RELEASE 6.0 — ongoing release notes

[jessesquires]

Welcome to JSQMessagesViewController 6.0!

This issue serves to document ongoing and upcoming changes in release 6.0 of this library, which is scheduled to finally include media message support (#223), as well as many more exciting improvements. The goal is to release 6.0 by the end of September.

All development will take place on the release-6.0 branch. Feel free to checkout this branch at anytime, but be aware that it will be rapidly changing and will not be guaranteed to be 100% functional 100% of the time.

FAQs

Will this version of the library support iOS 8?
Yes. However, during development I will be targeting iOS 7. After iOS 8 is public, I will address any iOS 8-specific issues.

Will this version of the library support interoperability with Swift?
Yes. This library currently uses uses modern Objective-C and follows current best practices to facilitate Swift interoperability. However, no specific efforts will be made to support compatibility with Swift until it reaches 1.0.

What about iOS 8 frameworks?
Once iOS 8 is public and Cocoapods supports CocoaTouch Frameworks, this library will be distributed as such. It will also include a bridging header for interoperability with Swift.

Want to help?

Any and all feedback from the community will be greatly appreciated as we move forward with this release. Please let me know what you like, dislike, and what will or will not work for your specific uses of this library. Is that any documentation that doesn't make sense? Let me know. Is there an API that could be improved, or changed completely? Let me know.

Major API changes

Version 6.0 will not be backwards compatible with 5.x.x. I will be documenting all major library API changes below as they happen. Note, these will likely be brief as they are not intended to be a guide for migrating from 5.x.x to 6.0. This type of more in-depth documentation will happen at the time that 6.0 is released.

• JSQMessageData Protocol: all instances of sender have been replaced with senderId and senderDisplayName. See better documentation for sender property, change to senderId, add senderDisplayName  #389 for further details.
• REFACTOR JSQMessageData, JSQMessage, and associated classes.
• NEW JSQMessageBubbleImageDataSource Protocol: this new data source protocol replaces the use of imageView objects for message bubble image views. The messageBubbleImageView of a JSQMessagesCollectionViewCell is now part of the cell prototype. This change is reflected in JSQMessagesCollectionViewDataSource as well as JSQMessagesBubbleImageFactory. See Improve performance: new bubbleImage and avatarImage dataSource #319 for further details.

// Changes in JSQMessagesCollectionViewDataSource

// OLD
- (UIImageView *)collectionView:(JSQMessagesCollectionView *)collectionView bubbleImageViewForItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath;

// NEW
- (id<JSQMessageBubbleImageDataSource>)collectionView:(JSQMessagesCollectionView *)collectionView messageBubbleImageDataForItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath;

• REFACTOR JSQMessagesBubbleImageFactory
• RENAME JSQMessagesAvatarFactory --> JSQMessagesAvatarImageFactory
• NEW JSQMessageAvatarImageDataSource Protocol: this new data source protocol replaces the use of imageView objects for avatar image views. The avatarImageView of a JSQMessagesCollectionViewCell is now part of the cell prototype. This change is reflected in JSQMessagesCollectionViewDataSource as well as JSQMessagesAvatarImageFactory. See Improve performance: new bubbleImage and avatarImage dataSource #319 for further details.

// Changes in JSQMessagesCollectionViewDataSource

// OLD
- (UIImageView *)collectionView:(JSQMessagesCollectionView *)collectionView avatarImageViewForItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath;

// NEW
- (id<JSQMessageAvatarImageDataSource>)collectionView:(JSQMessagesCollectionView *)collectionView avatarImageDataForItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath;

