SDK Configuration

Important

Helpshift’s Legacy SDKs (SDK Version <=7.x.x) reached their end of life on 31 Dec 2022, and end of support on 31 March 2023. Please upgrade to the Latest SDK if you haven't already.

SDK Configuration

Helpshift provides several config options which can be used to customize behaviour of the SDK.

Note

Applicable to SDK version 3.0.0 and above

notificationIcon

By default the application icon is used as the notification icon. You can customize the notification icon using the config in the install call.

Using InstallConfig
Using Map

    InstallConfig installConfig = new InstallConfig.Builder()
                                   .setNotificationIcon(R.drawable.notification_icon)
                                   .build();
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
                 "<YOUR_COMPANY>.helpshift.com",
                 "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
                 installConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap();
    config.put("notificationIcon", R.drawable.notification_icon);
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
                 "<YOUR_COMPANY>.helpshift.com",
                 "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
                  config);

largeNotificationIcon

By default the application icon is used as the notification icon. If you want to specify the large notification icon also to show up in the notification tray, you can specify that using the config in the install call.

Using InstallConfig
Using Map

    InstallConfig installConfig = new InstallConfig.Builder()
                                   .setLargeNotificationIcon(R.drawable.notification_icon_large)
                                   .build();
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
                 "<YOUR_COMPANY>.helpshift.com",
                 "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
                 installConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap();
    config.put("largeNotificationIcon", R.drawable.notification_icon_large);
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
                 "<YOUR_COMPANY>.helpshift.com",
                 "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
                  config);

enableInAppNotification

If you do not want the in-app notification support provided by the Helpshift SDK, you can set the flag to false. The default value of this flag is true i.e., in app notification will be enabled.

Flag: enableInAppNotification
Values: true/false
Default: true

Example:

Using InstallConfig
Using Map

    InstallConfig installConfig = new InstallConfig.Builder()
                                   .setEnableInAppNotification(true)
                                   .build();
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
                 "<YOUR_COMPANY>.helpshift.com",
                 "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
                 installConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap();
    config.put("enableInAppNotification", true);
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
                 "<YOUR_COMPANY>.helpshift.com",
                 "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
                 config);

notificationSound

Note

Available from SDK version 3.7.2 and above

By default the default device notification sound is used for helpshift notifications. You can customize the notification sound using the config in the install call.

For example:

Using InstallConfig
Using Map

    InstallConfig installConfig = new InstallConfig.Builder()
                                   .setNotificationSound(R.raw.notification_sound)
                                   .build();
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
                 "<YOUR_COMPANY>.helpshift.com",
                 "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
                 installConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap();
    config.put("notificationSound", R.raw.notification_sound);
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "YOUR_API_KEY",
                 "<YOUR_HELPSHIFT_DOMAIN>.helpshift.com",
                 "YOUR_APP_ID",
                 config);

Notification channels

Note

Available from SDK version 6.2.0 and above

Starting from Android Oreo, Helpshift notifications will create a default channel named In-app Support. If you want to customize the name and description for the default channel, you can do so by using the following resources in your strings.xml file:

<string name="hs__default_notification_channel_name">Example Support Name</string>
<string name="hs__default_notification_channel_desc">Example Support Description</string>

If you want to customize the notification channels, you can create your own custom channels and provide their channel IDs using the following config API:

supportNotificationChannelId

For example:

Using InstallConfig
Using Map

    InstallConfig installConfig = new InstallConfig.Builder()
                                   .setSupportNotificationChannelId("SUPPORT_CHANNEL_ID")
                                   .build();
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
                 "<YOUR_COMPANY>.helpshift.com",
                 "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
                 installConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap();
    config.put("supportNotificationChannelId", "SUPPORT_CHANNEL_ID");
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "YOUR_API_KEY",
                 "<YOUR_HELPSHIFT_DOMAIN>.helpshift.com",
                 "YOUR_APP_ID",
                 config);

enableDefaultFallbackLanguage

Note

Available from SDK version 3.12.0 and above


Flag	enableDefaultFallbackLanguage
values	true/false
default	true

You can enable or disable the SDK default fallback language when showing FAQs using this flag. When set to false, the Helpshift SDK will not fallback to the default language that is English, when showing FAQs.

