Canopas Software

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of Togness, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. Togness was created in 2017 to develop a mobile app.

For what projects/services did your company hire Canopas Software, and what were your goals?

In 2019 we were on a rescue mission to salvage our idea and what development had been done. Our project started in 2018 with another company. However, after sometime they said there were challenges and that they didn't have the development skills to complete the app as initially agreed upon.

Our app was being built for apple devices and also android and in fact that said technically they could not achieve the outcome for apple device. This was quite devastating, as considerable resources had been spent and they should have been honest in the beginning about their limitations.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Whilst searching online and through agencies, we came across the vendor and they mentioned their dislike for technology that had many bugs. They also said they could help see a great idea become a product and from where we stood that sounded good.

After talking with Canopas and outlining our challenges, they understood very quickly what needed to be done. Development on both platforms was achievable. Their comprehension of what was required was the main deciding factor. Good timeframes and agreeing to complete initial task in certain timeframe as an example of the work they could deliver.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Our app is a video and slideshow maker, where users can add quotes, and music to photos and videos. It had been started but previous developer had experienced complexity with a part of the app and could not complete.

Tasks and Deliverables:

• Help with implementing the video feature on Android.
• Potentially taking over entire project, audit of apps, ongoing maintenance and support.

Required Experience:

• Android & iOS app development
• Web development
• Video experience on Android using FFMPEG / Mp4Composer, MediaCodec or any other similar utility or library.

Recommended Skills:

• Swift, Kotlin
• Video skills on Android
• Ability to review existing code, evaluate the quality and suggest roadmap.

We started with an initial project to build the complex video aspect for android app. We started on one platform and timeframes and development were achieved and successful and hence we continued to complete both apps on both platforms successfully.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We dealt directly with project manager and he assigned tasks to the team which mainly consisted of ios and android developers. There was also server and backend development such as AWS.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

As mentioned, we started with a specific deliverable of our biggest challenge and Canopas completed successfully within the promised timeframe. Once Android development was well underway, we stated iOS. There was no hassles about any of the development work and they were always very quick . We have only just launched, so unable to provide metrics but it works and works really well. Any issues are rectified quickly.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We communicated through upwork platform. I would be in daily contact and would receive responses immediately or hourly at most. This was perfect and a great reassurance after the rough start we had. We were very impressed with the project manager and felt our project was safe and in good hands.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

There was rarely ever a second explanation needed. Even if we struggled to explain technically what we wanted, they understood first time. This proved they knew exactly what they were doing. Very reassuring!

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

This is our first mobile app, so we don't have a lot of experience. The fact that I can't think of something immediately is a good sign. Also we had come from a company where we had a bad experience, and honestly can't fault Canopas.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product manager at a broadcast media company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Canopas Software?

We needed help with mobile app development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Canopas is helping us develop our native apps. We started by discussing our business with Canopas, including what we were up to, how we saw the new way of broadcasting our content, and the new concepts we had in mind. Since this was a big project, we knew we had to proceed in phases over several years. The Canopas team wrote a roadmap for the project step-by-step.

Within the apps, they added a feature to stream our content live as well as on-demand. The team also included a functionality that lets users create playlists to access the content offline. There is also a feature that makes it easier for our users to interact and post their reactions on live debates. Those messages can then be relayed on air. We handle advertising personally instead of integrating advertisement APIs. For this, Canopas contributed to building the features that allow us to incorporate ads.

They’ve developed mobile apps for iOS, Android, and Huawei’s App Gallery and web apps for Mac and Windows. Plus, the app is also available for CarPlay and Android Auto.

Currently, Canopas is still working on app development. Sometimes they do updates, and sometimes it’s full development. In the latter case, they help us design, develop the APIs, implement the server, and publish the solution. Once everything is completed, Canopas will be doing maintenance on our apps. 

What is the team composition?

The team composition changes because we’ve developed different things. We bring in people depending on what we’re going to deploy.

