Allowing user to submit ratings for skills in SUSI iOS

Rating is a great way to get feedback from the user. Generally, the 5-Star rating system used to get feedback. The Five-Star Quality Rating System was developed as an easy-to-understand rating system for users.

In SUSI iOS we are using the Star Rating field to get feedback of SUSI skills. We enable the user to rate the skills from one to five star. In the rating submission, we get the number of stars user picked.

The stars help show if you would recommend the skill to others. The values start at 1 (being the lowest) and go to 5 (being the highest), as seen below –

Server-Side Implementation –

fiveStarRatings API is using to submit users rating. Whenever the user taps the star fiveStarRatings being called:

func submitRating(_ params: [String: AnyObject], _ completion: @escaping(_ updatedRatings: Ratings?, _ success: Bool, _ error: String?) -> Void) {
let url = getApiUrl(UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: ControllerConstants.UserDefaultsKeys.ipAddress) as! String, Methods.fiveStarRateSkill)
_ = makeRequest(url, .get, [:], parameters: params, completion: { (results, message) in
// handle request
....
})
}

The following params we send in the request:

  • Model
  • Group
  • Language
  • Skill
  • Stars
  • Access Token

After successfully rating submission we get updated ratings for each star of the particular skill. The following response we get from the server after successfully submitted rating:

{
"ratings": {
"one_star": 0,
"four_star": 1,
"five_star": 0,
"total_star": 1,
"three_star": 0,
"avg_star": 4,
"two_star": 0
},
"session": {"identity": {
"type": "email",
"name": "abc@a.com",
"anonymous": false
}},
"accepted": true,
"message": "Skill ratings updated"
}

We use ratings object from fiveStarRatings API to update the ratings displayed on charts and labels and also, we use ratings object to update Skill model which we passed from SkillListingController to SkillDetailController so the user can see updated rating chart when clicking back to skill.

func updateSkill(with ratings: Ratings) {..}

If the user already submitted ratings for a skill, we are using getRatingByUser API with same params as in fiveStarRatings except ratings to get already submitted user rating and we display that ratings as initial ratings in UI.

Implementation of Submit Rating UI –

RatingView is behind the submit rating UI. FloatRatingViewDelegate protocol is implemented to get ratings is updating or get updated.

@objc public protocol FloatRatingViewDelegate {
/// Returns the rating value when touch events end
@objc optional func floatRatingView(_ ratingView: RatingView, didUpdate rating: Double)

/// Returns the rating value as the user pans
@objc optional func floatRatingView(_ ratingView: RatingView, isUpdating rating: Double)
}

Rating updated on rating display chart:

Now see, how we handle the case when Skill is not rated before and the user first time rate the skill.

There is a label that shows the “Skill not rated yet” when a skill is not rated. When the user rates the skill, the label is hidden and chart bar and the label is shown.

if self.ratingsBackViewHeightConstraint.constant == 0 {
self.ratingsBackViewHeightConstraint.constant = 128.0
self.contentType.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: self.ratingBackView.bottomAnchor, constant: 16).isActive = true
self.ratingsBackStackView.isHidden = false
self.topAvgRatingStackView.isHidden = false
self.notRatedLabel.isHidden = true
}

 

Resources –

  1. Swift Protocol: https://docs.swift.org/swift-book/LanguageGuide/Protocols.html
  2. SUSI Skills: https://skills.susi.ai/
  3. SUSI Server Link: https://github.com/fossasia/susi_server
  4. SUSI iOS Link: https://github.com/fossasia/susi_iOS
Continue ReadingAllowing user to submit ratings for skills in SUSI iOS

Change Text-to-Speech Voice Language of SUSI in SUSI iOS

SUSI iOS app now enables the user to change the text-to-speech voice language within the app. Now, the user can select any language of their choice from the list of 37 languages list. To change the text-to-speech voice language, go to, Settings > Change SUSI’s Voice, choose the language of your choice. Let see here how this feature implemented.