Note

This configuration does not apply to the QuickSearch Bot suggested FAQs.

For Example:

Using InstallConfig
Using Map

    InstallConfig installConfig = new InstallConfig.Builder()
                                    .setEnableDefaultFallbackLanguage(true)
                                    .build();
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
                 "<YOUR_COMPANY>.helpshift.com",
                 "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
                 installConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap();
    config.put("enableDefaultFallbackLanguage", true);
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "YOUR_API_KEY",
                 "<YOUR_HELPSHIFT_DOMAIN>.helpshift.com",
                 "YOUR_APP_ID",
                 config);

Using Custom Fonts

Note

Available from SDK version 4.7.0 and above

Step 1: Add the font to your assets folder. You can do this from the file manager or by dragging the font file to the folder in Android Studio.

Step 2: Pass the font location relative to the assets folder as follows during installation. If the font file DancingScript-Regular.ttf lies in the fonts folder inside the assets folder, then your path is fonts/DancingScript-Regular.ttf.

For Example:

Using InstallConfig
Using HashMap

    // Code 1
    InstallConfig config = new InstallConfig.Builder()
                        .setFont("fonts/DancingScript-Regular.ttf");
                        .build();
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
                 "<YOUR_COMPANY>.helpshift.com",
                 "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
                 config);

    HashMap config = new HashMap();
    config.put("font", "fonts/DancingScript-Regular.ttf");
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "YOUR_API_KEY",
                 "<YOUR_HELPSHIFT_DOMAIN>.helpshift.com",
                 "YOUR_APP_ID",
                 config);

Step 3: Test the font in simulator. Errors in font names are ignored by the SDK —

screenOrientation

The screen orientation of Helpshift SDK screens can be fixed by setting the screenOrientation to constants available in the ActivityInfo class. For example, you may want to fix the orientation to ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT for mobile users and ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE for tablet users.


Flag	screenOrientation
values	integer values for orientation from ActivityInfo class
default	ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_UNSPECIFIED

For Example:

Using InstallConfig
Using Map

    InstallConfig installConfig = new InstallConfig.Builder()
                                    .setScreenOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_SENSOR_LANDSCAPE)
                                    .build();
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
                 "<YOUR_COMPANY>.helpshift.com",
                 "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
                 installConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap();
    config.put("screenOrientation", ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_SENSOR_LANDSCAPE);
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "YOUR_API_KEY",
                 "<YOUR_HELPSHIFT_DOMAIN>.helpshift.com",
                 "YOUR_APP_ID",
                 config);

Note

Due to a bug in Android OS 8.0, setting the requested orientation when opening the Helpshift activity causes a crash. This happens only when the targetSDKVersion is greater than 26 and certain android theming flags (mentioned in the bug) are used for the Activity. On SDK v7.4.0 & above, calling this API would be a no-op if the android exception is thrown. On SDK v7.3.0 & below, as a workaround, apps need to turn off the flags for Helpshift's ParentActivity which will prevent the exception.

enableLogging

Upon setting enableLogging to true, Helpshift SDK logs will be generated in the Android logcat. These will be useful for debugging the SDK during integration. Turning on this logging could help the developer resolve common integration issues.


Flag	enableLogging
values	true/false
default	false

For Example:

Using InstallConfig
Using Map

    InstallConfig installConfig = new InstallConfig.Builder()
                                    .setEnableLogging(true)
                                    .build();
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
                 "<YOUR_COMPANY>.helpshift.com",
                 "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
                 installConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap();
    config.put("enableLogging", true);
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "YOUR_API_KEY",
                 "<YOUR_HELPSHIFT_DOMAIN>.helpshift.com",
                 "YOUR_APP_ID",
                 config);

disableErrorReporting

Disables reporting of Helpshift SDK’s internal error logs. The Helpshift SDK will collect internal error logs and report them to our systems to ensure that we become aware of runtime crashes and we have enough information to fix them.


