iOS you pass it at runtime (apiBaseURL); on Android it is baked into the artifact you choose (see the dependency step). The active host is https://api.platform.vihresearchlabs.ai/.
• Firebase config — google-services.json (Android) and GoogleService-Info.plist (iOS) for push notifications, provided out-of-band.

Android Integration

Four steps: point Gradle at the repositories, add the dependency, declare permissions, then launch the SDK from your app.

pluginManagement {
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
        gradlePluginPortal()
        maven { url = uri("https://jitpack.io") }
    }
}
dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
        maven { url = uri("https://jitpack.io") }
    }
}

dependencies {
    // Targets https://api.platform.vihresearchlabs.ai/ (active backend)
    implementation "com.github.ViH-Metaverse.ViH_SDK:vih-sdk:1.2.1"
}

dependencies {
    implementation("com.github.ViH-Metaverse.ViH_SDK:vih-sdk:1.2.1")
}

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_MEDIA_IMAGES" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS" />

import com.vihmessenger.vihchatbot.utils.FloatingButtonView

launchButton.setOnClickListener {
    FloatingButtonView.startSdk(
        context  = this,
        phone    = "919876543210",
        hashcode = "your-channel-hashcode"
    )
}

FloatingButtonView.startSdk(
    context        = this,
    phone          = "919876543210",
    hashcode       = "your-channel-hashcode",
    name           = "Priya Sharma",           // optional
    userProfileUrl = "https://…/avatar.jpg"     // optional
)

<com.vihmessenger.vihchatbot.utils.FloatingButtonView
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_gravity="bottom|end"
    app:extraValue="your-channel-hashcode" />

val widget = FloatingButtonView(context).apply {
    setCenterImageResource(R.drawable.ic_vih_widget) // your widget artwork
    imageOnly = true            // full-bleed image, no background circle
    launchesSdkOnClick = false  // we handle the tap ourselves
    setOnClickListener {
        FloatingButtonView.startSdk(context, "919876543210", "your-channel-hashcode")
    }
}
// The widget pops + increments its unread badge automatically as messages arrive.
// Or drive the badge yourself:  widget.unreadCount = serverUnreadTotal

iOS Integration

The SDK ships as a Swift Package. Add it, wire Firebase for push, configure once at launch, then present the SDK's UI.

https://github.com/ViH-Metaverse/ViH_SDK.git

dependencies: [
    .package(
        url: "https://github.com/ViH-Metaverse/ViH_SDK.git",
        from: "1.2.1"
    ),
],
targets: [
    .target(
        name: "YourApp",
        dependencies: [
            .product(name: "VihChatBotSDK", package: "ViH_SDK"),
        ]
    ),
]

import VihChatBotSDK

VihChatBotSDK.shared.configure(
    VihSDKConfig(
        apiBaseURL: URL(string: "https://api.platform.vihresearchlabs.ai/")!,
        hashcode:   "your-channel-hashcode",
        sdkVersion: "1.0.0",
        isDebug:    true
    )
)

import UIKit
import VihChatBotSDK
import FirebaseCore

@main
final class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {
    var window: UIWindow?

    func application(_ application: UIApplication,
        didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions:
            [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]? = nil) -> Bool {

        FirebaseApp.configure()                     // 1. push

        VihChatBotSDK.shared.configure(             // 2. SDK
            VihSDKConfig(
                apiBaseURL: URL(string: "https://api.platform.vihresearchlabs.ai/")!,
                hashcode:   "your-channel-hashcode",
                sdkVersion: "1.0.0",
                isDebug:    false
            )
        )

        // 3. present the SDK's splash as root
        let window = UIWindow(frame: UIScreen.main.bounds)
        let nav = UINavigationController(rootViewController: SplashViewController())
        nav.isNavigationBarHidden = true
        window.rootViewController = nav
        window.makeKeyAndVisible()
        self.window = window
        return true
    }
}

🌗 Theming & dark mode

The SDK automatically follows the device's system Light/Dark setting — screen backgrounds and body text adapt for legibility. Your channel's brand / accent colors (primary color, headers, highlights from the channel config) are preserved in both modes; only backgrounds and text flip. No integration work is required — it just works.

AppCompatDelegate.setDefaultNightMode(
    AppCompatDelegate.MODE_NIGHT_NO   // or MODE_NIGHT_YES
)

window.overrideUserInterfaceStyle = .light  // or .dark

🔔 Notification tones

Push notifications can play a different sound per message type, so users recognize an OTP versus a promotional or transactional message by ear. The tone is chosen from the message's CPaaS template_type in the FCM data payload.

Android Automatic

Handled inside the SDK — no integration work. Each category maps to its own notification channel with its bundled tone (Android locks a channel's sound at creation, so each tone needs its own channel). Just ensure the FCM data payload includes template_type.

iOS One-time setup

iOS decides a remote push's sound from the APNs payload, so it needs either a Notification Service Extension (the app ships one, VihNotificationService, mapping template_type → tone) with "mutable-content": 1 in the payload, or the backend setting aps.sound per template. iOS sounds must be .caf/.aiff/.wav (not mp3). See notification-tones.md.

📌 Home-screen shortcut Android

The SDK can pin a shortcut on the device home screen (using your channel's logo + name) that opens the chat directly, so users skip your app to reach messages. It's offered automatically on first sign-in, and users can add it anytime from an "Add to Home Screen" row in the SDK's Settings. No integration work.

📚 Support

Stuck on integration, need your channel hashcode, or want the latest SDK version? Reach the VIH team at developers@vihmessenger.com. Include your platform, SDK version, and any Gradle/Xcode error output so we can help fast.