Precall Setup - iOS

Picture this: before diving into the depths of a video call, imagine giving your setup a quick check-up, like a tech-savvy doctor ensuring all systems are a go. That's essentially what a precall experience does- it’s like your extensive debug session before the main code execution—a crucial step in ensuring your app's performance is top-notch.

Why is it necessary?

Why invest time and effort into crafting a precall experience, you wonder? Well, picture this scenario: your users eagerly join a video call, only to encounter a myriad of technical difficulties—muted microphones, pixelated cameras, and laggy connections. Not exactly the smooth user experience you had in mind, right?

By integrating a robust precall process into your app, developers become the unsung heroes, preemptively addressing potential pitfalls and ensuring that users step into their video calls with confidence.

Using PreCall Functions

Check Permissions

• Begin by ensuring that your application has the necessary permissions to access user devices such as cameras and microphones.
• Utilize the getAudioPermissionStatus() and getVideoPermissionStatus() methods of the VideoSDK class to verify if permissions are granted.

Swift

let audioPermission = VideoSDK.getAudioPermissionStatus() // audio permission status
let videoPermission = VideoSDK.getVideoPermissionStatus() // video permission status

Request Permissions (if necessary)

• If permission status is notDetermined, use the getAudioPermission() and getVideoPermission() methods of the VideoSDK class to prompt users to grant access to their devices.

• Calling the above functions will automatically handle the notDetermined state and prompt the user to grant permission.

Swift

class StartViewController: UIViewController {

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        // UI Setup
        setupUI()
        
        // prompt user to grant permission when the app starts 
        VideoSDK.getVideoPermission()
        VideoSDK.getAudioPermission()
    }

    func setupUI() {
        // your UI code
    }
}

• If the permissions are denied or restricted after approving, you need to prompt user to manually approve the permissions from the Settings using the handlePermission() function of the AuthorisationDelegate. Below is an example on how you can do it.

Swift

class StartViewController: UIViewController {
    // settings button
    @IBOutlet weak var openSetting: UIButton!

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        // UI Setup
        setupUI()
        
        // prompt user to grant permission when the app starts 
        VideoSDK.getVideoPermission()
        VideoSDK.getAudioPermission()
    }

    func setupUI() {
        // you UI code
        ...
        settingsButton()
    }
    //sets the visibility of settings button
    func settingsButton() {
        let audioStatus = VideoSDK.getAudioPermissionStatus()
        let videoStatus = VideoSDK.getVideoPermissionStatus()
        
        if (audioStatus == .authorised && videoStatus == .authorised) {
            openSetting.isHidden = true
        }
        else {
            openSetting.isHidden = false
        }
    }
    // settings button tapped
    @IBAction func openSettingsButtonTapped(_ sender: Any) {
        handlePermission()
    }
}
// implement Authorisation Delegate
extension StartViewController: AuthorisationDelegate {
    func handlePermission() {
        guard let settingsURL = URL(string: UIApplication.openSettingsURLString) else { return }
                if UIApplication.shared.canOpenURL(settingsURL) {
                    UIApplication.shared.open(settingsURL, options: [:], completionHandler: nil)
                }
    }
}

Get Device Lists

• Once you have the necessary permissions, Fetch the lists of available camera, audio device using the getCameras() and getAudioDevices() methods of the VideoSDK class respectively.

Swift

let cameras = VideoSDK.getCameras()
let audioDevices = VideoSDK.getAudioDevices()

Create Video Track

• Create video tracks for camera using the createCameraVideoTrack() methods.

Swift

import WebRTC
guard let videoMediaTrack = try? VideoSDK.createCameraVideoTrack(
  // This will accept the enum value of CustomVideoTrackConfig which contains resolution (height x width) of video you want to capture.
  encoderConfig: .h720p_w1280p, // .h540p_w960p | .h720p_w1280p ... // Default : .h360p_w640p

  // It will specify whether to use front or back camera for the video track.
  facingMode: .front, // .back,  Default : .front

  // We will discuss this parameter in next step.
  multiStream:true // false,  Default : true

) else { return }

Passing States to Meeting

• Ensure that all relevant states, such as microphone and camera status (on/off) are passed into the meeting from the precall screen.
• This can be accomplished by passing these crucial states and media streams onto the VideoSDK's initMeeting.
• By ensuring this integration, users can seamlessly transition from the precall setup to the actual meeting while preserving their preferred settings.

Swift

let meeting = VideoSDK.initMeeting(
  meetingId: "abcd-efgh-xyzw",
  participantId: "JD", // optional
  participantName: "John Doe",
  micEnabled: micStatus,
  webcamEnabled: webcamStatus
  customCameraVideoStream: videoMediaTrack, //optional
  mode: .CONFERENCE //optional (default mode is conference)
);

note

You can explore the complete implementation of the Precall functions in the official iOS SDK example available here.

API Reference

The API references for all the methods utilized in this guide are provided below.

• getAudioPermissionStatus()
• getVideoPermissionStatus()
• getAudioPermission()
• getVideoPermission()
• getCameras()
• getAudioDevices