Apple’s AVFoundation API is used to implement the text-to-speech feature in SUSI iOS. AVFoundation API offers 37 voice languages which can be used for text-to-speech voice accent. AVFoundation’s AVSpeechSynthesisVoice API can be used to select a voice appropriate to the language of the text to be spoken or to select a voice exhibiting a particular local variant of that language (such as Australian or South African English).

To print the list of all languages offered by AVFoundation:

import AVFoundation

print(AVSpeechSynthesisVoice.speechVoices())

Or the complete list of supported languages can be found at Languages Supported by VoiceOver.

When the user clicks Change SUSI’s voice in settings, a screen is presented with the list of available languages with the language code.

Dictionary holds the list of available languages with language name and language code and used as Data Source for tableView.

var voiceLanguagesList: [Dictionary<String, String>] = []

When user choose the language and click on done, we store language chosen by user in UserDefaults:

UserDefaults.standard.set(voiceLanguagesList[selectedVoiceLanguage][ControllerConstants.ChooseLanguage.languageCode], forKey: ControllerConstants.UserDefaultsKeys.languageCode)
UserDefaults.standard.set(voiceLanguagesList[selectedVoiceLanguage][ControllerConstants.ChooseLanguage.languageName], forKey: ControllerConstants.UserDefaultsKeys.languageName)

Language name with language code chosen by user displayed in settings so the user can know which language is currently being used for text-to-speech voice.

To select a voice for use in speech, we obtain an AVSpeechSynthesisVoice instance using one of the methods in Finding Voices and then set it as the value of the voice property on an AVSpeechUtterance instance containing text to be spoken.

Earlier stored language code in UserDefaults shared instance used for setting the text-to-speech language for AVSpeechSynthesisVoice.

if let selectedLanguage = UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: ControllerConstants.UserDefaultsKeys.languageCode) as? String {
speechUtterance.voice = AVSpeechSynthesisVoice(language: selectedLanguage)
}

AVSpeechUtterance is responsible for a chunk of text to be spoken, along with parameters that affect its speech.

Resources –

  1. UserDefaults: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/userdefaults
  2. AVSpeechSynthesisVoice: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/avspeechsynthesisvoice
  3. AVFoundation: https://developer.apple.com/av-foundation/
  4. SUSI iOS Link: https://github.com/fossasia/susi_iOS
Continue ReadingChange Text-to-Speech Voice Language of SUSI in SUSI iOS

STOP action implementation in SUSI iOS

You may have experienced, you can stop Google home or Amazon Alexa during the ongoing task. The same feature is available for SUSI too. Now, SUSI can respond to ‘stop’ action and stop ongoing tasks (e.g. SUSI is narrating a story and if the user says STOP, it stops narrating the story). ‘stop’ action is introduced to enable the user to make SUSI stop anything it’s doing.

Video demonstration of how stop action work on SUSI iOS App can be found here.

Stop action is implemented on SUSI iOS, Web chat, and Android. Here we will see how it is implemented in SUSI iOS.

When you ask SUSI to stop, you get following actions object from server side:

"actions": [{"type": "stop"}]

Full JSON response can be found here.

When SUSI respond with ‘stop’ action, we create a new action type ‘stop’ and assign `Message` object `actionType` to ‘stop’.

Adding ‘stop’ to action type:

enum ActionType: String {
... // other action types
case stop
}

Assigning to the message object:

if type == ActionType.stop.rawValue {
message.actionType = ActionType.stop.rawValue
message.message = ControllerConstants.stopMessage
message.answerData = AnswerAction(action: action)
}

A new collectionView cell is created to respond user with “stoped” text.

Registering the stopCell:

collectionView?.register(StopCell.self, forCellWithReuseIdentifier: ControllerConstants.stopCell)

Add cell to the chat screen:

if message.actionType == ActionType.stop.rawValue {
if let cell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: ControllerConstants.stopCell, for: indexPath) as? StopCell {
cell.message = message
let message = ControllerConstants.stopMessage
let estimatedFrame = self.estimatedFrame(message: message)
cell.setupCell(estimatedFrame, view.frame)
return cell
}
}

AVFoundation’s AVSpeechSynthesizer API is used to stop the action:

func stopSpeakAction() {
speechSynthesizer.stopSpeaking(at: AVSpeechBoundary.immediate)
}

This method immediately stops the speak action.

