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Evgeny @ SimpleX ChatandEvgeny Poberezkin
c3c733e0d4
* plan: UI improvements to improve LLM usage via SimpleX * core, ui: types for chat layout * core, ui: settings for alternative terminal-like chat layout for managing LLMs or other service bots * plan: message priority * fixes * query plan * update plans * remove silent messages plan * rename migrations * implement layout * amend * fix * fix * fix * improve * time on the right, sender name in blue * no avatar in direct chats * better previews * update, fixes * update * time gap * changes * ui: terminal layout line heights, gaps and time placement * ui: simplify terminal meta layout, correct its docs and tests * ui: right-to-left emoji edge in terminal rows, time placement tests * android, desktop: raise Kotlin compiler memory to 4 GB * ui: terminal captions as follow-up text, classic event separators * ui: terminal media edge and overlay time, plan decisions * ui: simplify terminal row separation, correct doc line references * ui: keep the media time inside terminal rows, restore caption conditions * ui: terminal heading capitals at large font scales, idle live message time * ui: rename the classic voice-with-text flag, correct the meta copy docs * ui: smaller terminal layout diff, sender gap and meta names * ui: terminal row as tall as the media time * docs: remove the chat layout section from the bots readme * docs: shorten the terminal layout section of the chat view * core: address settings API as on master, /auto_accept reads the stored layout * ui: smaller terminal headings * ui: classic sender rows and avatar rule as on master * ui: classic reply quote text colour as on master * ios: keep the chat layout setting with other UI settings * ui: go-to button at the end of terminal rows, no gutter in direct chats * ui: forwarded arrow on the header line of terminal rows, above the time * ui: forwarded arrow centred above the time line of terminal rows * ios: terminal chat layout, chosen per app, profile and chat * ios: event time reserve of three spaces, app layout picker as Kotlin * ios: spec and plan of the terminal chat layout * ios: classic message text at 87% in dark themes, as terminal rows * ios: terminal gaps scaled by the body size, 17/16 of Kotlin values * ios: terminal quote sender at 13.5pt, thumbnail at the item end * ios: product docs of the terminal layout, plans updated for iOS * ios: chat scenes rendered to PNG by a unit test in the simulator CI * ios: snapshots rendered by the smoke test script, workflow unchanged * ios: terminal names at 13.5 x 17/16 pt, as the gaps * ios: Markdown views at the 87% message colour in dark themes * ios: terminal quote thumbnail 12pt after the quote text or the bar * ios: terminal rule-only message widened by a wider quote or header * ios: member avatars scaled with the text size, as in the chat list * ios: snapshot rows at their own height, as list cells, so text wraps * ios: member avatars back at 34pt, for the snapshot before scaling * ios: member avatars scaled with the text size, as in the chat list * ui: terminal quote thumbnail 12dp after the quote text or the bar * ios: classic group bubble width follows the scaled member avatar * ci: ios-sim README describes the snapshots rendered after the smoke test * ios: scratch, padding variants for the I7 and I8 renders, to revert * ios: revert the scratch padding variants after their renders * ui: contrast of the voice message button in terminal rows * ios: scratch, spacing variants and list margins to render, to revert * ios: revert the scratch spacing variants after their renders * ios: snapshots at a fixed date, in UTC and the en_US locale * ios: snapshots drawn as 8-bit sRGB without alpha * ci: compare iOS snapshots with the references in the repository * ci: record and check iOS snapshot references on GitHub's runner * ios: scratch, list margins on the remaining screens, to revert * ios: revert the scratch list margins after their measurement * ci: snapshot scripts executable, as the other CI scripts * ios: scratch, voice circle variants in light themes, to revert * ios: revert the scratch voice circle variants * ios: one 12pt padding at the edges and after avatars in terminal rows * ios: classic group sender name on the bubble edge * ui: one 12dp padding at the edges and after avatars in terminal rows * ios: one heading scale in both chat layouts * ios: snapshot references of the chat scenes * docs: leave the headings and classic lines of the plan to ep/classic-bubbles * ios: declare terminal layout functions inside types * ios: keep layout constants at file scope * ios: keep file-scope functions, move only extension members into types * ios: snapshot tests record row heights at first layout and the appearance layout switch * ios: appearance preview follows the chat layout setting at once * ios: snapshot test measures first-layout rows by SwiftUI and by cells * ios: chat rows measured at the chat width when they first appear * ios: snapshot test checks that chat rows keep their first height after a reload * ios, ci: references of terminal and classic chat scenes, dark message text * ios: message text at 95% in dark themes * ios, ci: references with message text at 95% in dark themes * ios: media in terminal rows end at the time's right inset * ios, ci: references with terminal media at the time's right inset --------- Co-authored-by: Evgeny Poberezkin <evgeny@poberezkin.com>
SimpleX Chat iOS app
This file provides guidance when working with code in this repository.
