Changing JSQmessageVC Timestamp logic in swift

Question

How can i change the timestamp logic to avoid repeating times as shown in the screenshot below?

Here is my code..

override func collectionView(collectionView: JSQMessagesCollectionView!, attributedTextForCellTopLabelAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath!) -> NSAttributedString! {

    if indexPath.item % 3 == 0 {

        let message = messages[indexPath.item]

        return JSQMessagesTimestampFormatter.sharedFormatter().attributedTimestampForDate(message.date)
    }
    return nil
}

override func collectionView(collectionView: JSQMessagesCollectionView!, layout collectionViewLayout: JSQMessagesCollectionViewFlowLayout!, heightForCellTopLabelAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath!) -> CGFloat {

    if indexPath.item % 3 == 0 {
        return kJSQMessagesCollectionViewCellLabelHeightDefault
    }
    return 0.0
}

Answer 1

If we compare the previous messages date too the current messages date we can display only when the time changes. You can leave the every third message if you want or remove it

 if indexPath.item % 3 == 0 {          //optional

  let previousMessage = messages[indexPath.item - 1]
  let message = messages[indexPath.item]
    if message.date == previousMessage {
      return JSQMessagesTimestampFormatter.sharedFormatter().attributedTimestampForDate(message.date)
    else { 
      return nil
    }
  }
return nil

You may need to make sure that it is not the first message because messages[indexPath.item - 1] will be out of range. But besides that it should solve your question. Good luck 🖖🏽