React Native

Build a React Native Video Chat App in Simple Steps

Integrate React Native Video SDK in <10 Mins!

Krishi Shivasangaran

Published in

CodeX

5 min readNov 24, 2023

Hola, Did you search for something related to a video chat app for iOS and Android or a React Native video chat app? Cheer up! You have laned in your destination.

During COVID, video chat and conferencing apps have been downloaded more than 59 million times. This is where the technology started to boom, and till now it has made a significant impact in multiple industries.

Okay, let’s come back to our topic. Why do people love React Native to build a video chat app? You already know the answer, man, because it is cross-platform compatible, cost- and time-effective, easy to implement real-time video calling functionalities, and more.

Further in this blog, let’s dive deep into the procedures for how building a video chat app for iOS and Android using React Native is easier, the role of UI kits, and why to rely on MirrorFly video APIs.

Why is Building a Video Call App with React Native Easier?

React Native is an open-source, multi-platform framework of JavaScript developed and backed by Facebook. It offers multiple features and benefits for building a real-time video calling app.

Here are some special features of the React Native video calling app,

Hot-reload features: The React Native video chat app provides a hot-reload feature that allows you to see the changes reflected in the app’s UI in real-time. This feature helps you build a complete app in a short span of time.
Single codebase: You can code once and deploy it across platforms like iOS and Android. Instead of maintaining separate codebases for each platform, these features help you build a futuristic app at a low cost.
Native-like performance: React Native uses native components to achieve near-native app performance. With this special feature, you can add modern and advanced features to your React Native video chat app.
Cross-platform consistency: React Native allows you to write platform-specific codes that facilitate the same brand identity, user interface, and user experience across all platforms.
Large and active community: It has a large, rich, and active community of developers to support you. Be it adding a complex feature or functionality to your video chat app,you always have a team to rely on. You are never alone.

These features state why building a Reat Native video chat app is easier. Now let’s jump on to see the role of UI kits in the video call app building process.

Why Do You Need React Native UIKit to Build a Video Chat App?

UI kits are a set of pre-built user interface elements that can be customised to deliver an aesthetic video calling app in a short period of time.

React Native UI Kits have always been a developer’s first choice for the two reasons below.

1. Build Apps Faster and Easier

With UIKits, you can build your apps faster and easier. Say it: you are building a video chat app like Whatsapp, and you have your UI design in hand. Instead of building it from scratch, you can choose a video API provider with a customizable UI kit like MirrorFly.

Then you can customise the colour, design elements, icons, identity, flow, and everything with just a rag-and-drop option.

By simple means, you can plug and play video call features in no time. On the other hand, if you choose to build from scratch, then you have to spend a quarter on it.

2. Complexity of Video Chat Features

In some cases, building a video chat app itself has some complexity for adding certain features. During those hard moments, this pre-built UI kit leaves you stress-free and helps you add those features with ease.

Let’s assume that you are planning to add an in-call message feature. Then you have to start from scratch again to add that feature to your video chat app. But by using the pre-built UI Kit, you can just drag and drop that feature and finish it like a pro.

By other means, pre-built UI kits also support third-party API integrations if you are planning to add location APIs, video effects and filter APIs, face recognition APIs, and more with ease using the React Native UI Kits.

The list doesn’t stop here, yet there are more features that help you build a fine-tuned video calling app with React Native.

How to Build a React Native Video Chat App with MirrorFly SDK?

In the section below, I’ll be detailing the process to integrate MirrorFly’s SDK into your React Native chat app. The best part is that you can set up and go in just 10 mins.

So, before we begin, you need the following prerequisites.

Node: 14.20.0
npm: 6.14.10
react-native: 0.69.12

Now let us get started with the integration process.

Step 1: Create an account

Go to the MF console page and create your MirrorFly account.

Step 2: Install NPM dependencies

Begin this step by updating your package.json files

{
"@react-native-async-storage/async-storage": "^1.17.7",//Any version
"react-native-get-random-values": "1.7.1",//must use version >=1.7.1
"react-native-document-picker" :"8.1.1",// must use version >=8.1.1
'realm': "^10.8.0",
'react-native-fs': "^2.18.0",
'@react-native-community/netinfo': "^8.0.0",
'moment': "2.29.4",
'rn-fetch-blob': "^0.12.0",
'react-native-compressor': "1.6.1",
'react-native-convert-ph-asset': "^1.0.3",
'react-native-mov-to-mp4' :"^0.2.2"
}

Upon completing this step, copy all the extracted files into a new directory.

Step 3: Initialized video chat SDK

Paste the license key on the license key parameter.

 const initializeObj = {
 apiBaseUrl: `API_URL`,
 licenseKey: `LICENSE_KEY`,
 isTrialLicenseKey: `TRIAL_MODE`,
 callbackListeners: {},
 };
 await SDK.initializeSDK(initializeObj);

Step 4: Register a user

This step is required to start using the chat feature. On successful registration, you will get a username and password to connect with the server.

await SDK.register(`USER_IDENTIFIER`);

Step 5: Connect to a server

Use the username and password obtained from the previous step to complete connection establishment with the MirrorFly server.

await SDK.connect(`USERNAME`, `PASSWORD`);

Step 6: Send a message

To send a message to another user, write the sendTextMessage method code.

 await SDK.sendTextMessage(`TO_USER_JID`, `MESSAGE_BODY`,`MESSAGE_ID`,`REPLY_TO`);

Similarly, write the below code to receive a message:

function messageListener(response) {
 console.log("Message Listener", response);
}

And, to add different functionalities, check out this tutorial.

Conclusion

Thanks for investing your time in reading this article. I hope your query about building a React Native video calling app has found its solution.

If you still have any queries or this blog has created some new queries in your mind, then you can post them in the comment section below or talk with an expert to find a solution in real-time.

If you feel the complexity of your app, without a second thought, book a quick demo to check the feasibility of React Native video calling SDKs with your app.

See you soon in some other blog; until then, Adios, Amigo! Signing off.