Final Output:

Resources – 

  1. About SUSI: https://chat.susi.ai/overview
  2. JSON response for ‘stop’ action: https://api.susi.ai/susi/chat.json?timezoneOffset=-330&q=susi+stop
  3. AVSpeechSynthesisVoice: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/avspeechsynthesisvoice
  4. AVFoundation: https://developer.apple.com/av-foundation/
  5. SUSI iOS Link: https://github.com/fossasia/susi_iOS
  6. SUSI Android Link: https://github.com/fossasia/susi_android
  7. SUSI Web Chat Link: https://chat.susi.ai/
Continue ReadingSTOP action implementation in SUSI iOS

Initial Setups for Connecting SUSI Smart Speaker with iPhone/iPad

You may have experienced Apple HomPad, Google Home, Alexa etc or read about smart speakers that offer interactive action over voice commands. The smart speaker uses the hot word for activation. They utilize Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other wireless protocols.

SUSI.AI is also coming with Open Source smart speaker that can do various actions like playing music etc over voice commands. To use SUSI Smart Speaker, you have to connect it to the SUSI iOS or Android App. You can manage your connected devices in SUSI iOS, Android and Web clients. Here we will see initial setups for connecting SUSI Smart Speaker with iPhone/iPad (iOS Devices).

You may aware that iOS does not allow connecting to wifi within the app. To connect to a particular Wi-Fi, you have to go to phone settings, from there you can connect to Wi-Fi. SUSI Smart Speaker create a temporary Hotspot for initial setups. Follow the instruction below to connect to SUSI Smart Speaker hotspot –

  1. Tap to Home button, and go to your iPhone Settings > Wi-Fi
  2. Connect to the Wi-Fi hotspot for the device that you are setting up. It will have name “susi.ai”, like in the image below
  3. Come back to the SUSI app to proceed with setup.

These instruction is also available within the app when you are not connected to SUSI Smart Speaker hotspot and click `Setup a Device` or plus icon on Device Activity screen navigation bar.

Devices Activity and getting current Wi-Fi SSID:

Devices section in Settings screen shows the currently connected device. In Devices Activity screen, the user can manage the connected device. Only a logged-in user can access Devices Activity. When the user clicks on Device Accessories in setting, if the user is not logged-in, an alert is prompted with Login option. By clicking Login option, user directed to Login screen where the user can log in and come back to device section to proceed further.

If the user is already logged-in, Device Activity screen is presented. We use following method to scan if iPhone/iPad is connected to SUSI Smart Speaker:

func fetchSSIDInfo() -> String? {
var ssid: String?
if let interfaces = CNCopySupportedInterfaces() as? [String] {
for interface in interfaces {
if let interfaceInfo = CNCopyCurrentNetworkInfo(interface as CFString) as NSDictionary? {
ssid = interfaceInfo[kCNNetworkInfoKeySSID as String] as? String
break
}
}
}
return ssid
}

Apple’s SystemConfiguration API is used to get current Wi-Fi SSID. SystemConfiguration Allow applications to access a device’s network configuration settings. Determine the reachability of the device, such as whether Wi-Fi or cell connectivity is active.

import SystemConfiguration.CaptiveNetwork

The method above return the SSID of your device current Wi-Fi. SSID is simply the technical term for a network name. When you set up a wireless home network, you give it a name to distinguish it from other networks in your neighborhood. You’ll see this name when you connect your device to your wireless network.

If current Wi-Fi match with SUSI Smart Speaker hotspot, we display device in TableView, if not we display “No device connected yet”.

if let speakerSSID = fetchSSIDInfo(), speakerSSID == "susi.ai" {
cell.accessoryType = .disclosureIndicator
cell.textLabel?.text = speakerSSID
} else {
cell.accessoryType = .none
cell.textLabel?.text = "No device connected yet"
}

SUSI Smart Speaker is coming with very exciting features. Stay tuned.

