Helpium

Add Helpium's native support chat to your Android app. Your customers talk to your AI and your team without leaving the app, and their conversations land in the same inbox as your web chat, email and WhatsApp.

The SDK supports Android 5.0 (API 21) and later and works the same from Java and Kotlin. It uses plain Android views with no androidx, AppCompat or Compose, so it fits old and new projects alike. Its only dependency is OkHttp.

Before you start

In Helpium, open Channels → Live Chat and copy your widget key. It identifies your workspace and is safe to include in the app.

1. Add the dependency

Add JitPack to your repositories in settings.gradle (or the root build.gradle in older projects):

dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
        maven { url "https://jitpack.io" }
    }
}

Then add the SDK to app/build.gradle:

dependencies {
    implementation "com.github.helpium-io:helpium-sdk:0.1.0"
}

The SDK declares its own permissions, chat screen and shrinker rules, so there is nothing else to set up.

2. Configure the SDK at launch

public class MyApplication extends Application {
    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();
        Helpium.configure(this, "YOUR_WIDGET_KEY");
    }
}

3. Tell Helpium who the customer is

When a customer signs in to your app, pass a token your server signs with the workspace identity secret. Their conversation then follows them to any device, and AI actions can work on their account. See Verify your customers' identity.

Helpium.identify(tokenFromYourServer);

// On logout
Helpium.logout();

No login in your app? Skip this step. The chat asks for a name and email before the first message when your Live Chat settings require it.

4. Open the chat

helpButton.setOnClickListener(view -> Helpium.present(this));

The chat opens straight into the customer's open conversation. Without one, it shows your greeting and instant answers, ready to type. The back button returns to your app.

5. Show unread replies

Helpium.addUnreadCountListener(count -> {
    badge.setVisibility(count > 0 ? View.VISIBLE : View.GONE);
    badge.setText(String.valueOf(count));
});

Remove the listener with Helpium.removeUnreadCountListener when your screen goes away.

Colors and texts

Every color is configurable, separately for light and dark mode:

Helpium.setAppearance(new HelpiumAppearance()
        .light(new HelpiumColors().primary("#0ea5e9").headerBackground("#0ea5e9").headerText("#ffffff"))
        .dark(new HelpiumColors().primary("#38bdf8").background("#0f172a").surface("#1e293b")));

Any color you leave out uses your brand color from Live Chat settings or a neutral default.

Every text can be replaced per language with string resources. Android picks the right folder for each language:

<!-- res/values/strings.xml -->
<string name="helpium_greeting">Hi! Need a hand with your order?</string>
<!-- res/values-es/strings.xml -->
<string name="helpium_greeting">¡Hola! ¿Te ayudamos con tu pedido?</string>

Next steps

Send push notifications for agent replies
Verify your customers' identity
The full SDK reference on GitHub lists every method, color and text key.

Add live chat to your Android app