Flag	disableErrorReporting
values	true/false
default	false

For Example:

Using InstallConfig
Using Map

    InstallConfig installConfig = new InstallConfig.Builder()
                                     .disableErrorReporting(true)
                                    .build();
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
                 "<YOUR_COMPANY>.helpshift.com",
                 "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
                 installConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap();
    config.put("disableErrorReporting", true);
    Core.init(Support.getInstance());
    Core.install(this, // "this" should be the application object
                 "YOUR_API_KEY",
                 "<YOUR_HELPSHIFT_DOMAIN>.helpshift.com",
                 "YOUR_APP_ID",
                 config);

enableContactUs

Note

Integer values

enableContactUs flag takes Integer values from SDK version 4.0.0 and above.


Default	Support.EnableContactUs.ALWAYS

Note

Enumerated values

enableContactUs flag take enumerated values from SDK version 3.4.0 to 3.12.0.

For 3.0.0 - 3.3.x use boolean values (true/false).


Flag	enableContactUs
Values	a Integer value
Default	Support.EnableContactUs.ALWAYS

Values for enableContactUs flag:


Support.EnableContactUs.ALWAYS	show in the navigation bar, search, and after marking an FAQ unhelpful.
Support.EnableContactUs.AFTER_VIEWING_FAQS	show only while searching, on FAQ screen and after marking an FAQ unhelpful.
Support.EnableContactUs.NEVER	do not show "Contact Us" button anywhere in the SDK.
Support.EnableContactUs.AFTER_MARKING_ANSWER_UNHELPFUL	The existing AFTER_VIEWING_FAQS option allows the user to start a conversation by going to an individual FAQ. There is no check in place to check if he actually was not able to find a solution to his problem in the FAQs. If your application requires another level of ticket deflection, we have added a new option to the enableContactUs flag from sdk version 4.1.0 onwards. When set to this value, the Helpshift SDK will make sure that the user will actually have to mark an FAQ as unhelpful for the Contact Us button to appear. This will also remove the Contact Us button from the search results screen.

The enableContactUs flag will determine whether the Contact Us button is shown. The default value is ALWAYS, with the normal showFAQs call. So if you want to override that you can pass the arguments in a dictionary. This flag has no effect for the showConversation API call.

Example:

Using ApiConfig
Using Map

    ApiConfig apiConfig = new ApiConfig.Builder()
                           .setEnableContactUs(Support.EnableContactUs.ALWAYS)
                           .build();
    Support.showFAQs(MyActivity.this, apiConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap();
    config.put("enableContactUs", Support.EnableContactUs.ALWAYS);
    Support.showFAQs(MyActivity.this, config);

Best Practices

Provide tier-based support by setting enableContactUs to Support.EnableContactUs.ALWAYS for paid users and Support.EnableContactUs.AFTER_VIEWING_FAQS for unpaid ones.
Provide country based support by setting enableContactUs to Support.EnableContactUs.ALWAYS for local users and Support.EnableContactUs.AFTER_VIEWING_FAQS for foreign ones. Example Code:

        TelephonyManager tm = (TelephonyManager) context.getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE);
        String country = tm.getSimCountryIso();
        Support.EnableContactUs value = Support.EnableContactUs.AFTER_VIEWING_FAQS;

        if("<LOCAL_COUNTRY_CODE>".equals(country)) {
            value = Support.EnableContactUs.ALWAYS;
        }

        HashMap config = new HashMap();
        config.put("enableContactUs", value);
        Support.showFAQs(MyActivity.this, config);

gotoConversationAfterContactUs

Note

This API is now deprecated with SDK v7.0.0. Read more about the new conversational experience here


Flag	gotoConversationAfterContactUs
Values	true/false
Default	false

The gotoConversationAfterContactUs flag will determine whether the user lands up in the conversation screen after starting a new conversation via "Contact Us". This only makes sense if the enableContactUs flag takes on the default value.