Resources –

  1. SUSI iOS Link: https://github.com/fossasia/susi_iOS
  2. Apple’s SystemConfiguration Framework Documentation
  3. Bell’s article on What Do SSID and WPA2 mean
Continue ReadingInitial Setups for Connecting SUSI Smart Speaker with iPhone/iPad

Post feedback for SUSI Skills in SUSI iOS

SUSI iOS, web and Android clients allow the user to rate the SUSI Skills in a 5-star rating system. Users can write about how much particular skill is helpful for them or if improvements are needed. Users can rate skills from one to five star as well. Here we will see how to submit feedback for SUSI skills and how it is implemented on SUSI iOS.

How to submit feedback –

  1. Go to Skill Listing Screen < Skill Detail Screen
  2. Scroll to the feedback section
  3. Write feedback about SUSI skill
  4. Click on POST button to post the skill feedback

An anonymous user can not submit skill feedback. You must have to logged-in in order to post skill feedback. If you are not logged-in and click POST button to post skill feedback, an alert is presented with Login option, by clicking Login, the user is directed to Login screen where the user can log in and later can post skill feedback.

Implementation of posting skill feedback –

Google’s Material textfield is used for skill feedback text field. We have assigned TextField class from Material target to skill feedback text field to make it very interactive and give better user experience.

Skill feedback text field in the normal state –

Skill feedback text field in the active state –

When the user clicks POST after writing skill feedback, we check if the user is logged-in or not.

if let delegate = UIApplication.shared.delegate as? AppDelegate, let user = delegate.currentUser {
...
}

We have saved the logged-in user globally using AppDelegate shared method during login and using it here. The AppDelegate is sort of like the entry point for the application. It implements UIApplicationDelegate and contains methods that are called when application launches, when is going to the background (i.e. when the user hit the home key), when it’s opened back up, and more. The AppDelegate object is stored as a property on the UIApplication class and is accessible from anywhere in swift classes.

Case 1: If the user is not logged-in, we show a popup to the user with the login option

By clicking Login, the user is directed to Login screen where the user can log in and later can post skill feedback.

Case 2: If the user is already logged-in, we use the endpoint below for posting skill feedback –

http://api.susi.ai/cms/feedbackSkill.json

ModelWith following parameters –

  • Group
  • Skill
  • Feedback
  • Access token
Client.sharedInstance.postSkillFeedback(postFeedbackParam) { (feedback, success, responseMessage) in
DispatchQueue.main.async {
if success {
self.skillFeedbackTextField.text = ""
self.skillFeedbackTextField.resignFirstResponder()
self.view.makeToast(responseMessage)
} else {
self.view.makeToast(responseMessage)
}
}
}

In return response, we get feedback posted by the user –

{
feedback: "Helpful",
session:
{
...
},
accepted: true,
message: "Skill feedback updated"
}

 

Resources –

  1. Material Design Guidelines for iOS
  2. Apple’s documentation on UIApplicationDelegate API
  3. Apple’s documentation on UIApplication API
  4. ChrisRisner’s article on Singletons and AppDelegate
Continue ReadingPost feedback for SUSI Skills in SUSI iOS

Creating Onboarding Screens for SUSI iOS

Onboarding screens are designed to introduce users to how the application works and what main functions it has, to help them understand how to use it. It can also be helpful for developers who intend to extend the current project.

When you enter in the SUSI iOS app for the first time, you see the onboarding screen displaying information about SUSI iOS features. SUSI iOS is using Material design so the UI of Onboarding screens are following the Material design.

There are four onboarding screens:

  1. Login (Showing the login features of SUSI iOS) – Login to the app using SUSI.AI account or else signup to create a new account or just skip login.
  2. Chat Interface (Showing the chat screen of SUSI iOS) – Interact with SUSI.AI asking queries. Use microphone button for voice interaction.
  3. SUSI Skill (Showing SUSI Skills features) – Browse and try your favorite SUSI.AI Skill.
  4. Chat Settings (SUSI iOS Chat Settings) – Personalize your chat settings for the better experience.

