Mobile & Digital Channels

A cross-platform framework saves time. Native development saves headaches. When you need Bluetooth Low Energy communication with a scanner, background location tracking for drivers, or a custom camera pipeline for OCR — cross-platform abstractions slow you down more than they save.

Swift (iOS) and Kotlin (Android) give you full access to platform APIs without wrappers. ARKit/ARCore for augmented reality, Core ML/ML Kit for on-device inference, HealthKit/Health Connect for health data. No “bridge bottleneck” when calling native functions.

Architecture: MVVM with Clean Architecture. Repository pattern for data layer, Use Cases for business logic, ViewModels for the presentation layer. Dependency injection (Hilt/Koin on Android, Swinject on iOS). Testable at every layer — unit tests for logic, UI tests for flows.

When native, when cross-platform? We choose native for: hardware-intensive apps, high performance requirements, complex UI animations, long-term projects with dedicated teams. Cross-platform (React Native, Flutter) for: fast time-to-market, simpler CRUD apps, limited budget, prototypes.

Design system: We build a reusable component library specific to the project. Consistent UX across the entire app, faster development of new screens. Figma → code pipeline with design tokens. Accessibility (VoiceOver, TalkBack) from the start, not as an afterthought.

Offline-first is not a feature — it’s an architectural approach. An app that “somehow works offline” is different from an app designed from the ground up for offline operation. In the field (warehouses, depots, field service) connectivity is a luxury, not a standard.

Local database: SQLite (Room on Android, Core Data / GRDB on iOS) as primary storage. All data needed for work is local. The user doesn’t notice being offline — the app responds instantly, synchronization runs in the background.

Sync engine: Bidirectional sync with conflict resolution. Optimistic locking with record versioning. On conflict (two users edit the same record offline) we apply business rules: last-write-wins for simple cases, merge strategies for complex ones. The user is informed, data is never lost.

Delta sync: We don’t synchronize the whole database — only changes since the last sync. Timestamp-based or event-based sync. Payload compression, batch operations. Even on a slow EDGE connection, sync completes in seconds.

Queue management: Operations performed offline are queued. After connectivity is restored, they are sent in order. Retry logic with exponential backoff. Idempotent API on the backend — a repeated request won’t cause duplicates. The user sees the sync status and any conflicts.

A mobile device is a universal scanner, reader and sensor. You don’t need to buy dedicated hardware costing tens of thousands — a modern phone handles most tasks. But you need software that uses the hardware correctly.

Code scanning: Barcodes (Code 128, EAN, UPC), QR codes, Data Matrix. Batch scanning — scan after scan without closing the camera. Multi-code scanning — reading multiple codes in a single frame. Support for external Bluetooth scanners (Zebra, Honeywell) for high-volume operations.

NFC and RFID: Reading and writing NFC tags. Item identification, access cards, inventory. HF RFID via the phone’s NFC interface. For UHF RFID we integrate external readers via Bluetooth or USB-C.

Bluetooth Low Energy: Communication with IoT sensors, beacons, industrial devices. Background scanning, automatic reconnect, battery-optimized protocols. Support for GATT profiles for standard and custom services.

Biometrics and camera: Face ID / Touch ID for in-app authentication. Camera pipeline for OCR (reading documents, license plates, labels), photo documentation (package condition, damage), AR overlays. On-device ML for real-time recognition without network latency.

A mobile app without backend integration is an isolated island. Value comes from connection — the mobile app reads data from ERP, writes to WMS, syncs with CRM, receives notifications from monitoring. We integrate mobile clients with any backend.

REST API: Standard for most integrations. Versioned API (URL versioning or header-based), OpenAPI specification, auto-generated clients (OpenAPI Generator). Caching strategies (ETag, Last-Modified) for minimal data transfer. Pagination for large datasets.

GraphQL: When the mobile client needs flexible queries — different screens, different data. No over-fetching, no under-fetching. Apollo Client (iOS/Android) with normalized cache. Subscriptions for real-time updates. Ideal for complex UIs with many relations.

WebSocket and real-time: Live tracking (driver location, package status), chat, notifications, collaborative editing. Socket.IO or native WebSocket with automatic reconnect. Heartbeat for detecting dropped connections. Fallback to polling for unreliable networks.

Authentication and security: OAuth 2.0 + PKCE for mobile clients. Biometric authentication with Keychain/Keystore. Certificate pinning against MITM. Token refresh without interrupting UX. Secure storage for credentials — no tokens in SharedPreferences/UserDefaults.

Push notifications are the most direct channel to the user. But only if used correctly. Spam = uninstall. Relevant, contextual notification = engagement. We build notification systems that deliver the right message to the right user at the right time.

APNs (iOS) and FCM (Android): Full integration with platform push services. Silent push for background data sync. Rich notifications with images, action buttons, custom UI (Notification Service Extension / MessagingService). Notification categories and channels for user control.

Segmentation and personalization: Push notifications targeted to a segment (role, location, behavior). A/B testing of content and timing. Frequency capping — maximum number of notifications per day/week. Analytics: delivery rate, open rate, conversion. Opt-in/opt-out granularly per category.

Deep linking: Universal Links (iOS) and App Links (Android). User clicks a link — the correct screen opens in the app. Deferred deep linking — works even for users who don’t have the app installed yet (installs → correct page opens). Attribution tracking for marketing campaigns.

Transactional notifications: Order confirmation, shipment status, workflow approval, monitoring alert. Delivery under 5 seconds. SMS fallback for critical notifications. Audit trail — when the notification was sent, delivered, opened.

A mobile release is not like a web deploy. App Store review takes hours to days. Google Play review is faster, but still not instant. Without an automated pipeline, release is a painful process that the team keeps postponing — and features pile up.

Fastlane pipeline: Automated build, signing, upload to App Store Connect and Google Play Console. Metadata management (screenshots, descriptions, release notes) as code. Match for iOS certificate management — no “I can’t build, I don’t have the certificate”. The entire release process with a single click.

CodePush / OTA updates: JavaScript bundle updates without App Store review (React Native, Flutter). Hotfix in production in minutes, not days. Staged rollout — 10% → 50% → 100%. Automatic rollback on increased crash rate. For critical bugs, it’s a lifesaver.

Beta distribution: TestFlight (iOS), Firebase App Distribution (Android). Internal testers automatically get a build after merging to develop. QA tests on real devices, not simulators. Feedback loop directly in the app — screenshot + annotation + automatic bug report.

Post-release monitoring: Crash reporting (Crashlytics, Sentry), performance monitoring (startup time, frame drops, network latency). Automatic alerts on crash rate spikes. Adoption tracking — how many users are on the new version. Forced update mechanism for critical security patches.