• REFACTOR JSQMessagesAvatarImageFactory
• REMOVE JSQMessagesViewController --> typingIndicatorColor
• ADD JSQMessagesCollectionView
  • typingIndicatorDisplaysOnLeft
  • typingIndicatorMessageBubbleColor
  • typingIndicatorEllipsisColor
  • loadEarlierMessagesHeaderTextColor
• REFACTOR JSQMessage model object, now an abstract base class (removed text property)
• REFACTOR JSQMessageData protocol
  • - (NSString *)text method now optional
  • added optional - (id<JSQMessageMediaData>)media method
• NEW JSQMessageMediaData protocol - similar to JSQMessageData, but for media data
• NEW JSQTextMessage : concrete model object, represents text messages
• NEW JSQMediaMessage : concrete model object, represents media messages
• UPDATE JSQMessagesCollectionViewCell now has a mediaView property
• REFACTOR Demo project heavily refactored
• UPDATE JSQMessagesCollectionViewCell now has a mediaCellReuseIdentifier method
• UPDATE JSQMessagesViewController now has outgoingMediaCellIdentifier and incomingMediaCellIdentifier properties
• NEW JSQPhotoMediaItem model object for representing photo media
• NEW JSQMessagesMediaPlaceholderView view for async loading media
• NEW JSQLocationMediaItem model object for representing location media

---

6.0-beta1 released

---

• Performance improvements and minor fixes (progress on Scrolling perfomance on iOS8 #492)
• UPDATE added isMediaMessage to JSQMessageData (Update JSQMessageData protocol with "isMedia" method #530)
• Use MKMapSnapshotter for location media items (Instead of using an MKMapView, use MKMapSnapshotter to display location preview #529)
• Resolved [Springiness] Loading earlier messages results in garbled messages when using springiness #522

---

6.0-beta2 released

---

• Resolved replace stroked bubble assets in 6.0 #534
• REFACTOR JSQMessageBubbleImageFactory can now be initialized with custom images. See Refactor JSQMessageBubbleImageFactory to allow custom images #535
• Resolved Screen zooms and flickers on iPhone 6 when interactivePopGestureRecognizer begins #544
• Resolved contextViewWindowHeight is incorrect on iOS8 landscape #521

---

6.0-beta3 released

---

• Update JSQSystemSoundPlayer 2.0.0

---

6.0-beta4 released

---

• Closed Update bubble image assets #524
• NEW JSQVideoMediaItem model object for representing video media (closes Media messages continued: add more concrete media items #504)

---

6.0-beta5 released

---

• NEW Localization! 🎉 Closes Localization #237
• NEW Allow using custom nibs, Use custom Nib with JSQMessagesViewController subclass #563
• NEW JSQMessagesMediaViewBubbleImageMasker for masking media views to look like message bubbles
• NEW Mask media items as bubble images (Mask media message bubbles with bubble image (with "tail") #571), includes new abstract JSQMediaItem class. For your media items you should now specify appliesMediaViewMaskAsOutgoing = { YES / NO }

---

6.0-beta6 released

---

• REFACTOR Remove previously added JSQTextMessage and JSQMediaMessage in favor of absorbing them into the original JSQMessage class. Closes Refactor JSQMessage object hierarchy? #602

[FredericJacobs]

Really excited about this. Let me know if you need help with anything.

[jessesquires]

Thanks @FredericJacobs - any feedback would be great! And even small things like fixing typos are way more helpful than they seem!

[FredericJacobs]

I'm more than happy to provide feedback and edit/write documentation.

[jessesquires]

@FredericJacobs - awesome! I'll post here when the first beta is ready. 👍

[piercifani]

Awesome @jessesquires. One question: #453 won't be included in this release? I'm more than happy to give you a hand with whatever you need

[jessesquires]

Thanks @piercifani! That's right, unfortunately. I attempted #453 and ran into some design issues so I decided to hold off for now as media is a higher priority. The use cases noted in objc.io are much simpler than what we have here, and our data source is not as generic. Hopefully this change will come with 7.0 -- or maybe a complete re-write/re-design in Swift. :) but that would be very long term.

[jessesquires]

Release notes updated.

Core media support has been implemented on branch release-6.0.

Concrete media objects are not yet available, only the protocols are finished.

Demo has not yet been updated to include media messages. Coming soon. Stay tuned.