Customer Background
This customer is the world’s leading producer of water heating solutions, ranging from gas and kitchen appliances to heating and air conditioning (HVAC) units. With over a century of expertise, our customer is dedicated to sustainability and creating a higher standard of living through their cutting-edge solutions.
Customer Need
The customer had two mobile apps: one for homeowners to monitor/control appliances and another for industry professionals for device configuration and access to user manuals. However, these apps and their cloud application faced multiple performance, stability, and scalability issues. To improve the user experience for both end users and industry professionals, the customer planned to merge both apps. With 20+ years of experience in building automation and over a decade in developing digital controls solutions for water heaters (residential and commercial) and boilers, Softdel was the clear choice for the collaboration. Leveraging its expertise in creating BLE and Wi-Fi-based mobile apps, Softdel revamped the app front end with intuitive UI/UX and enhanced the existing AWS cloud backend to accommodate these changes.
Softdel’s Solution
- Softdel recommended a Flutter-based grounds-up development for optimal performance, flexibility, and extensive support for various tools and libraries.
- The enhanced features of the new unified mobile app included:
- Seamless Wi-Fi/BLE pairing with water heaters.
- Customizable water heating schedules and monitoring alerts via Wi-Fi/BLE bridge.
- Push Notification Service (Firebase and APNs) integration for error alerts and maintenance.
- Remote monitoring via interaction with professionals, through Service Requests (SR).
- Real-time device data presentation through intuitive graphical displays.
- Comprehensive user control over appliance configurations.
- Integration with smart home platforms such as Apple Home (HomeKit), Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Samsung SmartThings.
- Access to device manuals and troubleshooting guides for homeowners and professionals.
- In-depth analysis of environmental and cost savings facilitated by the tankless water heaters.
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- The AWS cloud application upgrades included:
- Backend re-architecture to serverless microservices.
- Streamlined CI/CD pipeline using CodeCommit repositories that automates compiling the source code, packaging, and APK file generation.
- Integration of AWS services for efficiency and security, including Secrets Manager, IoT Device Defender, IoT Device Advisor, WAF, Shield, and more.
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- Further, Softdel also conducted comprehensive testing on Android, iOS, and FireOS platforms.
Standards and Technology
Communication Protocols: Bluetooth, WiFi, MQTT, GraphQL
Database: RDS
Cloud: AWS
Framework: Flutter
Platform: Android and iOS
Programming Language: Dart
Benefits
- Optimal resource usage: Serverless microservices architecture saved time and costs, accelerating deployment and deployment for quicker market entry.
- Streamlined maintenance and updates: Utilizing BLE and Wi-Fi interfaces simplified updates, enhancing application management.
- Enhanced cloud infrastructure: The upgraded cloud app featured robust security and data protection against cyber threats, ensuring high fault tolerance.
- Adherence to latest compliance standard: The app seamlessly integrated upcoming Android and iOS releases for adherence to platform standards.
