ThinkPod Mobile

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Background

As ThinkPod's development progressed, it became clear that there would be a high demand for a mobile version of our application. Outside of potential market expansion, our team identified that users needed an easier way to access our digital business card feature when networking. We'd be getting in their way if we forced them to open a browser and navigate to their profile each time they wanted to share their cards with others.

Requirements

The application would need...

  • Cross-platform support to reach as many users as possible.

  • In-app purchases.

  • Capability for users to create, edit, and share their digital business cards.

  • The ability to save other users' digital business cards, scan physical cards, and manually enter contact details.

  • Virtual introductions, where users can share their connections' network cards with other users.

  • Contact management, where users can group or prioritize connections, as well as set reminders with notifications.

Development

Working alongside one of our team's frontend developers, I was responsible for backend development using Go and Dgraph, as well as the business connection management features within the mobile app.

Since the other team member and I both had experience with React for the web, and the app needed to be cross-platform, we chose React Native with TypeScript as our mobile framework. While the base application was being developed, I expanded the backend to support all of our new features. This included allowing additional file upload capabilities using Amazon S3, as well as expanding the user model to allow for the user connections, contact groupings, and virtual introductions.

Once our API was updated, I jumped onto the mobile side to implement the frontend that would consume our new endpoints. This involved developing multiple screens and custom components, adding local notification support using Notifee, and deep linking to allow existing digital business cards to be opened directly within the mobile app.

My favorite, and probably the most challenging, feature was adding the capability to scan physical business cards to import contact information. With our senior backend developer's assistance, I configured the app to process captured images using Amazon Textract, and allow the user to assign the parsed information to fields within our existing model.

Outcome

ThinkPod's mobile app was very well received by our existing userbase, and also brought in many additional users from multiple global regions. After our full release in January 2022, the app's keyword rankings jumped to within the top 5 for applications in our category. Currently, the app holds a perfect 5-star collective rating on the App Store.