Typing Indicators

Send and receive real-time typing indicators using the CometChat iOS SDK.

AI Integration Quick Reference

// Start typing indicator
let typing = TypingIndicator(receiverID: "UID", receiverType: .user)
CometChat.startTyping(indicator: typing)

// Stop typing indicator
CometChat.endTyping(indicator: typing)

// Listen for typing events
extension VC: CometChatMessageDelegate {
  func onTypingStarted(_ typingDetails: TypingIndicator) { }
  func onTypingEnded(_ typingDetails: TypingIndicator) { }
}

Send a Typing Indicator

Start Typing

Use startTyping() with a TypingIndicator object to notify the receiver that you’re typing.

Swift (User)

let typingIndicator = TypingIndicator(receiverID: "cometchat-uid-2", receiverType: .user)
CometChat.startTyping(indicator: typingIndicator)

Objective-C (User)

TypingIndicator *typingIndicator = [[TypingIndicator alloc]initWithReceiverID:@"cometchat-uid-2" receiverType:ReceiverTypeUser metadata:nil];
[CometChat startTypingWithIndicator:typingIndicator];

Swift (Group)

let typingIndicator = TypingIndicator(receiverID: "group-guid-1", receiverType: .group)
CometChat.startTyping(indicator: typingIndicator)

startTyping() returns void — the typing indicator is sent as a fire-and-forget operation.

Stop Typing

Use endTyping() to notify the receiver that you’ve stopped typing.

Swift (User)

let typingIndicator = TypingIndicator(receiverID: "cometchat-uid-2", receiverType: .user)
CometChat.endTyping(indicator: typingIndicator)

Objective-C (User)

TypingIndicator *typingIndicator = [[TypingIndicator alloc]initWithReceiverID:@"cometchat-uid-2" receiverType:ReceiverTypeUser metadata:nil];
[CometChat endTypingWithIndicator:typingIndicator];

Swift (Group)

let typingIndicator = TypingIndicator(receiverID: "group-guid-1", receiverType: .group)
CometChat.endTyping(indicator: typingIndicator)

endTyping() returns void — the typing indicator is sent as a fire-and-forget operation.

Use the metadata property of TypingIndicator to pass additional custom data. Retrieve it with metadata on the receiver side.

Real-time Typing Indicators

Use onTypingStarted and onTypingEnded in CometChatMessageDelegate to receive typing events.

Swift

extension YourViewController: CometChatMessageDelegate {

    func onTypingStarted(_ typingDetails: TypingIndicator) {
        print("User started typing")
        print("Sender: \(typingDetails.sender?.name ?? "")")
        print("Receiver ID: \(typingDetails.receiverID)")
        print("Receiver Type: \(typingDetails.receiverType)")
    }

    func onTypingEnded(_ typingDetails: TypingIndicator) {
        print("User stopped typing")
        print("Sender: \(typingDetails.sender?.name ?? "")")
    }
}

// Register the delegate:
CometChat.messagedelegate = self

Objective-C

@interface ViewController ()<CometChatMessageDelegate>
@end

@implementation ViewController

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];
    CometChat.messagedelegate = self;
}

- (void)onTypingStarted:(TypingIndicator *)typingDetails {
    NSLog(@"Typing started received successfully");
}

- (void)onTypingEnded:(TypingIndicator *)typingDetails {
    NSLog(@"Typing ended received successfully");
}

@end

The received TypingIndicator object contains:

Property	Type	Description
sender	User?	User object of the person typing
receiverID	String	UID of user or GUID of group
receiverType	ReceiverType	.user or .group
metadata	[String: Any]?	Custom data sent with indicator

Typing indicators are transient and not persisted. The receiver must be online to receive them.

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Next Steps

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Transient Messages

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