Building a Chat App with a Flutter Chat SDK

#flutterapp #flutter #chat #sdk

In today's mobile app world, real-time messaging is a must-have feature. Whether you're building a social app, customer support platform, or a gaming community, chat functionality brings users closer together. Thanks to Flutter and various Chat SDKs, you can integrate messaging features quickly and efficiently.

In this article, we'll walk through the basics of using a Flutter Chat SDK to build a simple chat app.

What is a Chat SDK?

A Chat SDK (Software Development Kit) provides ready-to-use tools, APIs, and UI components to add chat functionality to your app. Instead of building everything from scratch (which is time-consuming and complex), you can use a chat SDK to:

Send and receive messages
Manage conversations
Handle user presence (online/offline)
Create group chats

Add features like typing indicators, attachments, and message reactions

Popular Flutter chat SDKs include Mirrorfly Chat Flutter, CometChat Flutter SDK, and Sendbird Flutter SDK.

Basic Steps to Build a Chat App with Flutter Chat SDK

1. Set up Flutter

First, make sure Flutter is installed:

flutter doctor

Create a new project:

flutter create chat_app
cd chat_app

2. Add a Chat SDK Package

For example, using Mirrorfly Chat Flutter: Add it to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  flutter:
    sdk: flutter
  mirrorfly_chat_flutter: ^7.0.0

Then run:

flutter pub get

3. Initialize the Chat Client

In your main Dart file (main.dart):

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:mirrorfly_chat_flutter/mirrorfly_chat_flutter.dart';

void main() {
  final client = MirrorflyClient(
    'your_mirrorfly_api_key',
    logLevel: Level.INFO,
  );

  runApp(MyApp(client: client));
}

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  final mirrorfly client;

  const MyApp({Key? key, required this.client}) : super(key: key);

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      builder: (context, child) {
        return mirrorfly(
          client: client,
          child: child,
        );
      },
      home: ChannelListPage(),
    );
  }
}

🔥 Tip: Replace 'your_mirrorfly_api_key' with your actual API key from the mirrorfly dashboard.

Create a Basic Channel List and Chat Screen You can now list available chat channels and open conversations easily:

class ChannelListPage extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(title: Text('Channels')),
      body: ChannelsBloc(
        child: ChannelListView(
          onChannelTap: (channel) {
            Navigator.push(
              context,
              MaterialPageRoute(
                builder: (context) => ChannelPage(channel: channel),
              ),
            );
          },
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

class ChannelPage extends StatelessWidget {
  final Channel channel;

  const ChannelPage({Key? key, required this.channel}) : super(key: key);

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return mirrorflyChannel(
      channel: channel,
      child: Scaffold(
        appBar: mirrorflyChannelHeader(),
        body: Column(
          children: [
            Expanded(child: MessageListView()),
            MessageInput(),
          ],
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

Conclusion

Using a Flutter Chat SDK saves you a lot of time and provides a powerful, scalable solution for messaging. In just a few steps, you can build a working chat app with real-time messaging, typing indicators, and more.

As your app grows, you can customize the UI, add advanced features like reactions, video calls, or even integrate bots!

If you're starting a project today, using a chat SDK is definitely the smart way to build.

CodeNewbie Community 🌱