Example:

Using ApiConfig
Using Map

    ApiConfig apiConfig = new ApiConfig.Builder()
                           .setGotoConversationAfterContactUs(true)
                           .build();
    Support.showFAQs(MyActivity.this, apiConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap ();
    config.put("gotoConversationAfterContactUs", true);
    Support.showConversation(MyActivity.this, config);

Note

For showFAQs, showFAQSection and showSingleFAQ, setting gotoConversationAfterContactUs makes sense only if enableContactUs is not Support.EnableContactUs.NEVER.

requireEmail

Note

This API is now deprecated with SDK v7.0.0. Read more about the new conversational experience here


Flag	requireEmail
Values	true/false
Default	false

If requireEmail flag is set to true, an e-mail address is required while starting a new conversation. Default value is false i.e. e-mail is optional.

Example:

Using ApiConfig
Using Map

    ApiConfig apiConfig = new ApiConfig.Builder()
                           .setRequireEmail(true)
                           .build();
    Support.showFAQs(MyActivity.this, apiConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap ();
    config.put("requireEmail", true);
    Support.showConversation(MyActivity.this, config);

Note

Once requireEmail flag is set, the SDK will use that value for all new conversations until it is changed again.

hideNameAndEmail

Note

This API is now deprecated with SDK v7.0.0. Read more about the new conversational experience here


Flag	hideNameAndEmail
Values	true/false
Default	false

The hideNameAndEmail flag will hide the name and email fields when the user starts a new conversation.

When the flag is set to true the name and email fields will be hidden. If set to false the default behaviour will resume.

For example:

Using ApiConfig
Using Map

    ApiConfig apiConfig = new ApiConfig.Builder()
                           .setHideNameAndEmail(true)
                           .build();
    Support.showConversation(MyActivity.this, apiConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap ();
    config.put("hideNameAndEmail", true);
    Support.showConversation(MyActivity.this, config);

If the requireEmail flag is set to true and email is not available to the SDK, then hideNameAndEmail flag will be ignored.

Interaction with Helpshift settings on agent dashboard

If "New Issue Forwarding" or "Closed Issues Transcript Archiving" is ON then this flag will be ignored when name and email are not available to the SDK. You can use the setNameAndEmail API, to supply the SDK with name and email in this case.

If "Allow anonymous issues" is ON, under app settings in the agent dashboard, then this flag will be ignored.

Note

Once hideNameAndEmail flag is set, the SDK will use that value for all new conversations until it is changed again.

conversationPrefillText

If this config is used, it will fill the reply box with the given text when the chat screen is opened. It is useful if you want to minimise the user efforts to start a new support conversation. For example, if you already know that the user is trying to connect with support to fix the problem of billing process, then you can use the conversationPrefillText API option to prefill the billing specific information and start with a new conversation.

For example:

Using ApiConfig
Using Map

    String preFillText = "Hi! I want to report a Billing issue.";
    ApiConfig apiConfig = new ApiConfig.Builder()
                           .setConversationPrefillText(preFillText)
                           .build();
    Support.showConversation(MyActivity.this, apiConfig);

    String preFillText = "Hi! I want to report a Billing issue.";
    HashMap config = new HashMap ();
    config.put("conversationPrefillText", preFillText);
    Support.showConversation(MyActivity.this, config);

enableTypingIndicator

Note

Applicable to SDK version 6.0.0 and above


Flag	enableTypingIndicator
Values	true/false
Default	false

A graphical indicator is shown to the end user if an Agent is currently replying to the same conversation. The enableTypingIndicator flag will enable/disable the aforementioned indicator.

Note

This SDK configuration has been deprecated since this configuration has shifted to the In-App SDK configuration page. (Settings>App settings)

For SDK v7.0 and above, Typing Indicator configuration ("Show Agent Typing Indicator") is a part of In-app SDK configurations page.

If configuration is turned ON from the configurations page OR SDK configuration is used, Typing Indicator will shown to the end users.

Example:

Using ApiConfig
Using Map

    ApiConfig apiConfig = new ApiConfig.Builder()
                            .setEnableTypingIndicator(true)
                            .build();
    Support.showFAQs(MyActivity.this, apiConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap ();
    config.put("enableTypingIndicator", true);
    Support.showFAQs(MyActivity.this, config);

enableFullPrivacy

Note

Applicable to SDK version 3.6.0 and above


Flag	enableFullPrivacy
Values	true/false
Default	false

In scenarios where the user attaches objectionable content in the screenshots, it becomes a huge COPPA concern. The enableFullPrivacy option will help solve this problem.

