simplex-chat/apps/ios/product/views/chat.md

Chat View (Conversation)

Related spec: spec/client/chat-view.md | spec/client/compose.md

Purpose

Full conversation view for displaying and interacting with messages in a direct contact chat, group chat, or note-to-self. Supports text messaging with markdown, media attachments, voice messages, E2E encrypted calls, message reactions, replies, forwarding, and content search/filtering.

Route / Navigation

• Entry point: Tap a chat row in ChatListView
• Presented by: NavStackCompat destination from ChatListView, bound to chatModel.chatId
• Back navigation: Dismiss sets chatModel.chatId = nil, returning to chat list
• Sub-navigation: Info button navigates to ChatInfoView (contact) or GroupChatInfoView (group); member avatars navigate to GroupMemberInfoView

Page Sections

Navigation Bar

Custom toolbar overlaying the chat with themed material background:

Element	Description
Back button	Returns to chat list
Contact/Group avatar	Small profile image
Chat name	Display name; tappable to open info sheet
Encryption badge	Shows PQ (post-quantum) or standard E2E status
Call buttons	Audio and video call icons (direct chats only)
Search button	Toggles in-chat message search
Info button	Opens ChatInfoView or GroupChatInfoView

Message List

Rendered by EndlessScrollView<MergedItem> with lazy loading and pagination:

Feature	Description
Scroll direction	Bottom-to-top (newest messages at bottom)
Pagination	Loads more items on scroll to top (loadingTopItems) and bottom (loadingBottomItems)
Merged items	Adjacent messages from the same sender are visually merged via MergedItems
Floating buttons	Scroll-to-bottom button with unread count; scroll-to-first-unread button
Date separators	Sticky date headers between messages from different days
Wallpaper	Themed background image with tint and opacity from theme.wallpaper
Content filter	Filter messages by type: .images, .files, .links

Message Types

Each type has a dedicated view in Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/:

Type	View	Description
Text	MsgContentView	Rendered with markdown (bold, italic, code, links, mentions)
Image	CIImageView	Thumbnail with tap-to-fullscreen via FullScreenMediaView
Video	CIVideoView	Video thumbnail with play button; inline playback
Voice	CIVoiceView / FramedCIVoiceView	Waveform visualization with playback controls and duration
File	CIFileView	File icon, name, size; download/open actions
Link preview	CILinkView	URL preview card with title, description, image
Emoji-only	EmojiItemView	Large emoji rendering without message bubble
Call event	CICallItemView	Call status (missed, ended, duration)
Group event	CIEventView	Member joined/left, role changes, group updates
E2EE info	CIChatFeatureView	Encryption status and feature change notifications
Group invitation	CIGroupInvitationView	Inline group join invitation card
Deleted	DeletedItemView / MarkedDeletedItemView	Placeholder for deleted messages
Decryption error	CIRcvDecryptionError	Error with ratchet sync suggestion
Invalid JSON	CIInvalidJSONView	Developer fallback for malformed items
Integrity error	IntegrityErrorItemView	Message integrity/gap warnings

Message Interactions

Long-press context menu on any message:

Action	Description
Reply	Sets compose bar to reply mode with quoted message
Forward	Opens forwardedChatItems sheet to pick destination chat
Copy	Copies message text to clipboard
Edit	Enters edit mode in compose bar (own messages, within edit window)
Delete	Delete for self or delete for everyone (with confirmation)
React	Opens emoji reaction picker
Select multiple	Enters multi-select mode (selectedChatItems) with bulk delete/forward
Info	Shows delivery status and timestamps

Emoji reactions bar displayed below messages with reaction counts.

Compose Bar (ComposeView)

Element	Description
Text input	NativeTextEditor with markdown support and auto-growing height
Attachment button	Opens picker for images, videos, files, camera
Send button	Sends composed message; changes to voice record button when empty
Voice record	Hold-to-record with waveform preview; swipe-to-cancel
Reply quote	Shows quoted message above input when replying
Edit indicator	Shows "editing" label when editing a previous message
Link preview	Auto-generated preview card for detected URLs (ComposeLinkView)
Image/Video preview	Thumbnail strip for selected media (ComposeImageView)
File preview	File name and size for attached file (ComposeFileView)
Voice preview	Waveform of recorded voice message (ComposeVoiceView)
Live message	Real-time typing broadcast (optional, with alert on first use)
Context actions	ContextContactRequestActionsView for accepting/rejecting contact requests; ContextPendingMemberActionsView for pending group member actions
Commands menu	CommandsMenuView for bot/menu commands in chats with menuCommands
Group mentions	GroupMentionsView autocomplete popup when typing @ in groups
Profile picker	ContextProfilePickerView for choosing incognito/main profile

