Mobile App, Backend & API Dev for Air Purifier Manufacturer
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API Development Custom Software Development Mobile App Development
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Kotlin NodeJS Android App Development iPhone iOS App Development Java Python Swift Flutter
- Confidential
- Jan. 2016 - Ongoing
- Quality
- 5.0
- Schedule
- 5.0
- Cost
- 5.0
- Willing to Refer
- 5.0
"Olearis is able to find expertise on a whole other level that we haven’t had anywhere else."
- Manufacturing
- British Columbia, Canada
- 11-50 Employees
- Phone Interview
- Verified
Olearis provides a mobile app, backend, and API development for an air purifier manufacturer. The team has built Android and iOS apps and helped with backend API builds, backend releases, and integrations.
The iOS app is smooth, and Olearis has helped refactor a solution to reduce its memory requirement from 10 GB to 30 MB. The team meets timelines, communicates via Slack, and uses Jira and Notion for project management. Their flexibility with the budget and ability to accommodate needs stand out.
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
BACKGROUND
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the director of software and services at Mila Cares. I lead backend development, software development, backend services infrastructure, and security. Our company builds home air purifiers and helps our customers understand their home air quality.
We also give our users the capability to solve air quality problems. We build both the hardware, software, and firmware for our appliances. We do the full stack, including electrical engineering and software development for web and mobile apps on iOS and Android.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What challenge were you trying to address with Olearis?
We had previously launched our air purifier specifically for China, but we needed their help with our mobile application. We had worked with Olearis in the past and knew they had the skills to develop the mobile apps we needed, integrate the UI we designed, and ensure that it was tied together with our mobile app and backend.
SOLUTION
What was the scope of their involvement?
Olearis has been with us from the very start. The deliverables started with the mobile applications. The team built applications for iOS and Android. The mobile applications allow our customers to control their air purifiers and see all the sensor information that the air purifier can monitor, including particulate matter, humidity levels, and temperature sensors, to name a few. We provided all that information within the mobile application.
Olearis was responsible for building the application, integrating it with an authentication provider, and integrating the APIs we had in our backend with the mobile application. Olearis has also helped us develop those backend APIs.
Usually, a new project starts with a specification. It might be a business spec at first, and then we work with the team to develop the technical specification of all the requirements we need to implement, as well as the associated costs and timelines. From there, we start the development phases, an alpha phase at first. They do QA and provide beta testing services as well.
After the alpha phase, when we have a deliverable ready to iterate on or test, we might send improvements or request changes. Often, in the design phase, Olearis offers feedback about design considerations or technical requirements if the design requires something special on the backend.
We then have a beta phase with beta customers. Our beta customers have signed up to help us with the beta level of testing. They're in our pre-production services and can access the mobile applications or some features that aren’t available yet in production. They help test these areas, offer their feedback, and get to see what’s coming in the near future.
Olearis also helps with releases for the backend and the mobile applications themselves. They’re part of everything. We tend to do our own designs internally or as a separate resource, but they’re part of that process as well. If we need new assets or don’t think about something in particular, they remind us of areas that we might need more focus on.
The team uses Swift for iOS. On the Android side, they use Kotlin and Flutter. Some areas of the backend are integrated in Java, and they’ve helped us integrate other areas with C# to give us more advanced processing power. We’ve also developed some backend services with the team in Python and Java. They’ve also done a lot of backend services for us, both in the APIs and in Node.js, Java, Python, and C# development.t.
Olearis has also helped us with service-level integrations. The team has helped us look at alternatives for our authentication provider and other open-source libraries or tools that we could employ most effectively in our organization. Our appliances use the MQTT protocol to speak with our backend services. The appliances send sensor information to the backend, and the backend can store it. We’ve stored it in an InfluxDB database, which Olearis has helped us set up.
With EMQX clusters, the team has helped us build and organize them. It’s essentially the communication hub between the appliances and our backend servers.
What is the team composition?
