ChatApp

ChatApp is a real-time chat application developed in Android Studio using Firebase as the backend. It supports user authentication, real-time messaging, profile management, and image uploads for a seamless chat experience.

Features

• User Authentication: Email and password-based login and registration using Firebase Authentication.
• Real-time Messaging: Instant message delivery with Firebase Firestore as the real-time database.
• User Profiles: Users can set profile pictures, visible to other users in the chat.
• Contact Sync: Matches contacts from the user's device to registered users in the app.
• Image Uploads: Users can upload profile images and share them with contacts.

Technologies Used

• Android Studio: IDE used for app development.
• Java/Kotlin: Programming languages used for app logic and UI.
• Firebase Firestore: NoSQL database to store chat messages and user profiles.
• Firebase Authentication: For secure user authentication.
• Firebase Storage: Used to store and retrieve profile images and other media.

Getting Started

Follow these instructions to set up and run the project.

Prerequisites

• Android Studio: Version Arctic Fox (or later) recommended.
• Firebase Account: Set up a project on Firebase.

Setup Instructions

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/RaiDevX8/ChatApp.git
   cd ChatApp

2. Set up Firebase:

   • Go to Firebase Console and create a new project.
   • Add an Android app in Firebase and follow the instructions to download the google-services.json file.
   • Place google-services.json in the app directory of your Android project.

3. Enable Firebase Services:

   • In your Firebase project, go to Authentication and enable phone auth authentication.
   • Go to Firestore Database and create a database in test mode.
   • Enable Firebase Storage for profile picture uploads.

4. Sync Firebase to Android Studio:

   • Open build.gradle (Project-level) and add the Firebase plugin if not already present:

     classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:4.3.8'

   • In build.gradle (App-level), apply the Google services plugin and add Firebase dependencies:

     apply plugin: 'com.google.gms.google-services'

5. Build the Project:

   • Sync Gradle and build the project in Android Studio.

Running the App

• Connect an Android device or start an emulator.
• Click Run in Android Studio, and the app should start on the selected device.

Folder Structure

• app/src/main/java: Contains all Kotlin/Java source code files.
• app/src/main/res: Contains all resources, such as XML layout files, drawable assets, and values.

Firebase Database Structure

• Users Collection: Stores user profiles with fields:

  • userId
  • firstName
  • lastName
  • mobileNumber
  • profileImageUrl

• Messages Collection: Stores chat messages with fields:

  • senderId
  • receiverId
  • messageText
  • timestamp

Contributing

1. Fork the project.
2. Create a new branch (git checkout -b feature/new-feature).
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some feature').
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/new-feature).
5. Open a Pull Request.

Screenrecorder-2024-10-25-09-45-53-370.mp4

License

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for more information.

Acknowledgments

• Firebase for backend services.
• Android Studio for the development platform.