Onboarding Screens User Interface

 

There are three important components of every onboarding screen:

  1. Title – Title of the screen (Login, Chat Interface etc).
  2. Image – Showing the visual presentation of SUSI iOS features.
  3. Description – Small descriptions of features.

Onboarding screen user control:

  • Pagination – Give the ability to the user to go next and previous onboarding screen.
  • Swiping – Left and Right swipe are implemented to enable the user to go to next and previous onboarding screen.
  • Skip Button – Enable users to skip the onboarding instructions and go directly to the login screen.

Implementation of Onboarding Screens:

  • Initializing PaperOnboarding:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()

UIApplication.shared.statusBarStyle = .lightContent
view.accessibilityIdentifier = "onboardingView"

setupPaperOnboardingView()
skipButton.isHidden = false
bottomLoginSkipButton.isHidden = true
view.bringSubview(toFront: skipButton)
view.bringSubview(toFront: bottomLoginSkipButton)
}

private func setupPaperOnboardingView() {
let onboarding = PaperOnboarding()
onboarding.delegate = self
onboarding.dataSource = self
onboarding.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
view.addSubview(onboarding)

// Add constraints
for attribute: NSLayoutAttribute in [.left, .right, .top, .bottom] {
let constraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: onboarding,
attribute: attribute,
relatedBy: .equal,
toItem: view,
attribute: attribute,
multiplier: 1,
constant: 0)
view.addConstraint(constraint)
}
}

 

  • Adding content using dataSource methods:

    let items = [
    OnboardingItemInfo(informationImage: Asset.login.image,
    title: ControllerConstants.Onboarding.login,
    description: ControllerConstants.Onboarding.loginDescription,
    pageIcon: Asset.pageIcon.image,
    color: UIColor.skillOnboardingColor(),
    titleColor: UIColor.white, descriptionColor: UIColor.white, titleFont: titleFont, descriptionFont: descriptionFont),OnboardingItemInfo(informationImage: Asset.chat.image,
    title: ControllerConstants.Onboarding.chatInterface,
    description: ControllerConstants.Onboarding.chatInterfaceDescription,
    pageIcon: Asset.pageIcon.image,
    color: UIColor.chatOnboardingColor(),
    titleColor: UIColor.white, descriptionColor: UIColor.white, titleFont: titleFont, descriptionFont: descriptionFont),OnboardingItemInfo(informationImage: Asset.skill.image,
    title: ControllerConstants.Onboarding.skillListing,
    description: ControllerConstants.Onboarding.skillListingDescription,
    pageIcon: Asset.pageIcon.image,
    color: UIColor.loginOnboardingColor(),
    titleColor: UIColor.white, descriptionColor: UIColor.white, titleFont: titleFont, descriptionFont: descriptionFont),OnboardingItemInfo(informationImage: Asset.skillSettings.image,
    title: ControllerConstants.Onboarding.chatSettings,
    description: ControllerConstants.Onboarding.chatSettingsDescription,
    pageIcon: Asset.pageIcon.image,
    color: UIColor.iOSBlue(),
    titleColor: UIColor.white, descriptionColor: UIColor.white, titleFont: titleFont, descriptionFont: descriptionFont)]
    extension OnboardingViewController: PaperOnboardingDelegate, PaperOnboardingDataSource {
    func onboardingItemsCount() -> Int {
    return items.count
    }
    
    func onboardingItem(at index: Int) -> OnboardingItemInfo {
    return items[index]
    }
    }
    

     

  • Hiding/Showing Skip Buttons:
    func onboardingWillTransitonToIndex(_ index: Int) {
    skipButton.isHidden = index == 3 ? true : false
    bottomLoginSkipButton.isHidden = index == 3 ? false : true
    }
    

Resources:

Continue ReadingCreating Onboarding Screens for SUSI iOS