What are the uses of each mobile SDK?

Question

I see that Zendesk has multiple mobile SDKs. What can I use each one for?

Answer

SDK for Messaging

The SDK for Messaging is available for both iOS and Android. These are also called the Zendesk SDK for iOS and the Zendesk SDK for Android. A web version, the Zendesk SDK for Web, is also available.

Talk SDK

The Talk SDK is also available for both iOS and Android. Use this SDK to add phone support with the Zendesk Talk digital line in your mobile app.

Unity SDK

The Unity SDK brings Zendesk features to Unity games so players can access requests, Help Center content, and contact your support team and stay in the app. Not to be confused with the Unified SDK. For more technical information about this SDK, see developer documentation.

As of version 3.4.0, the Unity SDK supports multiple conversations. This lets users manage more than one conversation at a time.

If you use messaging, see Working with messaging for your mobile channel.

Unified SDK

What is referred to as the Unified SDK is not technically an SDK, but rather the foundation that lets the Chat SDK, Support SDK, and Answer Bot SDK work in the same place. Those are also called the Classic SDKs and you can use them together within the same application:

Support SDK (iOS, Android): This SDK uses both Support and Help Center features. Use this SDK to help your customers submit or view their requests and access your knowledge base.

Chat SDK (iOS, Android): This SDK lets customers start a live chat with your support team

Answer Bot SDK: Paired with Support, this SDK lets your customers receive article suggestions and supports self-service in your app

Note: The Answer Bot SDK is bundled with Support SDK. The functionality of Answer Bot depends on Support.

Web SDK

The Web SDK is not technically a mobile SDK, but to avoid confusion it is included here. It can refer to the Zopim Web SDK, which lets you build your own version of the Chat Widget.

The term can also refer to the Zendesk SDK for Web, a new version of the Web Widget that includes messaging features.

Other considerations:

The Zendesk SDK for Messaging is not part of the Unified SDK family and does not integrate with those SDKs. However, you can use them side by side to help you migrate to the Zendesk SDK (Android, iOS).

You can use the Support and Chat SDKs independently. Each one has its own JSON Web Token (JWT) system for user authentication.

Each SDK includes a default UI and a provider version so you can build your own interface and add Zendesk functions

If you observe an issue with any of the mobile SDKs, contact Zendesk Customer Support for further help and include the information described in this article Ticket submission guidelines for mobile SDK developers.