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Using Zendesk Web Widget or Sunshine Conversations Web Messenger in Mobile Apps



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Mick O'Donnell

Zendesk Product Manager

已于 2024年3月01日 发布

What does it mean to use Zendesk Web Widget or Web Messenger in Mobile Apps

Our Zendesk Web Widget and Sunshine Conversation Web Messenger are designed to be implemented on your websites or embedded inside your help center. However, we understand that customers have the need for more complex integrations such as using a web-based widget or SDK within a mobile app. The aim of this article is to provide you with guidance, best practices, and to outline our recommended approach to using Zendesk widgets and SDK across your range of platforms.

Breakdown of different in integration types

Recommended integration paths

The Zendesk widgets and SDKs are built with the highest level of reliability and optimal end user experience in mind. We follow specific testing protocols to ensure that this is always the case, and your customers have not disconnected from your business - especially important for best in class customer service. As such, the following are our recommended integration paths to use our widgets and SDK across your web, mobile and gaming platforms: 

Your business website and/or help center: We recommend using the Zendesk Web Widget. The Zendesk Web Widget is optimized for embedding on your website or inside your Help Center. This offers the best in class experience for your end users. For some customers, you may require features that are supported on the Sunshine Conversations Web Messenger (currently in maintenance mode), and not yet supported on the Zendesk Web Widget. More info here.

Your business' Mobile Apps  for Android and iOS: We recommend using the Zendesk Android and iOS SDKs. The Zendesk Android and iOS SDKs are developed using the latest native technologies made available by Android and iOS. For some customers, you may require features that are supported on the Sunshine Conversations SDK for Android and iOS (currently in maintenance mode), and not yet supported on the Zendesk SDK for Android and iOS. More info here.

A game that you have developed in Unity: We recommend using the Zendesk SDK for Unity. This SDK has been purposefully built to run well within a Unity game environment.

Social Channels (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Apple Business Chat, etc.): It is not possible to use Zendesk widgets or SDKs on social channels.

By following these recommended integration paths, you'll be ensured of:

  • A high level of stability across your web, mobile and gaming platforms.
  • A high level of security compliance across your web, mobile and gaming platforms.
  • A high level of accessibility compliance across your web, mobile and gaming platforms.
  • Optimal end user experience of Zendesk messaging for your customers.

Running web-based clients on mobile apps

Some businesses have mobile apps built using web based technologies, most commonly the use for WebViews within their native mobile apps. While it's possible to use the Zendesk Web Widget or the Sunshine Conversation Web Messenger in this manner, it's important to be aware of certain limitations and challenges that this integration path presents:

Lack of notification support: Push notifications will not operate when using a web-based client on native mobile apps. Push notifications are an integral part of a conversational experience for mobile users. Notifications alert users to conversation updates, such as incoming messages. Lack of awareness of conversation events can potentially increase the amount of time that your customer service personnel are preoccupied with individual queries, lower overall customer service efficiency. 

Application lifecycle management: The performance of web-based clients running on mobile apps, from an application lifecycle management point of view, can be inconsistent due to the challenges presented with the back-grounding and fore-grounding of mobile applications. The Zendesk Web Widget and the Sunshine Conversation Web Messenger both use a number of different networking technologies in order to maintain active conversations seamlessly, including Web Socket (WS) connections. Web Socket connections are susceptible to disconnections when mobile apps are backgrounded, and as such, end users may experience strange behavior following app back-grounding.

Challenges to Zendesk support: This type of integration is not tested by Zendesk. As such, Zendesk cannot ensure the stability or optimal performance of running web-based clients on mobile apps. In addition to this, investigating customer integration issues requires specific reproduction steps and clear information provided about the environment of the Zendesk widget or SDKs. This makes it more complex to investigate certain issues when there is a mix of native mobile and web technologies in play.

A note on Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)

Progressive Web Apps are a specific type of mobile web application that can be bookmarked on the home screen and notification bubbles presented - closely aligning it with the behavior of the native mobile app. For integration with PWAs, similar advice and caution should be taken as when integrating Zendesk web-based clients on mobile devices. It should be noted that from iOS 17.4, Apple are removing home screen apps for users in the EU because bringing them into compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Bring Your Own Channel

While these are the supported integration types available Zendesk, we offer another flexible option to allow you to build your own messaging platform. To learn more, please see this article on bringing your own channel.

In Summary

Whenever possible, Zendesk always recommends that customers use the client that is native to the platform on which you are integrating. I.e. Zendesk Web Widget on websites, Zendesk SDKs for Android and  iOS or Unity for Mobile apps, etc. If this is not possible, the web-based clients will operate on mobile platforms, however it is important to be aware of the limitations and challenges (listed above) of this type of integration.


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