Top app development companies interview: Devodrome - Follow up

The last time we interviewed Victor Costache, Founder and President of Devodrome, was in March 2015.

Here you’ll find the latest news of one of the top mobile app development companies in Romania, Devodrome.

Your last interview was published in 2015. What great apps has Devodrome been working on since then?

Over the last couple of years we have been mainly involved in developing apps for the health care and online betting industries. One of the the apps not related to that worth mentioning is: Hilk for the App Store and Google Play.

Which mobile app has been the biggest development challenge for your mobile app development company?

Not really the biggest development challenges, but some tasks that took more than usual:

1. GameKit: a couple of years ago, when we developed a few mobile games, the GameKit was not so evolved, and we were struggling to keep the system in check. The solution was that the game functionality had to be changed in order to be turn based and not “real time”.

2. XMPP and iOS: when the chat app hype train came, we had to develop a chat app using a pre-configured XMPP server to which we did not have access to. Figuring out the whole protocol and settings took a lot of time, but in the end the chatting platform worked great. Nowadays, we are using Firebase for chat applications.

3. Custom LE Bluetooth device connect to iPhone: we struggled with that mainly because of the incomplete/obsolete documentation and Bluetooth Low energy protocol implemented in the device that was not according to the standard protocol described by Apple. The solution was teaming up with a professional in the field of Bluetooth devices (hardware engineer) who helped us out in understanding how the custom Bluetooth device worked, and then we managed to create the necessary connection layer so that the app properly communicates with the device.

4. Video pre-recording module: part of a mobile app we developed was implementing the “10 seconds history video recording” feature, meaning that when the user presses the Record button, the saved video has also to include the last 10 seconds prior pressing the button. This is useful when the user records an event but also wants to see what happens a few seconds before.

What do you think will be the biggest smartphone release this year?

This mainly depends on whose point of view we take. If I am a consumer, then I would be interested in the new anniversary iPhone (and new flagship phones). According to rumors, Apple will bring new technology to the iPhone. New iPhones always dictate the trend for the upcoming year.

As a developer, I am awaiting the release of the new iOS, to see how it will work on the iPad.

As an enthusiast, Google Pixel 2, Microsoft Surface Phone (rumor). Google is a front-runner in terms of technology, and with the Firebase framework, they are at the top of their game, speeding up the progress of mobile (not just mobile phones). Microsoft just recently announced a lot of great Machine Learning enabled technology, and we will see what they will do with this.

Besides smartphones, what mobile device do you think is worth having first?

For a fitness buff, fitness trackers. They track movement/activity related data, and thus profiles are being made, helping users to improve their life (a happier and healthier lifestyle).

For those needing a way to work “everywhere” - Google Chromebook, Apple iPad, Apple MacBook. - portable “workstations”.

Personal pick - Apple iPad Mini4 with Apple Watch (latest edition).

How has the mobile market evolved since our first interview?

This is a quite tough question to answer, considering the quick evolution of this industry. We are now in the age of connected trackers, devices. For the consumer market, every device is now BT enabled, everything is Smart and is going social.

We have Health Kit, Home Kit - all consumer oriented products. The next step is driving the mobile trend into the industry/agriculture.

IoT is evolving fast, and Ericsson Narrowband IoT (Cost effective Advanced 4G LTE chips) is moving this further. In our opinion the future is everything interconnected, manageable from Cloud systems.

Everything is changing really fast, and smart devices are getting their place everywhere, from smart bikes, to smart cars, to smart fridges.

In terms of design, both Android and iOS now use a standardized design style.

Mobile apps evolve, too, their features change depending on the device used. What kind of app has a greater future ahead?

Predicting the future is tricky, and anyone could easily fail on that. As I mentioned on the previous question, everything will be (socially) interconnected.

According to some analysts and their prognosis for the next 5 years, Internet of Things will be on top. An app that can retain its users with valuable content can be successful. So, I would bet on IoT.

Is your mobile app development company adapting to new technologies and devices coming along?

We encourage our developers to present new technologies they find, and have meetings about these on how we can incorporate our findings into the projects we develop.

Over the last year we think Firebase was a game changer. Now RxAndroid is really trendy, also Kotlin is gaining ground fast (see this year's Google I/O).

Our team attends conferences (the last one we attended was SMART conference Budapest - about smart technologies and IoT), we also provide them with articles, videos, courses on new technologies.

A mobile app development company always needs to be up-to-date with the latest trends, and that’s why we buy test devices according to market popularity.

What advice would you give to anyone with an app idea who didn’t know how to get started?

A good starting point would be reading our free e-book The 7 Deadly Sins of Mobile App Development That You Must Know Before Investing, including the most important things to do and things to avoid, based on our experience (8 years in mobile development, 18 years in software development).

How has AppFutura helped you?

Appfutura is working as a lead generator for us.. However, we have just renewed the subscription by upgrading it to the Platinum pack allowing us to bid on the projects.

Go to Devodrome AppFutura developer profile to learn more about the company.

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