For example, there have been phases that need more teammates from Canopas, which can include a designer, an iOS developer, an Android developer, PHP developers, security server experts, and team managers.

How did you come to work with Canopas Software?

I found them through online research. We had a call with Canopas, and it went great — we had a great feeling.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent more than $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2018, and the engagement is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Canopas has exceeded our expectations. They’ve understood our ideas and how big our thoughts and our expectations are — they get our vision. I can proudly say that no broadcast media application looks like ours. The Play Store is the hardest app store to get good reviews on, and we’ve just reached a five-star rating, which has been one of our biggest achievements, partly thanks to Canopas’ work.

One of the greatest things about working with Canopas is that they’re really concerned and involved with the app and don’t allow anything bad to happen to it. They often suggest great ideas to secure things, which we’ve never asked them to do. I’m 100% satisfied with Canopas.

How did Canopas Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Our communication has gotten better and better throughout the project, and right now, it’s easier than ever. We don’t have to go through many talks about the project; they anticipate things and how we want them to be. We’ve gone through many communication mediums. We usually chat through Slack, and we get on Skype calls when things are hard to put in writing. Trello is our project management tool.

They have good availability. For example, we faced trouble on our server-side during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the team was there to solve the issues as soon as possible, even though the project was paused.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They could work faster. Their work is already fast, though.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Canopas’ applied design is pixel-perfect; they respect the spacing and everything to the smallest detail. They have great skills, great communication — great everything! Otherwise, we wouldn’t still be working with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Besides working together, we’re also having fun with Canopas. We often have to do something crazy or implement something, and we don’t even know where to start. One phrase I keep hearing that we’ve laughed about is not to worry because we’ll fix it somehow— that’s my advice.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of Udini

For what projects/services did your company hire Canopas Software, and what were your goals?

We wanted to develop the android version of an existing iOS app with complex 2D rendering

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We searched online for an expert Android developer at an affordable cost and are fully happy with Jignesh's work.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The app is built in Kotlin and integrated with our GraphQL backend, we also happen to have 2D rendering from coordinates returned from our backend. Multiple versions of this Android app have been successfully delivered over time.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

1 person: Jignesh, as an expert Android developer

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We have double our active users with the android version.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We use Slack to communicate and a Kanban board.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They are very efficient at producing complex interface and high quality apps. Also they are always very responsive on bug resolution.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nope, everything is perfect!

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a sports social networking platform based in British Columbia Canada

For what projects/services did your company hire Canopas Software, and what were your goals?

We wanted to develop an app where an athletic coach and their community could come together and track their training. This community would take on the aspects of a social network and allow players to connect and book their courts as well. The problems that were being addressed was the ease of game organization along with providing feedback on player improvement.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I found this vendor on Upwork and selected him based on his previous work experience and great value for the money paid.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had regular meetings to design a valuable user experience and from that experience Canopas was able to build out a solid iOS and Android app that we could provide to players to validate the concepts

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with 3 team members. One backend developer, one android front end developer and the project manager which was also the iOS developer

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

This project was rather early in the products development lifecycle. We were able to build out a product for the app store but we learned a great deal about the demands of the end user from our MVP. Unfortunately the company did not have the resources at the time to properly implement the required changes. This had less to do with the skills of the Canopas team and more to do with the experience and the capitalization of the our own management team.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

The Canopas team was very clear in their offering and deliverables and provided work in a very structured format. Needs were well communicated with each of the team members. Timelines did not meet the ideal timelines we were hoping for but after working with a number of providers, I can confidently say that such delays were always within industry expectations and the ActivScout team was pleased with the work provided.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The Canopa team worked well with each other. I was especially impressed with the skills of their backend developer and how well the project manager and her worked with one another to create a high performing iOS app.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I was simply not familiar enough with the process and what the real requirements necessary to build out a platform of this scale. What I needed on my side was a competent and experienced CTO to provide the proper direction with very specific needs to give direction to the project.