iOS App Overview
The iOS app is a SwiftUI application that interfaces with the Haskell core library via FFI. It shares the SimpleXChat framework with two extensions: Notification Service Extension (NSE) for push notifications and Share Extension (SE) for sharing content from other apps.
Build & Development
Open SimpleX.xcodeproj in Xcode. The project has five targets:
- SimpleX (iOS) - Main app (Bundle ID:
chat.simplex.app) - SimpleXChat - Framework containing FFI bridge and shared types
- SimpleX NSE - Notification Service Extension
- SimpleX SE - Share Extension
- Tests iOS - UI tests
Build and run via Xcode (Product > Build/Run). Tests run via Product > Test or:
xcodebuild test -scheme "SimpleX (iOS)" -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 15'
Deployment target: iOS 15.0+, Swift 5.0.
Architecture
Haskell Core Integration
The app calls the Haskell core library through C FFI defined in SimpleXChat/SimpleX.h:
chat_migrate_init_key()- Initialize/migrate databasechat_send_cmd_retry()- Send command to chat controllerchat_recv_msg_wait()- Receive messages from controller
Swift wrappers in SimpleXChat/API.swift:
chatMigrateInit()- Initialize chat controllersendSimpleXCmd<R>()- Send typed commands and parse responsesrecvSimpleXMsg<R>()- Receive typed messages
Haskell runtime initialization (SimpleXChat/hs_init.c) uses different memory configurations:
- Main app: 64MB heap
- NSE: 512KB heap (minimal footprint for background processing)
- SE: 1MB heap
Pre-compiled Haskell libraries are in Libraries/{ios,mac,sim}/.
State Management
- ChatModel (
Shared/Model/ChatModel.swift) - Main singletonObservableObjectfor app-wide state (chat list, active chat, users) - ItemsModel - Manages chat items within a selected chat (similar to Kotlin's ChatsContext)
- AppTheme - Theme management and customization
App Structure
Entry point: Shared/SimpleXApp.swift
Key directories in Shared/:
Model/- Data models and API layer (ChatModel.swift,SimpleXAPI.swift)Views/- SwiftUI views organized by feature:ChatList/- Chat list and user pickerChat/- Message display and compositionCall/- VoIP call UIUserSettings/- App settingsLocalAuth/- Passcode and biometric authenticationDatabase/- Database initialization and migration
Shared Data Between Targets
All three targets share data via App Group (group.chat.simplex.app):
SimpleXChat/AppGroup.swift- GroupDefaults wrapper for typed shared preferences- Keychain for sensitive data:
kcDatabasePassword,kcAppPassword,kcSelfDestructPassword
Key Types
Types are defined in SimpleXChat/:
ChatTypes.swift- User, Chat, Message, Group typesAPITypes.swift- API request/response types
Commands follow ChatCmdProtocol (has cmdString property), sent as JSON through FFI.
Localization
31 languages supported. Localization files in SimpleX Localizations/.
Workflow:
Product > Export Localizations- Export XLIFF filesProduct > Import Localizations- Import updated translations
SimpleX Assets
The app includes optional assets behind the SIMPLEX_ASSETS Swift compilation flag. Without setup, the app builds normally without them.
Setup
Create Local.xcconfig (gitignored) in the apps/ios/ directory:
SIMPLEX_ASSETS_DIR = /path/to/assets
SWIFT_ACTIVE_COMPILATION_CONDITIONS = $(inherited) SIMPLEX_ASSETS
The copy script (scripts/ios/copy-assets.sh) runs as a build phase on each build but exits immediately if SIMPLEX_ASSETS is not set.
Updating assets
When source images change, regenerate resized images (requires ImageMagick):
cd path/to/assets && ./resize.sh
Background Capabilities
Configured in Info.plist:
- Background modes: audio, fetch, remote-notification, voip
- URL scheme:
simplex://for deep linking - BGTaskScheduler:
chat.simplex.app.receive