NowChatThemeable protocol - iOS

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
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    Summary of NowChatThemeable protocol - iOS

    TheNowChatThemeableprotocol in ServiceNow’s Mobile SDK for iOS enables customization of chat interface colors within your ServiceNow instance. It allows you to override default color schemes to align the chat UI with your brand or design requirements.

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    Key Features

    • NowChatThemeable Protocol: Defines a color property of type NowChatColoring to specify chat page colors.
    • NowChatColoring Protocol: Includes NowUIColoring which references default color variables that can be used or overridden.
    • Defining Colors: You can define chat colors by either using default colors provided by the Mobile SDK or by specifying custom colors for various UI elements such as background, text, buttons, separators, and alerts.
    • Custom ChatTheme Structure: Implement the NowChatThemeable protocol by creating a structure that initializes color properties from your defined ChatColors.
    • Integration: Instantiate your custom chat theme and pass it to NowChatService.makeChatUI() when creating the chat UI screen, enabling your color customizations to be applied.

    How This Benefits You

    By leveraging the NowChatThemeable protocol, you gain full control over the visual styling of chat interfaces within your mobile app, ensuring consistent branding and improved user experience. This flexibility supports both light and potentially other themes by adjusting colors like primary, secondary, destructive actions, backgrounds, text, links, separators, and notifications.

    Practical Usage

    • Define a ChatColors struct implementing NowUIColoring to specify your preferred colors.
    • Create a chat theme struct conforming to NowChatThemeable that uses your ChatColors.
    • Instantiate your theme and supply it when invoking makeChatUI(theme:) on the chat service to generate the themed chat view controller.
    • Handle success or failure of chat UI creation appropriately in your app’s view controller logic.

    The NowChatThemeable protocol provides properties that enable you to override the colors used within chat pages hosted on your ServiceNow instance.

    public protocol NowChatThemeable {
        var color: NowChatColoring { get }
    }

    The NowChatColoring protocol contains NowUIColoring. This property is used to reference default color variables that NowWebThemeable can use.

    For additional information on how to theme the UI, see Use NowUIColoring to theme NowWebTheme and NowChatTheme in the Mobile SDK Developer Guide - iOS.

    Define ChatColors using default colors

    /// Sample structure for using default colors that comes with Mobile SDK.
    struct ChatColors: NowUIColoring {
    }
    

    Define ChatColors using custom colors

    /// Use Custom Colors with light theme
    struct ChatColors: NowUIColoring {
        private var defaultTheme: NowChatDefaultTheme {
            NowChatDefaultTheme(nowUITheme: NowUIDefaultTheme())
        }
     
        var brand: UIColor {
            lightBrand
        }
        var primary: UIColor {
            lightPrimary
        }
        var secondary: UIColor {
            lightSecondary
        }
        var textTertiary: UIColor {
            lightTextTertiary
        }
        var destructive: UIColor {
            lightDestructive
        }
        var textPrimary: UIColor {
            lightTextPrimary
        }
        var textSecondary: UIColor {
            lightTextSecondary
        }
        var textActionable: UIColor {
            lightTextActionable
        }
        var screenHeaderText: UIColor {
            lightScreenHeaderText
        }
        var backgroundPrimary: UIColor {
            lightBackgroundPrimary
        }
        var backgroundSecondary: UIColor {
            lightBackgroundSecondary
        }
        var backgroundTertiary: UIColor {
            lightBackgroundTertiary
        }
        var backgroundPrimaryActionable: UIColor {
            lightBackgroundPrimaryActionable
        }
        var backgroundSecondaryActionable: UIColor {
            lightBackgroundSecondaryActionable
        }
        var brandBackground: UIColor {
            lightBrandBackground
        }
        var linkPrimaryText: UIColor {
            lightLinkPrimary
        }
        var linkSecondary: UIColor {
            lightLinkSecondary
        }
        var separatorPrimary: UIColor {
            lightSeparatorPrimary
        }
        var separatorTertiary: UIColor {
            lightSeparatorTertiary
        }
        var borderTertiary: UIColor {
            lightBorderTertiary
        }
        var shadow: UIColor {
            lightShadow
        }
        var notification: UIColor {
            lightNotification
        }
        var alertCritical0: UIColor {
            lightAlertCritical0
        }
        var alertCritical3: UIColor {
            lightAlertCritical3
        }
    
        // Light Colors
        var lightBrand: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.brand }
        var lightPrimary: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.primary }
        var lightSecondary: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.secondary }
        var lightDestructive: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.destructive }
        var lightTextPrimary: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.textPrimary }
        var lightTextSecondary: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.textSecondary }
        var lightTextTertiary: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.textTertiary }
        var lightTextActionable: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.textActionable }
        var lightScreenHeaderText: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.screenHeaderText }
        var lightBackgroundPrimary: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.backgroundPrimary }
        var lightBackgroundSecondary: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.backgroundSecondary }
        var lightBackgroundTertiary: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.backgroundTertiary }
        var lightBackgroundPrimaryActionable: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.backgroundPrimaryActionable
        }
        var lightBackgroundSecondaryActionable: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.backgroundSecondaryActionable
        }
        var lightBrandBackground: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.brandBackground }
        var lightLinkPrimary: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.linkPrimaryText }
        var lightLinkSecondary: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.linkSecondary }
        var lightSeparatorPrimary: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.separatorPrimary }
        var lightSeparatorTertiary: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.separatorTertiary }
        var lightBorderTertiary: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.borderTertiary }
        var lightShadow: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.shadow }
        var lightNotification: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.notification }
        var lightAlertCritical0: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.alertCritical0 }
        var lightAlertCritical3: UIColor { defaultTheme.color.nowUIColor.alertCritical3 }
    }

    Define ChatTheme structure with NowChatThemeable protocol

    struct CarrascoChatTheme: NowChatThemeable {
        var color: NowChatColoring
        
        struct Color: NowChatColoring {
            var nowUIColor: NowUIColoring
        
            var backgroundPrimary: UIColor
            var backgroundSecondary: UIColor
            var backgroundPrimaryActionable: UIColor
            var backgroundSecondaryActionable: UIColor
            var brandBackground: UIColor
            var backgroundTertiary: UIColor
            var separatorPrimary: UIColor
            var separatorTertiary: UIColor
            var borderTertiary: UIColor
            var shadow: UIColor
            var linkSecondary: UIColor
    
            init(inputs: ChatColors) {
                nowUIColor = ThemeColor(inputs)
                
                backgroundPrimary = inputs.backgroundPrimary
                backgroundSecondary = inputs.backgroundSecondary
                backgroundTertiary = inputs.backgroundTertiary
                backgroundPrimaryActionable = inputs.backgroundPrimaryActionable
                backgroundSecondaryActionable = inputs.backgroundSecondaryActionable
                brandBackground = inputs.brandBackground
                separatorPrimary = inputs.separatorPrimary
                separatorTertiary = inputs.separatorTertiary
                borderTertiary = inputs.borderTertiary
                shadow = inputs.shadow
                linkSecondary = inputs.linkSecondary
            }
        }
    
        init(chatColors: ChatColors) {
            color = Color(inputs: chatColors)
        }
    }

    Instantiate ChatTheme object by passing ChatColor as input

    let chatTheme = CarrascoChatTheme(chatColors: ChatColors())

    Pass ChatTheme object to NowChatService.makeChatUI ()

    func makeChatScreen() -> UIViewController? {
      guard let chatService = chatService else { return nil }
      let result = chatService.makeChatUI(theme: CarrascoChatTheme(chatColors: ChatColors()))
            
      switch result {
      case .success(let chatViewController):
        return chatViewController
      case .failure(let error):
        debugPrint("Chat screen creation failed with error: \(error)")
        return nil
      }
    }