If enableFullPrivacy option is set to true, HS SDK does the following:

Disables user-initiated screenshots - players cannot send images without being requested by an Agent

Does not collect any of the following personal information:

Map with "private-data" key inside custom meta-data.

```
Country code.
```
```
Carrier name.
```

To send personally identifiable information through custom meta-data, the information must be added inside a dictionary with a "private-data" key. If this option is set to true, this data will be removed when the user starts a new conversation.

Example:

Using ApiConfig
Using Map

    ApiConfig apiConfig = new ApiConfig.Builder()
                           .setEnableFullPrivacy(true)
                           .build();
    Support.showFAQs(MyActivity.this, apiConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap ();
    config.put("enableFullPrivacy", true);
    Support.showFAQs(MyActivity.this, config);

Best Practices

In your registration process, ask your user for his/her age. If the user's age is 13 or younger, set enableFullPrivacy to true. This way, you comply with COPPA for your children users, but collect valuable user and device data for your other users.

Note

Once enableFullPrivacy flag is set, the SDK will use that value for all further sessions until it is changed again.
For SDK versions 6.0.0 and below, if the enableFullPrivacy flag is set, the email collection requirement is always set to optional. If requiredEmail is true, enableFullPrivacy will override this configuration and set the email requirement as optional. For hiding name and email for all users, developers enable a Dashboard configuration named "Allow anonymous issues".
For SDK versions 6.1.0 and above, if the enableFullPrivacy flag is set, email and name will not be collected and the fields will be hidden. enableFullPrivacy will override all other flags pertaining to name and email fields. This will allow developers to hide name and email for a specific set of users exposed to the enableFullPrivacy flag.
For SDK versions 7.0.0 and above, this flag is ignored in the flows created to show Dynamic forms. Following APIs do not honor this flag:
- ConversationFlow
- FAQsFlow
- FAQSectionFlow
- SingleFAQFlow

showConversationResolutionQuestion

The Helpshift Android SDK will show the conversation resolution question to the user to confirm if the conversation was resolved. After the Issue has been resolved, the user will be taken back to the "Start a new conversation" state.

For v7.0 and above:

This SDK configuration is deprecated with v7.0+ and default value will be treated as false. However if true value is passed, it will be respected.

If you want to show the Resolution Question to your users when an issue is resolved, you can turn the feature Resolution Question, ON from the in-app configuration page on the Admin dashboard. Settings > App settings.

Additionally, if you are passing this API config in any of the Helpshift APIs, make sure to either remove the flag or set it to false.

The final behavior of the showConversationResolutionQuestion flag will depend on both the Dashboard side config and the API config flag. It will be turned ON if any of the values is set to true.

{" "}

For Older SDK versions between v3.11.0 to v7.0


Flag	showConversationResolutionQuestion
Values	true/false
Default	true

The Helpshift Android SDK will show the conversation resolution question to the user to confirm if the conversation was resolved. On resolving the conversation from the admin dashboard will now take the user directly to the "Start a new conversation" state. If you want to disable the conversation resolution question, set showConversationResolutionQuestion to false.

Default value is true, ie., this feature will not be disabled unless you explicitly pass false for this flag.

Example :

Using ApiConfig
Using Map

    ApiConfig apiConfig = new ApiConfig.Builder()
                           .setShowConversationResolutionQuestion(true)
                           .build();
    Support.showConversation(MyActivity.this, apiConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap();
    config.put("showConversationResolutionQuestion", false);
    Support.showConversation(MyActivity.this, config);

customContactUsFlows

Note

Applicable to version 4.4.0 and above.


Option	customContactUsFlows
Value	List of Flows. Flows can be created by using the `Guided Issue Filing` APIs
Default	There is no default value for this configuration.

This configuration allows you to override the Contact Us buttons inside the Helpshift SDK and show Guided Issue Filing when a user taps on the Contact Us buttons.

