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Using Intercom

Using Intercom

Track who your users are and what they do in your mobile app and customize the Intercom Messenger. Here’s how to configure Intercom for Android:

User Login

You’ll now need to login your users before you can talk to them and track their activity in your app.

There are two type of users that can be created in Intercom: identified and unidentified.

  • Identified users: If users need to login to your app to use it, such as Facebook, Instagram, or Slack, they would be considered identified users.
  • Unidentified users: If your app does not have a login option, like Angry Birds or a flashlight app, you have unidentified users.

There are three ways to log users into Intercom that visit your app:

  1. Only login identified users
  2. Only login unidentified users
  3. Login both identified and unidentified users - an example of this is where your app has a login option, but it’s not essential for users to login to use your app, like Google Maps or YouTube.

The option you choose should be informed by the design of your app, namely whether you have a login option.

Login your identified (logged in) users into Intercom

  1. First you'll have to create an user
  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
val registration = Registration.create().withUserId("123456")
  1. Then can login your user, like this:
  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
private fun successfulLogin() {
        /* For best results, use a unique user_id if you have one. */
        val registration = Registration.create().withUserId("123456")
        Intercom.client().loginIdentifiedUser(
            userRegistration = registration,
            intercomStatusCallback = object : IntercomStatusCallback{
                override fun onSuccess() {
                    // Handle success
                }

                override fun onFailure(intercomError: IntercomError) {
                    // Handle failure
                }

            }
        )
}
No User ID?

If you don't have a unique userId to use here, or if you have a userId and an email, you can use with Email(String email) on the Registration object.

  1. You’ll also need to register your user anywhere they sign in. Just call:
  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
if (loggedIn) {
/* We're logged in, we can register the user with Intercom */
    val registration = Registration.create().withUserId("123456")
    Intercom.client().loginIdentifiedUser(
            userRegistration = registration,
            intercomStatusCallback = object : IntercomStatusCallback{
                override fun onSuccess() {
                    // Handle success
                }

                override fun onFailure(intercomError: IntercomError) {
                    // Handle failure
                }

            }
        )
}

Login your unidentified users (visitors)

Follow these instructions to login your unidentified users:

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
override fun onCreate() {
    super.onCreate()
    Intercom.initialize(this, "your api key", "your app id")
    Intercom.client().loginUnidentifiedUser(
            intercomStatusCallback = object : IntercomStatusCallback{
                override fun onSuccess() {
                    // Handle success
                }

                override fun onFailure(intercomError: IntercomError) {
                    // Handle failure
                }

            }
        )
}

Login your users and visitors

  1. First, you’ll need to login your user, like this:
  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
private fun successfulLogin() {
    /* For best results, use a unique user_id if you have one. */
    val registration = Registration.create().withUserId("123456")
    Intercom.client().loginIdentifiedUser(registration, new IntercomStatusCallback() {
                @Override
                public void onSuccess() {
                    // Handle success
                }

                @Override
                public void onFailure(@NonNull IntercomError intercomError) {
                    // Handle failure
                }
            });
}
No User ID?

If you don't have a unique userId to use here, or if you have a userId and an email, you can use with withEmail(String email) on the Registration object.

  1. You’ll also need to login your user anywhere they sign in. Just call:
  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
if (loggedIn) {
    /* We're logged in, we can login the user with Intercom */
    val registration = Registration.create().withUserId("123456")
    Intercom.client().loginIdentifiedUser(registration, new IntercomStatusCallback() {
                @Override
                public void onSuccess() {
                    // Handle success
                }

                @Override
                public void onFailure(@NonNull IntercomError intercomError) {
                    // Handle failure
                }
            });
} else {
    /* Since we aren't logged in, we are an unidentified user. 
     * Let's tell Intercom. */
    Intercom.client().loginUnidentifiedUser(new IntercomStatusCallback() {
            @Override
            public void onSuccess() {
                // Handle success
            }

            @Override
            public void onFailure(@NonNull IntercomError intercomError) {
                // Handle failure
            }
        });
}

How to logout a user

When users want to log out of your app, simply call logout like so:

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
private fun logout() {
    /* This clears the Intercom SDK's cache of your user's identity
     * and wipes the slate clean. */
    Intercom.client().logout()
}

Best practices for logging in users

  1. Don’t use an email address as a userId as this field is unique and cannot be changed or updated later. If you only have an email address, you can just register a user with that.
  2. If you login users with an email address, the email must be a unique field in your app. Otherwise we won't know which user to update and the mobile integration won't work.
User registration

Intercom knows when your app is backgrounded and comes alive again, so you won’t need to re-register your users.

Update a user

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
updateUser(
        userAttributes: UserAttributes,
        intercomStatusCallback: IntercomStatusCallback
)

Parameters

  • userAttributes : The userAttributes object with the attributes to be set on the user in Intercom.
  • intercomStatusCallback : IntercomStatusCallback to listen to success and failure

Usage

You can send any data you like to Intercom from standard user attributes that are common to all Intercom users to custom user attributes that are unique to your app.

The complete list of standard user attributes that can be updated are described in the UserAttributes object. Standard user attributes such as a user's name or email address can be updated by calling:

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
val userAttributes = UserAttributes.Builder()
        .withName("Bob")
        .withEmail("bob@example.com")
        .build()
Intercom.client().updateUser(
            userAttributes = userAttributes,
            intercomStatusCallback = object : IntercomStatusCallback {
                override fun onSuccess() {
                    // Handle success
                }

                override fun onFailure(intercomError: IntercomError) {
                    // Handle failure
                }
            }
        )

Typically our customers see a lot of value in sending custom data that relates to customer development, such as price plan, value of purchases, etc. Custom user attributes can be created and modified by calling withCustomAttribute(key, value) on the UserAttributes object.

