Working with messaging in your Android and iOS SDKs

After enabling messaging, you can add it to your Android or iOS app.

This article includes the following topics:

• About messaging for Android and iOS
• Creating a new Android or iOS channel for messaging
• Customizing and configuring the Zendesk SDK for Android and iOS
• Obtaining the Channel key for installation

About messaging for Android and iOS

On Zendesk mobile apps, messaging functionality is provided through new Android and iOS SDKs. Make sure you have enabled messaging before starting the creation process. After enabling messaging, you can customize and configure an SDK’s appearance and other settings via Admin Center, then provide your developer with a Channel Key that they will need to complete the integration following this official developer documentation

Creating a new Android or iOS channel for messaging

If you want to configure the Android or iOS SDKs you’ll need to create an Android or iOS channel in the Zendesk Admin Center and assign it to a brand before you can customize and configure it, as described below.

To create a new Android/iOS channel

1. In Admin Center, click the Channels icon () in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social > Messaging.
2. Click the Add Channel button, then select Android or iOS.
3. On the Add Android/iOS page, configure each of the sections:
   • Set up the basics: Enter a channel name, then use the dropdown to select a brand.
   • Style the appearance: Click the Primary, Message, and Action colors, then enter a hexadecimal number or use the picker to select your colors.
   • Install in your app: You will be presented with the Channel Key that you or your development team can use to install the Android or iOS SDK into your app. You will also be provided with a link to detailed instructions that you and your development team can use to complete the installation.
4. Click Finish. The Edit Android/iOS SDK page opens, where you can continue configuring the SDK, or leave it as-is.

If you disable messaging for a brand, the Web Widget is converted into the Web Widget (Classic).

Customizing and configuring the Zendesk SDKs for Android and iOS

The Zendesk SDK includes multiple components that you can customize to best represent your business.

To configure messaging for Android or iOS

1. In Admin Center, click the Channels icon () in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social > Messaging.
2. Hover your cursor over the brand you want to update, click the options icon (), then click Edit.
3. Click the tab with the components you want to customize. Follow the links below for more detailed information on the options for that tab:
   • Basics (channel name and flow)
   • Style (SDK appearance)
   • Notifications (Push notification settings)
   • Installation (Channel key and help center embed)

The Basics tab

The Basics tab includes an editable Channel name field, and a link to the SDK's Flow Builder configuration page.

The Channel name field is automatically populated with the brand name. To make it easier to find in your channels list, you may want to update it to something more unique.

To update the Channel name

1. In the Channel name field, delete the text you want to change.
2. Enter the new name for the SDK, then click the Save button.

The Style tab

The Style tab includes the appearance-related components of the SDK for Android or iOS.

In the Frame section, you can update the following:

• Primary color , the main color of the launcher button and SDK header. Enter a hexadecimal number, or click the color swatch to open a color picker.
• Message color, the color of the bubble around customer messages. Enter a hexadecimal number, or click the color swatch to open a color picker.
• Action color, the color of any buttons or tappable elements in the conversation, such as Quick Reply messages. Enter a hexadecimal number, or click the color swatch to open a color picker.
• Logo (optional), a JPG or PNG to appear at the top of the SDK frame. Click Upload image, then browse to the image you want to add.
• Title, text which appears at the top of the SDK's conversation screen – usually your business or brand name.
• Description (optional) a short piece of text under the title. This can be information you want to share, or a tagline, for example. Enter the description in the text box.

The Notifications tab

The Notifications tab is where you can set up push notifications for the Zendesk SDK for Android or iOS.

For Android, provide Firebase Cloud Messaging "Key" and "Sender ID":

For iOS, upload the .p12 file from APNs. You'll also be asked for the certificate password:

To generate the .p12 file, you must be logged in to your Apple Developer account. If you don’t have a developer account yet, you can enroll here.

1. Log in to Apple Developer Member Center, and navigate to the certificates list.
2. Click the + button at the top of the page to create a new certificate, and select Apple Push Notification service SSL (Sandbox & Production).
3. Select your app ID from the dropdown and click continue.
4. Follow the instructions to generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) using Keychain Access, and upload it to generate your certificate.
5. Once the certificate is ready, download it to your computer and double-click it to open it in Keychain Access.
6. Right click on the certificate you created, and select Export "Apple Push Services: {your-app-id}".
7. Choose a password, if desired, and save the .p12 file to your computer.

To fully enable push notifications, you developers also need to complete a series of instructions. You can find these instructions in our official developer documentation for Android and iOS.

Obtaining the Channel key for installation

To install messaging on your mobile app, your you'll need to provide your developers with a Channel key. You can find the Channel key, along with a link to the official Zendesk developer documentation, in the Installation tab.

To obtain the Channel key

1. In Admin Center, click the Channels icon () in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social > Messaging.
2. Hover your cursor over the brand you want to update, click the options icon (), then click Edit.
3. Click the Installation tab.
4. Under Channel key, click the Copy button to copy the key to your clipboard, and send this information to your developers.