Example :

Let's say you want the users to see a particular FAQ section, a single FAQ and 2 different Contact Us flows with different prefill texts when they tap the Contact Us buttons within the Helpshift SDK. In this case, you would configure the showHelp button (a button which triggers Helpshift SDK) in the following way :

Using ApiConfig
Using Map

    public void showHelp() {
      Flow faqSectionFlow = new FAQSectionFlow("FAQ Section", "1", faqSectionFlowConfig);
      Flow singleFAQFlow = new SingleFAQFlow("Single FAQ", "2", singleFAQFlowConfig);
      Flow showConversationFlow1 = new ConversationFlow("Contact Us about our app", showConversationFlow1Config);
      Flow showConversationFlow2 = new ConversationFlow("Contact Us about in-app purchases", showConversationFlow2Config);

      List<Flow> customContactUsFlows = new ArrayList<>();
      customContactUsFlows.add(faqSectionFlow);
      customContactUsFlows.add(singleFAQFlow);
      customContactUsFlows.add(showConversationFlow1);
      customContactUsFlows.add(showConversationFlow2);

      ApiConfig apiConfig = new ApiConfig.Builder()
                             .setCustomContactUsFlows(customContactUsFlows)
                             .build();
      Support.showFAQs(yourActivity, apiConfig);
    }

    public void showHelp() {
      Flow faqSectionFlow = new FAQSectionFlow("FAQ Section", "1", faqSectionFlowConfig);
      Flow singleFAQFlow = new SingleFAQFlow("Single FAQ", "2", singleFAQFlowConfig);
      Flow showConversationFlow1 = new ConversationFlow("Contact Us about our app", showConversationFlow1Config);
      Flow showConversationFlow2 = new ConversationFlow("Contact Us about in-app purchases", showConversationFlow2Config);

      List<Flow> customContactUsFlows = new ArrayList<>();
      customContactUsFlows.add(faqSectionFlow);
      customContactUsFlows.add(singleFAQFlow);
      customContactUsFlows.add(showConversationFlow1);
      customContactUsFlows.add(showConversationFlow2);

      Map showFAQsConfig = new HashMap();
      showFAQsConfig.put("customContactUsFlows", customContactUsFlows);
      Support.showFAQs(yourActivity, showFAQsConfig);
    }

Anytime the Helpshift SDK is presented via showHelp with this configuration, the Contact Us buttons in the SDK will redirect to Guided Issue Filing with the flows provided in the customContactUsOptions list.

Once a particular flow is selected, the subsequent Contact Us buttons will not redirect to Guided Issue Filing again. They will function as normal Contact Us buttons. This is to avoid an infinite loop of Guided Issue Filing screens.

Custom flows can be nested by passing another custom flows configuration while creating a flow.

Example :

Let's say you want to configure singleFAQFlow in the above example to show showConversationFlow1 and showConversationFlow2 through the Contact Us buttons inside it. In this case, you would configure the showHelp button (a button which triggers Helpshift SDK) in the following way :

Using ApiConfig
Using Map

    public void showHelp() {
      Flow faqSectionFlow = new FAQSectionFlow("FAQ Section", "1", faqSectionFlowConfig);

      Flow showConversationFlow1 = new ConversationFlow("Contact Us about our app", showConversationFlow1Config);
      Flow showConversationFlow2 = new ConversationFlow("Contact Us about in-app purchases", showConversationFlow2Config);
      List<Flow> nestedCustomContactUsFlows = new ArrayList<>();
      nestedCustomContactUsFlows.add(showConversationFlow1);
      nestedCustomContactUsFlows.add(showConversationFlow2);
      ApiConfig singleFAQFlowConfig = new ApiConfig.Builder()
                                       .setCustomContactUsFlows(nestedCustomContactUsFlows)
                                       .build();

      Flow singleFAQFlow = new SingleFAQFlow("Single FAQ", "2", singleFAQFlowConfig);

      List<Flow> customContactUsFlows = new ArrayList<>();
      customContactUsFlows.add(faqSectionFlow);
      customContactUsFlows.add(singleFAQFlow);

      ApiConfig showFAQsConfig = new ApiConfig.Builder()
                                  .setCustomContactUsFlows(customContactUsFlows)
                                  .build();
      Support.showFAQs(yourActivity, showFAQsConfig);
    }

    public void showHelp() {
      Flow faqSectionFlow = new FAQSectionFlow("FAQ Section", "1", faqSectionFlowConfig);

