Read receipts
Overview
Message reading receipt helps users know whether other users have read the messages they sent in a session. This feature applies to enterprise office businesses and other scenarios in which the message reading status needs to be known in real time.
This document describes how to use APIs of the In-app Chat SDK to send messages that require a reading receipt, query the receipt status of messages, and set messages as read.
The In-app Chat SDK supports reading receipts for one-to-one messages and group messages (only common messages and rich media messages) and does not support reading receipts for in-room messages.
Implementation process
The sender sends a message through the In-app Chat SDK and sets the hasReceipt
field of ZIMMessageSendConfig to identify whether a reading receipt is required for the message. Based on the receiptStatus
field, the receiver determines whether a reading receipt is required for the message or whether the message is read or unread to render different UI effects. The message receiver can use different reading methods based on the scenario.
Send a message that requires a reading receipt
When Client A wants to send a message that requires a reading receipt to Client B:
- Client A and Client B log in to the In-app Chat service.
- Client A calls the sendMessage or sendMediaMessage API to send a message (common message or rich media message in one-to-one or group chats) to Client B and sets the
hasReceipt
field of ZIMMessageSendConfig to true. - By listening for related callback (receivePeerMessage or receiveGroupMessage), Client B receives a message whose
receiptStatus
is set toPROCESSING
.
Set the reading receipt status as read
In this operation, set a message as read
and set a session as read
are both supported.
Set a message as read
The receiver can set a message that requires a reading receipt from the sender as read. Then, the sender will receive a message read notification.
-
A single message or a batch of messages are supported. The sender and receiver must be in the same session. Cross-session operations are not supported.
-
To perform operations on the historical messages of the conversation, you need to get the historical messages and determine the receipt status of the historical messages. For details, see Get message history.
- Through related callback (receivePeerMessage or receiveGroupMessage), Client B receives a message that requires a reading receipt from Client A.
- Based on the
receiptStatus
field of the callback, Client B determines the receipt status of the message. If this field is set toPROCESSING
, the message is unread. Developers can call the sendMessageReceiptsRead API to set the message as read based on the service logic. - Client B determines whether the setting is successful based on ZIMMessageReceiptsReadSentCallback.
- Based on messageReceiptChanged of ZIMEventHandler, Client A receives a callback notification, indicating that the message is set as read. Developers can implement the service logic of setting the message as read on Client A based on this callback.
Set a session as read
The receiver can set all messages received from the sender in a specified session as read.
-
The In-app Chat SDK supports this feature only in one-to-one chats.
-
This feature takes effect only on messages received before setting the feature.
-
It is recommended that this feature be used when a user switches from the session list page to a session. It is not recommended that this feature be used together with the sendMessageReceiptsRead API on a message chat page.
-
To perform operations on the historical messages of the conversation, you need to get the historical messages and determine the receipt status of the historical messages. For details, see Get message history.
- Based on the
receiptStatus
field of the receivePeerMessage callback, Client B determines the receipt status of the message. If this field is set toPROCESSING
, the message is unread. Developers can call the sendConversationMessageReceiptRead API to set all messages sent by Client A in the session as read based on the service logic. - Client B determines whether the setting is successful based on ZIMConversationMessageReceiptReadSentCallback .
- Based on conversationMessageReceiptChanged of ZIMEventHandler , Client A receives a callback notification, indicating that all messages in the session are set as read. Developers can implement the logic of setting all messages sent from the sender in the session as read based on this callback. Developers can implement the service logic of knowing all sent messages in a session are set as read by Client B on Client A based on this callback.
More features
Batch query the message receipt status, number of users who have read the message, and number of users who have not read the message
To query the message receipt status, the number of users who have read the message, and the number of users who have not read the message of a message or a batch of messages, call the queryMessageReceiptsInfoByMessageList API. Call ZIMMessageReceiptsInfoQueriedCallback to obtain related information.
-
If messages sent by other users are queried, the number of users who have read the message and the number of users who have not read the message are 0.
-
To perform operations on the historical messages of the conversation, you need to get the historical messages and determine the receipt status of the historical messages. For details, see Get message history.
Query the list of members who have or have not read a group message
The In-app Chat SDK supports querying the list of members who have or have not read a group message.
Query the list of members who have read a group message
To query the list of members who have read a group message, call the queryGroupMessageReceiptReadMemberListByMessage API.
To perform operations on the historical messages of the conversation, you need to get the historical messages and determine the receipt status of the historical messages. For details, see Get message history.
Query the list of members who have not read a group message
To query the list of members who have not read a group message, call the queryGroupMessageReceiptUnreadMemberListByMessage API.
-
If the SDK version is older than 2.16.0, when the number of group members is greater than 100, this API will not return the list of members who have not read a group message. To use this feature, contact ZEGOCLOUD technical support.
-
To perform operations on the historical messages of the conversation, you need to get the historical messages and determine the receipt status of the historical messages. For details, see Get message history.
Sample code
// 1. Create an In-app Chat object and introduce the appID and appSign.
