Kik API

Installation

You can install the Kik API using either Gradle or Maven. To include the library, simply add the following dependency to your project:

Maven (pom.xml)

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.kik</groupId>
    <artifactId>kik-api</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.2</version>
</dependency>

Gradle (build.gradle)

dependencies {
  compile 'com.kik:kik-api:1.0.2'
}

Usage

Opening a Kik User Profile

KikClient.getInstance().openProfileForKikUsername(getActivity(), "kikteam");

Sending a Kik Content Message

Two layout styles are available for your content messages: article and photo. You can specify the layout style that best suits your content when composing the content message to send.

To send a content message using the API you must construct a KikMessage object with the parameters of your message and send it using the sendKikMessage(...) method on KikClient. The examples in the following sections will show you how to construct and send article and photo content messages.

Article

KikArticleMessage message = new KikArticleMessage(
    getActivity(),
    "Title of your Article",
    "Text of your Article",
    "http://www.yourcontent.com/thecontent",
    null);

KikClient.getInstance().sendKikMessage(getActivity(), message);

One of either title or text must be specified
The contentUrl must be specified. This is the target URL that will be opened when the user taps on the message in Kik
previewUrl is an optional image URL that can be specified to provide a thumbnail preview that will be displayed in your message

Photo

KikPhotoMessage message = new KikPhotoMessage(
    getActivity(),
    "http://www.images.com/image.png",
    "http://www.images.com/image_preview.png");

KikClient.getInstance().sendKikMessage(getActivity(), message);

When sending an image URL, you can choose to specify a base64-encoded Data URI in place of a standard web URL. In this case, the data will be uploaded and downloaded from the Kik servers instead of directly accessing the image via the provided web URL.

Alternatively, you can specify a Bitmap, byte[] or Drawable as the photo to send.

// Create a photo message from a Bitmap object
Bitmap image = ...;
KikPhotoMessage message = new KikPhotoMessage(getActivity(), bitmap);

Other Message Attributes

Forwardable

If you do not want to allow a user to forward a particular content message on to a friend you can set the forwardable attribute on a KikMessage to false. The default value for forwardable is true.

...
message.forwardable = false;

Fallback URLs

With any content message, you can specify fallback URLs. When the user opens your content message, Kik will check your fallback URLs to see which URL is supported on the current platform and display a link to the user which will allow them to navigate to that URL.

A fallback URL can be any type of URL whether it is a link to a website (ie. http://kik.com) or a specialized scheme for a native app (ie. kik://users/kikteam/profile).

If your app supports both Android and iOS, you can add a link to the native scheme which would open your app on each respective platform. Also, if your app is not installed, Kik will detect that your native scheme is not handled. If this is the case, the next fallback URL in order will be presented to the user. This is an opportunity to add another fallback URL linking to the AppStore with an ITMS link or the Google Play Store with a web link.

public KikMessage addFallbackURL(String fallbackURL, KikMessagePlatform platform)

Example

...
// launch the app first if available
message.addFallbackUrl("test-iphone://api/launch", KikMessagePlatform.KIK_MESSAGE_PLATFORM_IPHONE);
message.addFallbackUrl("test-android://api/launch", KikMessagePlatform.KIK_MESSAGE_PLATFORM_ANDROID);

// fallback to launching the app store on the given platform
message.addFallbackUrl("itms-apps://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/kik/id357218860?mt=8", KikMessagePlatform.KIK_MESSAGE_PLATFORM_IPHONE);
message.addFallbackUrl("https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kik.android&hl=en", KikMessagePlatform.KIK_MESSAGE_PLATFORM_ANDROID);

Returning to Kik After Opening Content

When the user taps your content from within Kik and launches your app, they will want to return to Kik to continue their chat. From within your app, use the backToKik(...) method to return the user to their active chat once they have viewed the content in your app.

KikClient.getInstance().backToKik(getActivity(0));

Author

Kik Interactive

License

Use of the Kik API is subject to the Terms & Conditions and the Acceptable Use Policy. See TERMS.md for details.

The source for KikAPI is available under the Apache 2.0 license. See the LICENSE.md file for details.

ericduns/kik-api-android