      Flow showConversationFlow1 = new ConversationFlow("Contact Us about our app", showConversationFlow1Config);
      Flow showConversationFlow2 = new ConversationFlow("Contact Us about in-app purchases", showConversationFlow2Config);
      List<Flow> nestedCustomContactUsFlows = new ArrayList<>();
      nestedCustomContactUsFlows.add(showConversationFlow1);
      nestedCustomContactUsFlows.add(showConversationFlow2);
      Map singleFAQFlowConfig = new HashMap();
      singleFAQFlowConfig.put("customContactUsFlows", nestedCustomContactUsFlows);
      Flow singleFAQFlow = new SingleFAQFlow("Single FAQ", "2", singleFAQFlowConfig);

      List<Flow> customContactUsFlows = new ArrayList<>();
      customContactUsFlows.add(faqSectionFlow);
      customContactUsFlows.add(singleFAQFlow);

      Map showFAQsConfig = new HashMap();
      showFAQsConfig.put("customContactUsFlows", customContactUsFlows);
      Support.showFAQs(yourActivity, showFAQsConfig);
    }

With this configuration, the Contact Us buttons in singleFAQFlow View will redirect to Guided Issue Filing with showConversationFlow1 and showConversationFlow2.

Note

This configuration will work only when there is no open conversation for the user, otherwise every Contact Us button will transition to the chat screen.

showConversationInfoScreen

Note

Applicable to version 4.9.1 and above.


Flag	showConversationInfoScreen
Values	true/false
Default	false

The `showConversationInfoScreen` flag will determine if the user can see the Conversation info on the conversation feed. If set to `true`, the Conversation ID (Issue ID) will be shown in conversation feed.

Example :

Using ApiConfig
Using Map

    ApiConfig apiConfig = new ApiConfig.Builder()
                           .setShowConversationInfoScreen(true)
                           .build();
    Support.showFAQs(MyActivity.this, apiConfig);

    HashMap config = new HashMap();
    config.put("showConversationInfoScreen", true);
    Support.showFAQs(MyActivity.this, config);

Note

The Conversation ID (Issue ID) will only be visible when a conversation is actually created for support teams and Automations / Agents can act on it. (This is after QuickSearch Bot (if configured) and Identity Bot (if configured) complete their tasks.)

Minimum issue description length

You can set the minimum length requirement of text for user while filing the new issue using the integer resource hs__issue_description_min_chars. It's default value is set to 1 for all languages and it can be configured per language. If number of characters are less than the defined minimum length requirement then an error is displayed to the user.

Example :

If you want to have minimum length as 5 characters for Korean language and 10 characters for all other languages then you can achieve this as shown below:

Put the following integer resource in integers.xml of values-ko resource directory

<integer name="hs__issue_description_min_chars">5</integer>

and the following integer resource in integers.xml of values resource directory

<integer name="hs__issue_description_min_chars">10</integer>

Configuration Summary

Configuration / API	showFAQs	showFAQSection	showSingleFAQ	showConversation
enableContactUs	Supported	Supported	Supported	Not Supported
enableFullPrivacy	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
showConversationResolutionQuestion	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
customContactUsFlows	Supported	Supported	Supported	Not Supported
showConversationInfoScreen	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
enableTypingIndicator	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
conversationPrefillText	No effect	No effect	No effect	Supported

Flexible permissioning adaptive to Android M and older versions

Starting from Android 6.0 (API level 23), users grant permissions to apps while the app is running, not when they install the app. This approach streamlines the app install process, since the user does not need to grant permissions when they install or update the app. It also gives the user more control over the app's functionality; for example, a user could choose to give a camera app access to the camera, but not to the device location. The user can revoke the permissions at any time by going to the app's Settings screen.

The storage permissions can be removed from AndroidManifest.xml in case you do want want to use them. You can remove the WRITE_EXTERNAL_PERMISSION permission with the following line in your AndroidManifest.xml:

<uses-permission android:name=“android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE” tools:node=“remove”/>

The Helpshift SDK has 4 features that require storage permissions. The following is the behavior for these 4 features based on whether the permission is present in AndroidManifest.xml or not.

