File sharing

File sharing is a feature that allows users to send files such as images, audio files, and videos while chatting in a channel. File sharing appears in the messageInput component of the SBUGroupChannelViewController or SBUOpenChannelViewController class.

There are currently four different types of file messages that users can send: image file, video file, audio file, and document file. These files can be shared with other members in the channel by either directly taking a photo with the camera on a mobile device or uploading an image, video, audio, or document file from the sender’s mobile device.

To view the image in full screen, click on the

Note : In order to use the file sharing feature, you must first create a channel and enable the chat service. To learn how to allow users to chat in a channel, refer to Chat in a group channel.

You can customize the UI for file sharing using SBUMessageCellTheme in the SBUTheme, SBUStringSet, and SBUIconSet.

The following table shows customizable theme properties of file sharing.

The following table lists customizable properties of SBUStringSet that can be modified to customize file sharing. The SBUStringSet is a set of strings used to compose the screen. You need to modify the stringSet values in advance if you want to make changes to the screen.

The following table shows customizable file sharing icons.

UIKit for iOS allows users to compress images when sending them to other users in the channel on the client app. By reducing the image size, they can send and receive image files faster and minimize data storage and data usage.

The following table lists properties in the SBUGlobals class that are related to image compression. These properties can be customized before you initialize UIKit or create a new channel.

SBUGlobals.isImageCompressionEnabled = true
SBUGlobals.imageCompressionRate = 0.7
// The default value changed from 0.85 to 0.7 starting in v3.3.1.
SBUGlobals.imageResizingSize = CGSize(width: 480, height: 480)

Note: To compress an image without changing the size dimensions, use the imageCompressionRate property. To resize the image, use the imageResizingSize property.

UIKit for iOS uses AVPlayerViewController to play audio and video files. The files will play without audio when the user's device is on silent mode. However, in version 3.4.0 or later, the client app uses UIDocumentInteractionController to play audio and video files with sound even when the user's device is on silent mode. By setting SBUGlobals.isAVPlayerAlwaysEnabled to true, you can still use AVPlayerViewController in version 3.4.0 or later. The default value of the property is set to false.

SBUGlobals.isAVPlayerAlwaysEnabled = true

Users can share multiple images and videos in a single message through a multiple files message. UIKit for iOS supports this functionality with the same UI resources and image compression used for single file messages.

Make sure that your client app uses the latest version of the Chat SDK and UIKit to properly use multiple files messages.

• iOS v14 or higher
• Sendbird Chat SDK v4.12.1
• Sendbird UIKit v3.10.0

Depending on the version of the SDKs, multiple files messages can't be drawn in the view. For example, if a client app uses the latest Chat SDK but the UIKit lower than v3.10.0, the UIKit can't display multiple files messages at all as they don't support the functionality.

If the client app uses the Chat SDK and UIKit that don't support multiple files messages, only one file is drawn in the view as a single file message. The file that appears may vary depending on the device's OS version.

By default, multiple files messages are turned off for UIKit. In order to display them, enable the feature in AppDelegate.swift or before entering the channel using the code below. It is important to note that if SBUGlobals.isPHPickerEnabled is set to false after setting isMultipleFilesMessageEnabled to true, multiple files selection will not be enabled. Also, multiple files selection is available only when the permission setting of NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription is set to All Photos.

Note: Multiple files messages are supported in iOS v14 or higher.

if #available(iOS 14, *) {
    SBUGlobals.isMultipleFilesMessageEnabled = true
}

By default, the UIKit allows up to ten files per message, 25MB per file. To adjust the number of file attachments, contact our Sales team and set multiple_file_send_max_size to a higher or lower number. Between the UIKit's default settings and the multiple_file_send_max_size value, the lower number is set as the maximum number of files allowed for multiple files messages. When the number or size of files selected by the current user exceeds the limit, you could display your custom alert by overriding the multipleFilesMessageFileSizeErrorHandler in SBUGroupChannelViewController.

A user can select multiple image or video files from their gallery. When the user selects both images and videos simultaneously, the image thumbnails are grouped together in the UI, while video files are shared individually.

Note: The files are sorted by the OS' image picker on the device.

To view the image in full screen, click on the

If one of the files fails to send, the message is marked as failed. As auto resend isn't supported for multiple files messages, add a resend() option to the long-tab menu to allow the message sender to retry sending the message.

For those who receive multiple files messages, image thumbnails are grouped together on the UI and the thumbnail of video files appears individually as well.

A short-tab on the image or video file can show the file preview and a download button for individual files. For a long tab, display menu that includes reaction emojis, a delete button, and a reply button.

To view the image in full screen, click on the

Note: Only text messages and single file messages can be sent as a reply.

There are currently four different types of file messages that users can send: image file, video file, audio file, and document file. These files can be shared with other participants in the channel by either directly taking a photo with the camera on a mobile device or uploading an image, video, audio, or document file from the sender’s mobile device.

To view the image in full screen, click on the

Note : In order to use the file sharing feature, you must first create a channel and enable chat service. To learn how to allow users to chat in a channel, refer to Chat in an open channel.

You can customize the UI for file sharing using SBUMessageCellTheme in the SBUTheme, SBUStringSet, and SBUIconSet.

The following table shows customizable theme properties of file sharing.

The following table shows a property of SBUStringSet that can be modified to customize file sharing. The SBUStringSet is a set of strings used to compose the screen. You need to modify the stringSet values in advance if you want to make changes to the screen.

The following table shows customizable file sharing icons.

UIKit for iOS allows users to compress images when sending them to other users in the channel on a client app. By reducing the image size, they can send and receive image files faster and minimize the usage of data storage as well as the data usage.

The following table lists properties in the SBUGlobals class that are related to image compression. These properties can be customized before you initialize UIKit or create a new channel.

SBUGlobals.isImageCompressionEnabled = true
SBUGlobals.imageCompressionRate = 0.7
// The default value changed from 0.85 to 0.7 starting in v3.3.1.
SBUGlobals.imageResizingSize = CGSize(width: 480, height: 480)

Note: To compress an image without changing the size dimensions, use the imageCompressionRate property. To resize the image, use the imageResizingSize property.

UIKit for iOS uses AVPlayerViewController to play audio and video files. The files will play without audio when the user's device is on silent mode. However, in version 3.4.0 or later, the client app uses UIDocumentInteractionController to play audio and video files with sound even when the user's device is on silent mode. By setting SBUGlobals.isAVPlayerAlwaysEnabled to true, you can still use AVPlayerViewController in version 3.4.0 or later. The default value of the property is set to false.

SBUGlobals.isAVPlayerAlwaysEnabled = true