Channel Messages

In channel conversations (groupInfo.useRelays == true), received messages (.channelRcv direction) display with:

• The channel icon (antenna.radiowaves.left.and.right) instead of the standard group icon
• The channel name as sender, with "channel" as the role label
• The group profile image as the avatar (tapping opens group info, not member info)
• Consecutive channel messages are grouped without repeating the avatar
• Channel messages cannot be moderated per-member (no member identity)

Member Support Chat (Groups)

For groups with member support enabled:

• MemberSupportView and MemberSupportChatToolbar shown as secondary chat within group
• SecondaryChatView for scoped group chat views (reports, member support)
• User knocking state: userMemberKnockingTitleBar() shown when user is pending admission

Terminal Layout

A chat with the terminal layout shows messages as full-width rows without bubbles, starting at one edge for sent and received messages, with the sender's name above each group of messages, again after a pause of 7.5 minutes, and the time at the end of the last line. Groups and channels show the sender's avatar beside its name; other chats have no avatar column. The wallpaper is drawn as its colour without the image.

A chat uses the user's choice for that chat, otherwise the layout set by the group owner or by the address the contact came from, otherwise the user's choice for the profile and then the app setting, otherwise classic. The choice for a chat is made in its theme screen; the choices for the app and the profile are made in Settings › Appearance.

Loading / Error States

State	Behavior
Initial load	Messages load from ItemsModel with merged items; allowLoadMoreItems throttles pagination
Loading more (top)	loadingTopItems spinner at top of scroll view
Loading more (bottom)	loadingBottomItems spinner at bottom
Connection in progress	ConnectProgressManager shows connecting text below compose bar
Connecting text	"connecting..." label shown below message list when chat not yet ready
Send disabled	Compose bar shows disabledText reason when userCantSendReason is set
Empty chat	No messages placeholder (implicit -- empty scroll view)

Related Specs

• spec/client/chat-view.md -- Chat view feature specification
• spec/client/compose.md -- Compose bar specification
• Chat List -- Parent navigation
• Contact Info -- Info sheet for direct chats
• Group Info -- Info sheet for group chats
• Call -- Audio/video calls initiated from toolbar

Source Files

• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatView.swift -- Main chat view, message list, navigation, state management
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItemView.swift -- Individual message item rendering dispatcher
• Shared/Views/Chat/ComposeMessage/ComposeView.swift -- Compose bar container
• Shared/Views/Chat/ComposeMessage/SendMessageView.swift -- Send button and voice record
• Shared/Views/Chat/ComposeMessage/NativeTextEditor.swift -- Text input with markdown
• Shared/Views/Chat/ComposeMessage/ComposeImageView.swift -- Image attachment preview
• Shared/Views/Chat/ComposeMessage/ComposeFileView.swift -- File attachment preview
• Shared/Views/Chat/ComposeMessage/ComposeVoiceView.swift -- Voice recording preview
• Shared/Views/Chat/ComposeMessage/ComposeLinkView.swift -- Link preview generation
• Shared/Views/Chat/ComposeMessage/ContextItemView.swift -- Reply/edit context display
• Shared/Views/Chat/ComposeMessage/ContextContactRequestActionsView.swift -- Contact request accept/reject
• Shared/Views/Chat/ComposeMessage/ContextPendingMemberActionsView.swift -- Pending member actions
• Shared/Views/Chat/ComposeMessage/ContextProfilePickerView.swift -- Profile picker for incognito
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/FramedItemView.swift -- Framed message bubble rendering
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/MsgContentView.swift -- Text message content with markdown
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/TerminalItemView.swift -- Terminal layout rows, sender rows and the time at the row end
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/CIImageView.swift -- Image message view
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/CIVideoView.swift -- Video message view
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/CIVoiceView.swift -- Voice message view
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/CIFileView.swift -- File message view
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/CILinkView.swift -- Link preview view
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/EmojiItemView.swift -- Large emoji view
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/CICallItemView.swift -- Call event view
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/CIEventView.swift -- Group/system event view
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/CIChatFeatureView.swift -- Feature change notification
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/CIMetaView.swift -- Timestamp and delivery status
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/FullScreenMediaView.swift -- Fullscreen image/video viewer
• Shared/Views/Chat/ChatItem/AnimatedImageView.swift -- Animated GIF rendering
• Shared/Views/Chat/Group/GroupMentions.swift -- @mention autocomplete
• Shared/Views/Chat/Group/MemberSupportView.swift -- Member support scoped chat
• Shared/Views/Chat/Group/MemberSupportChatToolbar.swift -- Support chat toolbar
• Shared/Views/Chat/Group/SecondaryChatView.swift -- Secondary scoped chat view