Building a Real-Time Chat Application in Flutter with Back4App

introduction creating a chat application involves managing real time data, user authentication, media handling, and efficient data storage in this tutorial, you will learn how to build a real time chat application in flutter that supports one to one and group conversations, message statuses, and media sharing we'll use back4app—a backend as a service powered by parse server—to handle the backend functionalities by the end of this tutorial, you will have a fully functional chat app with the following features user authentication secure sign up and login processes real time messaging instant message delivery using live queries user presence tracking online/offline status of users media storage sending and receiving images in chats message history persisting chat histories for users prerequisites to follow along with this tutorial, you'll need flutter sdk installed on your machine follow the official flutter installation guide https //flutter dev/docs/get started/install basic knowledge of flutter and dart an ide or text editor such as visual studio code or android studio a back4app account sign up for a free account at back4app https //www back4app com/ parse server sdk for flutter added to your project overview we will build a chat application with the following components user authentication users can sign up and log in contacts list display a list of users to chat with chat screen real time messaging interface media sharing ability to send and receive images online status display online/offline status of users step 1 – setting up the flutter project 1 1 create a new flutter project open your terminal and run flutter create chat app navigate to the project directory cd chat app 1 2 add dependencies open pubspec yaml and add the following dependencies dependencies flutter sdk flutter parse server sdk flutter ^4 0 1 image picker ^0 8 4+3 cached network image ^3 2 0 uuid ^3 0 4 run flutter pub get to install the packages parse server sdk flutter interact with back4app image picker pick images from the gallery or camera cached network image efficient image loading and caching uuid generate unique identifiers step 2 – setting up back4app 2 1 create a new back4app application log in to your back4app dashboard https //dashboard back4app com/ click on "create new app" enter a name for your application, e g , "chatapp" , and click "create" 2 2 configure classes and data model we'll create the following classes user (default parse class) stores user information message stores chat messages chatroom represents a chat between users 2 2 1 user class fields username string password string email string isonline boolean avatar file (optional) the user class is built in; we just need to ensure it has the additional fields 2 2 2 message class fields sender pointer< user> receiver pointer< user> chatroomid string content string image file (optional) createdat datetime (automatically added) 2 2 3 chatroom class fields chatroomid string users array of pointer< user> lastmessage string updatedat datetime (automatically updated) 2 3 obtain application credentials navigate to app settings > security & keys note down your application id and client key step 3 – initializing parse in your flutter app open lib/main dart and modify it as follows import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; import 'screens/login screen dart'; // you'll create this file next void main() async { widgetsflutterbinding ensureinitialized(); const keyapplicationid = 'your application id'; const keyclientkey = 'your client key'; const keyparseserverurl = 'https //parseapi back4app com'; await parse() initialize( keyapplicationid, keyparseserverurl, clientkey keyclientkey, autosendsessionid true, debug true, ); runapp(myapp()); } class myapp extends statelesswidget { @override widget build(buildcontext context) { return materialapp( title 'chat app', theme themedata( primaryswatch colors blue, ), home loginscreen(), ); } } replace 'your application id' and 'your client key' with your actual back4app credentials step 4 – implementing user authentication 4 1 create authentication service create a new directory called services under lib and add a file named auth service dart // lib/services/auth service dart import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; class authservice { future\<parseuser?> signup(string username, string email, string password) async { var user = parseuser(username, password, email); var response = await user signup(); if (response success) { return user; } else { return null; } } future\<parseuser?> login(string username, string password) async { var user = parseuser(username, password, null); var response = await user login(); if (response success) { return user; } else { return null; } } future\<void> logout() async { var user = await parseuser currentuser() as parseuser?; await user? logout(); } future\<parseuser?> getcurrentuser() async { return await parseuser currentuser() as parseuser?; } } 4 2 create login and signup screens create a new directory called screens under lib and add files named login screen dart and signup screen dart 4 2 1 login screen // lib/screens/login screen dart import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import ' /services/auth service dart'; import 'home screen dart'; import 'signup screen dart'; class loginscreen extends statelesswidget { final authservice authservice = authservice(); final texteditingcontroller usernamecontroller = texteditingcontroller(); final texteditingcontroller passwordcontroller = texteditingcontroller(); void login(buildcontext context) async { var user = await authservice login( usernamecontroller text trim(), passwordcontroller text trim(), ); if (user != null) { navigator pushreplacement( context, materialpageroute(builder (context) => homescreen()), ); } else { scaffoldmessenger of(context) showsnackbar(snackbar(content text('login failed'))); } } @override widget build(buildcontext context) { return scaffold( appbar appbar( title text('chat app login'), ), body padding( padding const edgeinsets all(16), child column( children \[ textfield( controller usernamecontroller, decoration inputdecoration(labeltext 'username'), ), textfield( controller passwordcontroller, decoration inputdecoration(labeltext 'password'), obscuretext true, ), sizedbox(height 20), elevatedbutton( onpressed () => login(context), child text('login'), ), textbutton( onpressed () => navigator push( context, materialpageroute(builder (context) => signupscreen())), child text('don\\'t have an account? sign up'), ), ], ), ), ); } } 4 2 2 signup screen // lib/screens/signup screen dart import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import ' /services/auth service dart'; import 'home screen dart'; class signupscreen extends statelesswidget { final authservice authservice = authservice(); final texteditingcontroller usernamecontroller = texteditingcontroller(); final texteditingcontroller emailcontroller = texteditingcontroller(); final texteditingcontroller passwordcontroller = texteditingcontroller(); void signup(buildcontext context) async { var user = await authservice signup( usernamecontroller text trim(), emailcontroller text trim(), passwordcontroller text trim(), ); if (user != null) { navigator pushreplacement( context, materialpageroute(builder (context) => homescreen()), ); } else { scaffoldmessenger of(context) showsnackbar(snackbar(content text('sign up failed'))); } } @override widget build(buildcontext context) { return scaffold( appbar appbar( title text('chat app sign up'), ), body padding( padding const edgeinsets all(16), child column( children \[ textfield( controller usernamecontroller, decoration inputdecoration(labeltext 'username'), ), textfield( controller emailcontroller, decoration inputdecoration(labeltext 'email'), ), textfield( controller passwordcontroller, decoration inputdecoration(labeltext 'password'), obscuretext true, ), sizedbox(height 20), elevatedbutton( onpressed () => signup(context), child text('sign up'), ), ], ), ), ); } } step 5 – implementing user presence 5 1 update user online status create a method in authservice to update the user's online status // lib/services/auth service dart class authservice { // existing methods future\<void> updateuseronlinestatus(bool isonline) async { var user = await parseuser currentuser() as parseuser?; if (user != null) { user set('isonline', isonline); await user save(); } } } 5 2 set online status on login and logout update the login and logout methods // lib/services/auth service dart class authservice { // existing methods future\<parseuser?> login(string username, string password) async { var user = parseuser(username, password, null); var response = await user login(); if (response success) { await updateuseronlinestatus(true); return user; } else { return null; } } future\<void> logout() async { await updateuseronlinestatus(false); var user = await parseuser currentuser() as parseuser?; await user? logout(); } } step 6 – displaying contacts list 6 1 create user service create user service dart under services // lib/services/user service dart import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; class userservice { future\<list\<parseuser>> getallusers() async { final querybuilder\<parseuser> queryusers = querybuilder\<parseuser>(parseuser forquery()); final parseresponse apiresponse = await queryusers query(); if (apiresponse success && apiresponse results != null) { return apiresponse results as list\<parseuser>; } else { return \[]; } } } 6 2 create home screen // lib/screens/home screen dart import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; import ' /services/user service dart'; import ' /services/auth service dart'; import 'chat screen dart'; class homescreen extends statefulwidget { @override homescreenstate createstate() => homescreenstate(); } class homescreenstate extends state\<homescreen> { final userservice userservice = userservice(); final authservice authservice = authservice(); list\<parseuser> users = \[]; parseuser? currentuser; @override void initstate() { super initstate(); fetchusers(); getcurrentuser(); } void getcurrentuser() async { currentuser = await authservice getcurrentuser(); } void fetchusers() async { var allusers = await userservice getallusers(); setstate(() { users = allusers where((user) => user username != currentuser? username) tolist(); }); } void logout(buildcontext context) async { await authservice logout(); navigator pushreplacementnamed(context, '/'); } @override widget build(buildcontext context) { return scaffold( appbar appbar( title text('contacts'), actions \[ iconbutton(onpressed () => logout(context), icon icon(icons logout)), ], ), body listview\ builder( itemcount users length, itembuilder (context, index) { var user = users\[index]; return listtile( title text(user username ?? ''), subtitle text(user get('isonline') == true ? 'online' 'offline'), ontap () { navigator push( context, materialpageroute(builder (context) => chatscreen(receiver user)), ); }, ); }, ), ); } } step 7 – implementing real time messaging with live queries 7 1 set up live query client add the following dependency in pubspec yaml dependencies flutter sdk flutter parse server sdk flutter git url https //github com/parse community/parse sdk flutter git ref master this ensures you have the latest version with live query support 7 2 initialize live query in main dart // lib/main dart void main() async { widgetsflutterbinding ensureinitialized(); const keyapplicationid = 'your application id'; const keyclientkey = 'your client key'; const keyparseserverurl = 'https //parseapi back4app com'; const livequeryurl = 'wss\ //your app back4app io'; await parse() initialize( keyapplicationid, keyparseserverurl, clientkey keyclientkey, autosendsessionid true, debug true, livequeryurl livequeryurl, ); runapp(myapp()); } replace 'your app' with your back4app application subdomain 7 3 create chat screen // lib/screens/chat screen dart import 'package\ flutter/material dart'; import 'package\ parse server sdk flutter/parse server sdk dart'; import 'package\ uuid/uuid dart'; import 'package\ image picker/image picker dart'; import ' /services/auth service dart'; import 'package\ cached network image/cached network image dart'; class chatscreen extends statefulwidget { final parseuser receiver; chatscreen({required this receiver}); @override chatscreenstate createstate() => chatscreenstate(); } class chatscreenstate extends state\<chatscreen> { final authservice authservice = authservice(); parseuser? currentuser; list\<parseobject> messages = \[]; string chatroomid = ''; final texteditingcontroller messagecontroller = texteditingcontroller(); late parselivelist\<parseobject> livemessages; @override void initstate() { super initstate(); getcurrentuser(); setupchatroom(); } void getcurrentuser() async { currentuser = await authservice getcurrentuser(); if (currentuser != null) { setuplivequery(); } } void setupchatroom() { string userid = currentuser! objectid!; string receiverid = widget receiver objectid!; chatroomid = userid compareto(receiverid) > 0 ? '$userid $receiverid' '$receiverid $userid'; } void setuplivequery() { querybuilder\<parseobject> querymessages = querybuilder\<parseobject>(parseobject('message')) whereequalto('chatroomid', chatroomid) orderbyascending('createdat'); livemessages = parselivelist\<parseobject>( querymessages, listeningincludes \['sender'], lazyloading false, ); setstate(() {}); } void sendmessage({string? content, parsefilebase? imagefile}) async { var message = parseobject('message') set('sender', currentuser) set('receiver', widget receiver) set('chatroomid', chatroomid) set('content', content ?? '') set('image', imagefile); await message save(); messagecontroller clear(); } void pickimage() async { final picker = imagepicker(); final pickedfile = await picker pickimage(source imagesource gallery, imagequality 50); if (pickedfile != null) { var file = parsefile(file(pickedfile path)); await file save(); sendmessage(imagefile file); } } @override void dispose() { livemessages dispose(); super dispose(); } @override widget build(buildcontext context) { if (currentuser == null || livemessages == null) { return scaffold( appbar appbar( title text('chat with ${widget receiver username}'), ), body center(child circularprogressindicator()), ); } return scaffold( appbar appbar( title text('chat with ${widget receiver username}'), ), body column( children \[ expanded( child parselivelistwidget\<parseobject>( query livemessages, reverse false, lazyloading false, childbuilder (context, snapshot) { if (snapshot failed) { return text('error ${snapshot error}'); } else if (snapshot hasdata) { var message = snapshot loadeddata!; var sender = message get\<parseuser>('sender')!; var isme = sender objectid == currentuser! objectid; var content = message get\<string>('content') ?? ''; var image = message get\<parsefilebase>('image'); return align( alignment isme ? alignment centerright alignment centerleft, child container( padding edgeinsets all(8), margin edgeinsets all(8), decoration boxdecoration( color isme ? colors blue\[100] colors grey\[300], borderradius borderradius circular(8), ), child column( crossaxisalignment crossaxisalignment start, children \[ if (content isnotempty) text(content), if (image != null) cachednetworkimage( imageurl image url!, placeholder (context, url) => circularprogressindicator(), errorwidget (context, url, error) => icon(icons error), ), ], ), ), ); } else { return container(); } }, ), ), divider(height 1), container( padding edgeinsets symmetric(horizontal 8), color colors white, child row( children \[ iconbutton( icon icon(icons photo), onpressed pickimage, ), expanded( child textfield( controller messagecontroller, decoration inputdecoration collapsed(hinttext 'type a message'), ), ), iconbutton( icon icon(icons send), onpressed () { if ( messagecontroller text trim() isnotempty) { sendmessage(content messagecontroller text trim()); } }, ), ], ), ), ], ), ); } } explanation parselivelistwidget a widget that listens to live query updates and rebuilds when data changes sendmessage() sends a text message or an image pickimage() uses image picker to select an image and sends it as a message setuplivequery() sets up a live query to listen for new messages in the chat room step 8 – testing the app 8 1 run the app in your terminal, run flutter run 8 2 test messaging open the app on two devices or emulators sign up or log in with different user accounts from one account, select the other user from the contacts list send messages and images; they should appear in real time on both devices conclusion congratulations! you have built a real time chat application in flutter using back4app this app supports user authentication secure login and signup real time messaging instant updates using live queries user presence online/offline status tracking media sharing sending and receiving images message history persisting chat messages next steps group chats extend the app to support group conversations message statuses implement read receipts and typing indicators push notifications send notifications for new messages when the app is in the background profile pictures allow users to upload avatars security enhancements secure data with acls and role based permissions additional resources back4app documentation https //www back4app com/docs parse sdk for flutter guide https //docs parseplatform org/flutter/guide/ flutter official documentation https //flutter dev/docs parse live query https //docs parseplatform org/js/guide/#live queries happy coding!