✍️ Typing indicators

[nickvergessen]

• Original issue: Show that a user is typing #2094
• Server/API Signaling "Typing indicators" #9272
• Frontend Frontend "Typing indicators" #9271
• Android Support "Typing indicators" talk-android#2930
• iOS Support "Typing indicators" talk-ios#1181

[nickvergessen]

Draft

• Account-wide setting:
  • Similar to the read-status setting a account wide setting is added that enables the sending and receiving of those messages. So a user can only see the typing indicator, when they are also sharing their own typing status.
  • Setting is stored in oc_preferences like the read-status but not copied to conversation level as it's not needed for the technical side
  • The user's setting is populated as capability setting
• UI:
  • There should be a single line on top of the input field X is typing …
  • Maybe with avatars (depends on the looks of it)
  • Showing up to 3? user names
  • If more users are typing we show X users are typing
• Technology:
  • To not overload the PHP server with requests we will communicate this information as signaling messages
  • Internal signaling server support is optional
  • The clients/frontend send a signaling message every X seconds when their chat input is non-empty
  • Receiving clients expire the information after X seconds or when receiving a signaling message that the other side stopped

Open questions

• Is it on or off for guests (they are currently ignored by the read-status)?
• Can guests change it?

[nickvergessen]

Regarding the questions:

• Jan: If it's not a big performance concern I would say yes to both. Cause then guests have a similarly nice experience as people with accounts
• Me: It's more like they don't have a settings page (yet), so either the option is very visible or it's quite some extra efforts (but might be worth it anyway so they can see the keyboard shortcuts, etc)

[jancborchardt]

First mockups:

• The line is shown inbetween the last message and the input field, not shifting any messages above (in case people stop typing)
• Includes avatar(s) and a line in --color-text-maxcontrast, with the name in bold
• Single person indicator centers the small avatar horizontally with the bigger avatars in the chat (maybe right-align is also fine). Text is "Name is typing"
• Multiple people are simply shown comma-separated and with the overlapped avatars (needs a component at some point), up until 3 people like: "Marco and Nimisha are typing"
• For more than 3 people, only 3 keep showing as avatars and full name (could be either the ones who have most recently typed or have started typing first, whatever is more performant), and ends with "and X others are typing" like "Nimisha, Marco, Joas and 3 others are typing"

One person is typing	More than 3 people are typing