How To Build A White Label Instant Messaging App?

Have a plan to build your own white label instant messaging software? That’s great. I also had the same thought.

For the last 4 years, I worked on many IT projects. Usually, the time for product development from scratch takes at least 6 months.

However, I noticed the demand for a low-code platform is growing fast.

So, I spend day and night researching the right solution for building the IM software. 

My checklist for examining the solution includes:

• 100% Customizable Workflow

• Integrate Across Android, IOS & Web

• Support Hosting On Any Server

• Allow Third-Party Integration

• Production-Ready Solution

• Full Branding Control Over UI

• Easy To Develop & Launch

• Offer Full Source Code Access

• Proper Documentation

• End-To-End Encryption

And, I came across a self-hosted solution, MirrorFly.

It helped me build and deploy a secure instant messaging solution within 48 hours. 

To explain the build process, I have divided it into four phases.

• Phase 1: Download the SDK solution

• Phase 2: Integrate chat SDK into your app

• Phase 3: Add advanced features

• Phase 4: Launch the app

Now, let's look into them one by one.

Phase 1: Download The SDK Solution

Contact the MirrorFly team to create your user account.

After this, from the MirrorFly console page, you can find the license key. This unique key is required for authenticating the SDK in your app project.

Phase 2: Integrate Chat SDK Into Your App

Now, let’s integrate the MirrorFly chat SDK into the project codebase.

As a prerequisite, you’ll need:

• Android Lollipop 5.0 (API Level 21) or above

• Java 7 or higher

• Gradle 8.6.0 or higher

• Kotlin 2.0.20 or higher

• targetSdkVersion,compileSdk 35

In this phase, a total of ten steps are involved.

• Step 1: Create a new project or open an existing project in Android Studio.

• Step 2: To inform Gradle where to download the chat SDK and its dependencies, add the code.

For Gradle 6.8 or higher, add the following code to your settings.gradle file.

dependencyResolutionManagement {
 repositories {
 mavenCentral()
 google()
 jcenter()
 maven {
 url "https://repo.mirrorfly.com/release"
 }
 }
}

For Gradle 6.7 or lower, add the following code to your root build.gradle file.

allprojects {
 repositories {
 mavenCentral()
 google()
 jcenter()
 maven {
 url "https://repo.mirrorfly.com/release"
 }
 }
}

Step 3: Add the below dependencies to the app/build.gradle file.

dependencies {
 implementation 'com.mirrorfly.sdk:mirrorflysdk:7.13.32'
 }

Step 4: Add the below line in the gradle.properties file, to avoid imported library conflicts.

android.enableJetifier=true

Step 5: Open the AndroidManifest.xml and add below permissions.

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />

Step 6: Next, we have to initialize the MirrorFly SDK.

But the following is a basic requirement before proceeding with the initialization.

In your Application class, inside the onCreate() method, use the below method from ChatManager to provide the necessary data.

Now, to initialize MirrorFly SDK, modify your MyApplication.java (or custom Application class):

ChatManager.initializeSDK("LICENSE_KEY", (isSuccess, throwable, data) -> {
 if(isSuccess){
 Log.d("TAG", "initializeSDK success ");
 }else{
 Log.d("TAG", "initializeSDK failed with reason "+data.get("message"));
 }
 });

Add the created MyApplication to AndroidManifest.xml.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
 package="com.example.uikitapplication">

 <application
 android:name=".MyApplication" // Add this line.
 android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
 android:label="@string/app_name"
 android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
 android:theme="@style/AppTheme">
 <activity android:name=".MainActivity">
 <intent-filter>
 <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
 ...
 <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
 </intent-filter>
 </activity>
 </application>

Step 7: Now, make the following call to register a user.

 FlyCore.registerUser(USER_IDENTIFIER, (isSuccess, throwable, data ) -> {
 if(isSuccess) {
 Boolean isNewUser = (Boolean) data.get("is_new_user"); // true - if the current user is different from the previous session's logged-in user, false - if the same user is logging in again
 String userJid = (String) data.get("userJid"); //Ex. [email protected] (USER_IDENTIFIER+@+domain of the chat server)
 JSONObject responseObject = (JSONObject) data.get("data");
 String username = responseObject.getString("username");
 } else {
 // Register user failed print throwable to find the exception details.
 }
 });

Step 8: At this moment, registration is successful, and a connection is created automatically. 

You will receive the connection status in the callback method as mentioned below.

ChatManager.setConnectionListener(new ChatConnectionListener() {
 @Override
 public void onConnected() {
 // Write your success logic here to navigate Profile Page or
 // To Start your one-one chat with your friends
 }

 @Override
 public void onDisconnected() {
 // Connection disconnected
 }

 @Override
 public void onConnectionFailed(@NonNull FlyException e) {
 // Connection Not authorized or Unable to establish connection with server
 }

 @Override
 public void onReconnecting() {
 // Automatic reconnection enabled
 }
});

Step 9: For sending and receiving messages, you’ll need a JID (Jabber ID). 

Use the below method:

String userJid = FlyUtils.getJid(USER_NAME);

Step 10: To send a text message to another user, use this method:

TextMessage textMessage = new TextMessage();
textMessage.setToId(TO_JID);
textMessage.setMessageText(TEXT);

FlyMessenger.sendTextMessage(textMessage, (isSuccess, error, chatMessage) -> {
 if (isSuccess) {
 // you will get the message sent success response
 }
});

To receive any message on your IM app, set up a listener:

 ChatEventsManager.setupMessageEventListener(new MessageEventsListener() {
 @Override
 public void onMessageReceived(@NotNull ChatMessage message) {
 //called when the new message is received
 }

 });

In this stage, your white label IM app will be able to send and receive real-time messages. 

Section 3: Add Advanced Features

Now you can customize the team chat software with 1000+ in-app features based on the business requirement from this pre-built solution.

Follow the MirrorFly documentation to add any advanced features.

Section 4: Launch The App

That’s it. Now, you can deploy the instant messaging software either on your own premises or on MirrorFly’s cloud servers.

Have any doubts? Comment below!