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
val userAttributes = UserAttributes.Builder()
        .withCustomAttribute("paid_subscriber", "Yes")
        .withCustomAttribute("monthly_spend", 155.5)
        .withCustomAttribute("team_mates", 3)
        .build()
Intercom.client().updateUser(
            userAttributes = userAttributes,
            intercomStatusCallback = object : IntercomStatusCallback {
                override fun onSuccess() {
                    // Handle success
                }

                override fun onFailure(intercomError: IntercomError) {
                    // Handle failure
                }
            }
        )
Attribute creation

You don’t have to create attributes in Intercom beforehand. If a custom attribute hasn't been seen before, it will be created for you automatically.

You can also set company data on your user with the Company object, like:

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
val company = Company.Builder()
        .withName("My Company")
        .withCompanyId("abc1234")
        .build()
val userAttributes = UserAttributes.Builder()
        .withCompany(company)
        .build()
Intercom.client().updateUser(
            userAttributes = userAttributes,
            intercomStatusCallback = object : IntercomStatusCallback {
                override fun onSuccess() {
                    // Handle success
                }

                override fun onFailure(intercomError: IntercomError) {
                    // Handle failure
                }
            }
        )
ID required for Company objects

id is a required field for adding or modifying a company. The Company object describes all the standard attributes you can modify.

Submit an event

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
logEvent(name: String?, metaData: Map<String, *>?)

Parameters

  • name : The name of the event you wish to track.
  • metaData : a map of simple types to present to Intercom

Usage

You can log events in Intercom that record what users do in your app and when they do it. For example, you could record the item a user ordered from your mobile app, and when they ordered it.

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
val eventData = mapOf(
    "order_date" to "1392036272",
    "stripe_invoice" to "38572984"
)
Intercom.client().logEvent("sent_invitation", eventData)

You’ll find more details about how events work and how to submit them here.

Present Intercom Spaces

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
present(space: IntercomSpace)

Parameters

  • space : The IntercomSpace enum for the space to be presented

Usage

Spaces are different areas of the messenger that you can open directly. Intercom defines 4 possible spaces:

  1. Home
  2. Help Center
  3. Messages
  4. Tickets

These spaces can be presented by:

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
Intercom.client().present(space = IntercomSpace.Home)

This opens Intercom and displays Home space.

Similarly, you can present HelpCenter and Messages by passing the respective enum.
Not providing space and calling Intercom.client().present() will open Home by default

Present Intercom Content

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
presentContent(content: IntercomContent)

Parameters

  • content : The IntercomContent to be presented

Usage

There are various IntercomContent that you can present. The available types are:

  1. Article
  2. Survey
  3. Carousel
  4. Help Center Collections
  5. Conversations

To present an Intercom content you create the respective IntercomContent object and then call presentContent with that object

For example, you can present an Article as follows

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
Intercom.client().presentContent(content = IntercomContent.Article(id = "12345"))

Similarly, you can can present Surveys, Carousels and Help Center Collections.

Make sure your content is live

A piece of content must be ‘live’ to be used in this feature. If it is in a draft or paused state, end-users will see an error if the app tries to open the content.

You may also present conversations using their IDs.

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
Intercom.client().presentContent(content = IntercomContent.Conversation(id = "12345"))

Customize the Intercom Messenger

We definitely recommend that you customize the Intercom Messenger so that it feels completely at home on your product, site or mobile app. Here’s how:

Choose how the launcher appears and opens for your users

If you’d like the standard launcher to appear on the bottom right-hand side of your screen, just call:

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
Intercom.client().setLauncherVisibility(Visibility.VISIBLE)

If you want to set the bottom padding for the Messenger, which dictates how far from the bottom of the screen the default launcher and in-app messages will appear, you can call:

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
Intercom.client().setBottomPadding(bottomPadding)

Create a custom launcher

However, if you’d like the Messenger to open from another location in your mobile app, you can create a custom launcher. This allows you to specify a button, link or element that opens the Messenger. For example, you can trigger the launcher to open when a customer clicks on your ‘Help and Support’ button.

If you have a custom launcher, you can call:

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
Intercom.client().present()

If you want to open the Messenger to the composer screen with message field pre-populated you can call:

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
Intercom.client().displayMessageComposer("Message")

Show your user’s unread message count

Now you can show how many unread conversations your user has on your custom launcher. Even if a user dismisses a notification, they’ll still have a persistent indicator of unread conversations.

Just grab the current count with this method:

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
Intercom.client().getUnreadConversationCount()

Then, start listening for updates using:

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
Intercom.client().addUnreadConversationCountListener(listener)

Temporarily hide notifications

You can prevent in app messages from popping up in certain parts of your app by calling:

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
Intercom.client().setInAppMessageVisibility(Visibility.GONE)

📘 Mobile Carousels and Surveys Visibility

The method setInAppMessageVisibility does not apply to Mobile Carousels or Surveys. They will always be displayed.

You can hide any Intercom screen in your app, by calling:

  1. Kotlin
  2. Java
Intercom.client().hideIntercom()

What's next?

Now that you have Intercom configured you can: