Using sockets to build real time chat for iOS?

Question

If I wanted to build a real time chat app for iOS using Objective-C, what would be the best way of going about it?

Answer 1

Assuming you've got your server side things setup, you can use Square's Socket Rocket to implement the client side https://github.com/square/SocketRocket

If you're using socket.io at the backend, there are plenty of iOS libraries available for those as well. SIOSocket is one such library.

Answer 2

Maybe I am just lazy, but I do not see a point in building it all from scratch.

There are a plenty of backend providers who will be happy to provide you with ready backend and a library for building your app. So, you'll just need to connect the solution to your project and make UI according to your needs. Here are some backend providers you might consider:

• ConnectyCube
• Firebase
• Sendbird
• Layer

etc.

They provide different set of features, so I'd recommend checking those they provide first. This article might be of some help as well.

Some of them like ConnectyCube can provide you also with development services, so you can order UI development according to your mockup design from them too.