The team fluctuates based on our needs. Right now, we have 3–5 developers from Olearis, but we’ve had up to 7–8 working all at once. We've also worked with a project manager and Oleg (Founder & CEO), who helps and is always on our weekly calls. He also helps with project management.
How did you come to work with Olearis?
We initially found them on a freelancer platform. Back then, Oleg was working with us directly. Olearis didn’t exist when we first met. As our needs grew, he was able to bring in more engineers, and he formally started his business.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together around the first quarter of 2016, and our relationship is ongoing.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Most recently, we integrated a weather forecasting solution. To process it, at least 10 gigabytes (GB) of memory would be required. One of Olearis' backend engineers rebuilt the service, saving significant resources by reducing the memory requirement from 10 GB to 30 megabytes (MB). The processing time has also been drastically reduced.
The particular format for the weather forecasting information we’re able to pull from the internet is in an image format. The engineer was able to parse the image format and extract the particular bits that contain the information in order to parse the weather forecasts. That was a huge improvement on a very recent service.
Another area is our iOS applications, which are incredibly smooth. We’re floored every time Olearis creates such smooth transitions and experiences in iOS. We bring them a design, and they’re able to bring it to life in every way we could have asked for. QA has also been a huge help for us.
Many of our customers are always looking for more services, so that’s something we’re trying to provide them. We’re also looking to simplify existing services further. It’s a long range of areas, from better tools to manage their subscription services to being able to create accounts outside of our mobile applications. Olearis has helped us with stability. We’ve had some concerns about our stability on the backend in the past, and they’ve really helped us scale to improve that reliability.
How did Olearis perform from a project management standpoint?
They’re pretty good at meeting deadlines. If we have a hard deadline, they strive extremely hard to reach it. It varies depending on the project, but Olearis is always working extremely hard. With the few teammates we have assigned to the project, they’re able to consistently meet our deadlines and timelines. I have no concerns there.
Usually, if there is a concern, it’s more that we’ve tried to do too much in too little time. That’s more of an issue outside of Olearis' team. The project might be delayed because of reworking designs, which is not something that is really their concern.
We typically communicate in Slack. We also have weekly meetings to review the priorities for the upcoming week and any priorities that need a little extra attention or for upcoming deadlines. We use Jira for managing specific assignments, and we store documentation in Notion.
Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?
We've worked with Oleg for over 10 years, not just on this project but on others. He's incredible, and I can't thank him enough for the work he's done for us over the years; I look forward to many, many more years working together.
Dmytro (Former Software Engineering Team Lead & Frontend Developer) has been a powerhouse in Android development and backend services. Ruslan (iOS Engineer) is a senior engineer who's able to integrate incredible experiences in iOS as well. Vitaly (Python Developer) is a recent addition to the team who also has great experience. He joined our team about a month ago, and it's been an absolute pleasure working with him.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Olearis is able to find expertise on a whole other level that we haven’t had anywhere else. If we have a particular project need, they’re either able to find somebody with that expertise or pull somebody in who already has that expertise. They’re also able to learn it on the fly.
That aspect has been incredible because they’ve been able to move mountains for us in the past and continue to do so. We also greatly appreciate the flexibility they offer. As budgets grow or shrink, Olearis has been able to accommodate our business and customer needs.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There isn’t anything they’ve specifically had to improve on themselves. They’ve always worked with us very closely. If we ever have any concerns, we’re able to openly discuss them and find ways to improve them.
Usually, it’s the process of business where we sometimes need to outline things better for them. However, there has never been something they haven’t been able to improve over time through discussions and better collaboration.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Clear timelines and specifications really help. Know and understand what you want. If you don’t, be open about that and clearly say it. Work with Olearis to develop those needs.
RATINGS
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Quality
5.0Service & Deliverables
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Schedule
5.0On time / deadlines
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Cost
5.0Value / within estimates
"Sometimes, they provide us with engineering work at cost. Their flexibility to support our needs has been excellent."
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Willing to Refer
5.0NPS