Understanding the Support SDK

Understanding the Support SDK

Overview

If your organization uses Zendesk Support or Zendesk Guide for customer service, you can use the Support SDK for iOS to embed the same customer service in an iOS app.

The SDK provides the following UIs for both Support and Guide to embed customer service features in an app:

• Help Center Overview - Lets the user access articles in your Zendesk Guide knowledge base and, optionally, submit a ticket. See Adding your help center

• Help Center Article - Lets the user view a specific help center article. See Show a single article

• Request - Lets the user view, update, and submit tickets to your customer service team. See Show a ticket screen

• Request List - Lets the user view a list of their tickets. See Show the user's tickets

You can customize the UI for branding purposes. This level of customization is suitable for most use cases.

If the included UI doesn't meet the product requirements, you can build your own. The SDK includes API providers to connect a custom UI to Zendesk functionality.

Dipping a toe

• In a hurry? See Using the SDK in a nutshell

• Have a look at our sample apps on Github.

• Browse this guide.

• Ask questions in the Zendesk SDKs community.

Diving in

Ok, your organization has decided to use the Support SDK to embed customer service in your iOS app.

1. Before you start, meet with product managers, the customer service team, and the mobile team to decide how to integrate the SDK in the app. Use the Zendesk SDK integration checklist for guidance.

2. After deciding how to integrate, make sure one of your Zendesk Support administrators has registered your app and turned on SDK features in the Support account.

   See Registering the application in Zendesk Support in Zendesk help.

   Make sure the features you want to use are covered in your Zendesk plan. See the [breakdown of features and limitations per plan](/documentation/classic-web widget-sdks/support-sdk/working-with-the-support-sdk/support-sdk-features-and-limitations-by-plan-type).

3. Add the Support SDK to your iOS project.

   See Adding the Support SDK (Required).

4. Initialize the Support SDK in your app.

   See Initializing the Support SDK (Required).

5. Set a user identity for the SDK.

   The SDK uses the identity to access your Zendesk Support account as a user.

   See Setting an identity (Required).

6. Add a customer service feature:

   See:

   • Adding your help center
   • Show a ticket screen
   • Adding a ticket list
   • Notifying the user of a ticket update

7. Customize the look and feel of the feature.

   See Customizing the look.

8. (Optional) Build your own UI in iOS and then use the SDK's API providers to connect your UI to Zendesk functionality.

   See API providers.

Common terms

• Anonymous - One of two identity types supported by the SDK. (The other is JWT.) An anonymous user can be a user with no information associated with them, or a user with some identifying information such as a name and email. See Set an identity.

• API providers - A group of APIs included with the SDK that lets you build your own support features. See API providers.

• Contact us, Contact Zendesk - Submit a ticket.

• Help center - A self-service platform by Zendesk Guide consisting of a knowledge base and an online community. The SDK lets users access the knowledge base. Learn more on the product page.

• Request - A request by an end user for support. The term is interchangeable with "ticket". The request is handled by your customer service team using Zendesk Support. Learn more on the product page.

• Ticket - Same as a support request.

SDK fact sheet

The Support SDK is written in Swift and Objective-C.

Compatibility

The current version of the Support SDK is compatible with Swift 5.2.2 or higher and XCode 11.4 or higher. It can also be used in Objective-C apps.

The minimum platform requirement is iOS 12.0.