We're excited to announce Participant Name and Avatar for Mobile Messaging-helping organizations create more human, recognizable, and easy-to-follow conversations in the Genesys Mobile Messenger SDK for iOS and Android.
With this release, organizations can display configured participant names and avatars alongside messages from both agents and bots. The experience also includes improved message grouping, clearer delivery-status information, and resilient avatar fallback behavior.
The result is a more personal mobile messaging experience that brings Mobile Messaging closer to the experience available in Web Messaging.
Why it matters
Customers want to understand who they are communicating with, especially when a conversation moves between bots and human agents.
Without visible participant information, mobile conversations can feel anonymous and become difficult to follow when multiple participants are involved. Participant Name and Avatar makes each participant easier to recognize while grouping related messages to keep the conversation clear and uncluttered.
What's new
Configurable participant identity
When Humanize is enabled, Mobile Messenger can display the configured name and avatar associated with each participant's messages.
Participant identity is supported for:
The participant name and avatar are presented as a combined experience. When Humanize is disabled, participant names and avatars are not displayed.
Reliable avatar fallback behavior
Mobile Messenger provides fallback options when a participant avatar is missing or cannot be loaded.
- When an agent has a name but no avatar, the agent's initial is displayed.
- When agent information is unavailable, a default person icon is displayed.
- When a bot avatar is unavailable, a default bot image is displayed.
- If an avatar is malformed or fails to load, Mobile Messenger immediately uses the appropriate fallback.
- During connectivity issues, a previously cached avatar can be displayed to avoid an indefinitely loading image.
A loading indicator is shown while an avatar is retrieved for the first time.
Clear identification of customer messages
When Humanize is enabled, messages sent by the customer display a localized "You" label.
This makes it easier for customers to distinguish their own messages from messages sent by agents and bots. When Humanize is disabled, the "You" label is not displayed.
Easier-to-read message grouping
Sequential messages from the same participant are now visually grouped, reducing unnecessary repetition and making longer conversations easier to scan.
Within a message group:
- Full metadata is displayed on the final message in the group.
- Participant name, avatar, timestamp, and delivery status are hidden from earlier messages to reduce visual clutter.
- Customers can tap an earlier message to reveal its hidden metadata and tap it again to hide the information.
- A new group begins when more than 120 seconds pass between messages.
- Messages from a newly joined participant begin a separate group.
When older messages are loaded from conversation history, Mobile Messenger re-evaluates the messages and merges them into existing groups when they meet the same participant and timing criteria.
Clearer message delivery status
Message delivery status is displayed using both an icon and written status, making it easier for customers to understand whether a message is being sent, was delivered successfully, or encountered an error.
Within grouped messages, successful delivery information is minimized to keep the conversation clean, while delivery errors remain visible on the affected message.
Participant identity throughout the conversation
When a new agent or bot joins an active conversation, subsequent messages display the new participant's name and avatar.
Messages already sent by a previous participant retain their original identity, helping customers understand who contributed each part of the conversation.
Key benefits
For customers
- A more personal and recognizable messaging experience
- Clearer distinction between agents, bots, and customer messages
- Easier-to-read conversations through intelligent message grouping
- Better visibility into message delivery and errors
- Consistent participant identity when conversations are transferred
For admins and experience teams
- Control over whether participant identity is displayed through the Humanize configuration
- A consistent participant identity experience across agent and bot interactions
- Closer alignment between Web Messaging and Mobile Messaging
- Improved flexibility for creating branded and human-centered messaging experiences
For developers
- Support across the Mobile Messenger SDKs for iOS and Android
- Built-in avatar fallback, loading, and caching behavior
- Automatic grouping and metadata handling for conversation history
- Localization support for customer labels and message-status text
Ready to get started?
Participant Name and Avatar helps organizations create mobile messaging experiences that feel more personal, transparent, and easier to follow.
Review your Mobile Messenger configuration and participant identity setup, then enable Humanize to begin displaying agent and bot identities in supported conversations.
Join the Genesys Community to share how you plan to use Participant Name and Avatar in Mobile Messaging and connect with others building more human digital experiences.
Visit the technical documentation for further details.
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David Kempl
Senior Product Manager, Genesys Cloud Mobile
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