At Helpshift, we use the word “app” to mean two different but interrelated things.
- One kind of app is compiled software that runs on a mobile device. This kind is the very thing that most people mean when they use the word “app.” And, when we speak of Helpshift mobile SDK integrations, these compiled, mobile apps are the environment where such integrations take place.
- The second kind of app is a container in Helpshift, which you can associate with certain configuration settings and customer service issues for the mobile app that it is bound to. Each container app represents and describes the configured support experience for one of your mobile apps.
A container app and one of your mobile apps are bound together to deliver the in-app customer support experience. Such binding involves an API key, an App ID, a domain, and an initialization code, all of which originate from the container app. And of course, binding also involves integrating the Helpshift mobile SDK into your mobile app.
Binding facilitates communication between: - your mobile app and your Helpshift server instance
- your in-app users and your customer service agents
- your in-app users and your customer service bots
Container apps are an organizing principle for issue segmentation, as well as for your development of customer service workflows, metrics, and more. Without container apps, you cannot fully prepare or deploy automations. Nor can any of your compiled, mobile apps connect to your Helpshift server instance.