Can I create custom cells like these in swift 5 ios using messageKIt?

Question

I am building a chat app and I am new to ios, I want to build custom cells like these using messageKIT, can anybody help me with any resource or code?

Answer 1

Yes, what you want is definitely possible!

You may refer to this GitHub repo that contains a text document/guide on how to configure customs cells with MessageKit and examples.

An extract from the repo:

Note: If you choose to use the .custom kind you are responsible for all of the cell's layout. You can design the cell in code or Interface Builder. Any UICollectionViewCell can be returned for custom cells which means any of the styling you provide from the MessageDisplayDelegate will not affect your custom cell, even if you subclass your cell from MessageContentCell.

Creating a custom cell involves four parts:

1. Build a cell in Interface Builder or code that inherits from UICollectionViewCell
2. Set the size of your cell. Subclass MessageSizeCalculator if you want your cell to have the default MessageKit layout design. Subclass CellSizeCalculator if you want to further customize your own cell design. The implementation of this class will allow your custom cell to automatically size itself within the messagesCollectionView.
3. Add your custom cell size to the collection view flow layout. Subclass MessagesCollectionViewFlowLayout, and use the custom message size calculator from step 2, above.
4. Register your custom cell and reference your custom collection view flow layout.