User side attach screenshot flow

Starting from Helpshift SDK v6.2.0, user's screenshots can be attached independent of the storage permission being present in the manifest.

Agent side attachment downloads

Storage Permission Status	API 15 to 22	API 23 and above
Permission declared in manifest	Works as normal (attachments are downloaded and rendered in chat screen by sdk's own download manager)	User granted the permission Works as normal User did not grant the permission User is shown permission dialog. If user denies the permission then show a requirement description msg with intent to launch the app settings page (User can't download the attachment unless he grants the permission)
Permission not declared in manifest	Uri will be passed to system provided download service and it will start download with progress bar in notification drawer.Helpshift Sdk will just show the toast indicating that download has started. User is allowed to trigger the download multiple times. Sdk would not show any progress in the chat screen.	Uri will be passed to system provided download service and it will start download with progress bar in notification drawer.Helpshift Sdk will just show the toast indicating that download has started. User is allowed to trigger the download multiple times. Sdk would not show any progress in the chat screen.

Storage Permission Status

API 15 to 22

API 23 and above

Permission declared in manifest

Works as normal (attachments are downloaded and rendered in chat screen by sdk's own download manager)

User granted the permission

Works as normal

User did not grant the permission

User is shown permission dialog. If user denies the permission then show a requirement description msg with intent to launch the app settings page (User can't download the attachment unless he grants the permission)

Permission not declared in manifest

Uri will be passed to system provided download service and it will start download with progress bar in notification drawer.Helpshift Sdk will just show the toast indicating that download has started. User is allowed to trigger the download multiple times. Sdk would not show any progress in the chat screen.

Image caching in single question screen

Storage Permission Status	API 15 to 18	API 19 and above
Permission declared in manifest	Works as normal (images are cached)	Works as normal.
Permission not declared in manifest	Caching will not work. Image will be reloaded every time the user visits the particular single question screen	Works as normal.

Storage Permission Status	API 15 to 22	API 23 and above
Permission declared in manifest	User profile will be persisted across uninstalls	User granted the permission: User profile will be persisted across uninstalls User did not grant the permission: User profile will not be persisted across uninstalls
Permission not declared in manifest	User profile will not be persisted across uninstalls	User profile will not be persisted across uninstalls

SDK Configuration

notificationIcon​

largeNotificationIcon​

enableInAppNotification​

notificationSound​

Notification channels​

enableDefaultFallbackLanguage​

Using Custom Fonts​

screenOrientation​

enableLogging​

disableErrorReporting​

enableContactUs​

Best Practices​

gotoConversationAfterContactUs​

requireEmail​

hideNameAndEmail​

Interaction with Helpshift settings on agent dashboard​

conversationPrefillText​

enableTypingIndicator​

enableFullPrivacy​

Best Practices​

showConversationResolutionQuestion​

For v7.0 and above:​

For Older SDK versions between v3.11.0 to v7.0​

customContactUsFlows​

showConversationInfoScreen​

Minimum issue description length​

Configuration Summary​

Flexible permissioning adaptive to Android M and older versions​

User side attach screenshot flow​

Agent side attachment downloads​

Image caching in single question screen​

Profile persistence across uninstalls for multi login​

notificationIcon

largeNotificationIcon

enableInAppNotification

notificationSound

Notification channels

enableDefaultFallbackLanguage

Using Custom Fonts

screenOrientation

enableLogging

disableErrorReporting

enableContactUs

Best Practices

gotoConversationAfterContactUs

requireEmail

hideNameAndEmail

Interaction with Helpshift settings on agent dashboard

conversationPrefillText

enableTypingIndicator

enableFullPrivacy

Best Practices

showConversationResolutionQuestion

For v7.0 and above:

For Older SDK versions between v3.11.0 to v7.0

customContactUsFlows

showConversationInfoScreen

Minimum issue description length

Configuration Summary

Flexible permissioning adaptive to Android M and older versions

User side attach screenshot flow

Agent side attachment downloads

Image caching in single question screen

Profile persistence across uninstalls for multi login