ZIMAppConfig *appConfig = [[ZIMAppConfig alloc] init];
appConfig.appID = (unsigned int)appID; // Enter the appID you applied for from the ZEGOCLOUD Admin Console.
appConfig.appSign = @"appSign"; // Enter the appSign you applied for from the ZEGOCLOUD Admin Console.
self.zim = [ZIM createWithAppConfig: appConfig];
// 2. Log in to the In-app Chat service.
ZIMUserInfo *userInfo = [[ZIMUserInfo alloc]init];
userInfo.userID = @"zegoUser1"; // Enter a value of the NSString type.
userInfo.userName = @"zegotest";// Enter a value of the NSString type.
[self.zim loginWithUserInfo:userInfo callback:^(ZIMError * _Nonnull errorInfo){
// Developers can determine whether the login is successful based on ZIMError.
}];
- (void)zim:(ZIM *)zim messageReceiptChanged:(NSArray<ZIMMessageReceiptInfo *> *)infos{
// The other user sets a message as read.
}
- (void)zim:(ZIM *)zim conversationMessageReceiptChanged:(NSArray<ZIMMessageReceiptInfo *> *)infos{
// The other user sets all messages in a session as read.
}
NSString *conversationID = @"xxx" ; // The session ID.
// 3. User A sends a message that requires a reading receipt. A text one-to-one message is used as an example.
ZIMTextMessage *message = [[ZIMTextMessage alloc] init];
ZIMMessageSendConfig *sendConfig = [[ZIMMessageSendConfig alloc]init];
sendConfig.hasReceipt = true; // Set that the messages require a reading receipt.
[self.zim sendMessage:cmdMsg toUserID:toUserID conversationType:type config:config notification:notification callback:^((ZIMMessage * _Nonnull message, ZIMError * _Nonnull errorInfo)) {
// Developers can listen for whether a message is sent successfully through this callback.
if (errorInfo.code == 0) {
// This indicates that the message is sent successfully. receiptStatus of the message is set to PROCESSING. The service layer can display the logic that a message is unread based on this flag.
}
}];
// 4. User B receives the message that requires a reading receipt and sets the message as read by calling any of the following APIs.
// 4.1 Set a message as read
NSMutableArray<ZIMMessage *> *messageList = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
[[ZIM getInstance] sendMessageReceiptsRead:messageList conversationID:@"conversationID" conversationType:conversationType callback:^(NSString * _Nonnull conversationID, ZIMConversationType conversationType, NSArray<NSNumber *> * _Nonnull errorMessageIDs, ZIMError * _Nonnull errorInfo) {
// Callback for setting a message as read.
}];
// 4.2 Set a session as read
[[ZIM getInstance] sendConversationMessageReceiptRead:@"conversationID" conversationType:conversationType callback:^(NSString * _Nonnull conversationID, ZIMConversationType conversationType, ZIMError * _Nonnull errorInfo) {
// Callback for setting all messages in a session as read.
}];
// 5. (Optional) Batch query the message receipt status, number of users who have read the message, and number of users who have not read the message.
NSMutableArray<ZIMMessage *> *messageList = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
[[ZIM getInstance] queryMessageReceiptsInfoByMessageList:messageList conversationID:conversationID conversationType:conversationType callback:^(NSArray<ZIMMessageReceiptInfo *> * _Nonnull infos, NSArray<NSNumber *> * _Nonnull errorMessageIDs, ZIMError * _Nonnull errorInfo) {
// The status and quantity of this batch of messages are queried, and the corresponding message ID and count are obtained by traversing the information.
}];
// 6. (Optional) Query the list of members who have or have not read a group message.
// 6.1 The list of members who have read a group message
ZIMGroupMessageReceiptMemberQueryConfig *config = [[ZIMGroupMessageReceiptMemberQueryConfig alloc]init];
config.nextFlag = 0; // The query flag. It is set to 0 in the first query. In subsequent queries, it is set to the flag returned in the callback.
config.count = 10; // The user quantity to be queried.
[[ZIM getInstance] queryGroupMessageReceiptReadMemberListByMessage:message groupID:groupID config:config callback:^(NSString * _Nonnull groupID, NSArray<ZIMGroupMemberInfo *> * _Nonnull userList, unsigned int nextFlag, ZIMError * _Nonnull errorInfo) {
// The corresponding member list is queried.
}];
// 6.2 The list of members who have not read a group message
ZIMGroupMessageReceiptMemberQueryConfig config = new ZIMGroupMessageReceiptMemberQueryConfig();
config.nextFlag = 0; // The query flag. It is set to 0 in the first query. In subsequent queries, it is set to the flag returned in the callback.
config.count = 10; // The user quantity to be queried.
[[ZIM getInstance] queryGroupMessageReceiptUnreadMemberListByMessage:message groupID:groupID config:config callback:^(NSString * _Nonnull groupID, NSArray<ZIMGroupMemberInfo *> * _Nonnull userList, unsigned int nextFlag, ZIMError * _Nonnull errorInfo) {
// The corresponding member list is queried.
}];