A Senior Developer Builds the Android Version of a Desktop Video Conferencing App

Summary

A North American company behind a desktop video conferencing product wanted to bring it to mobile, but its in-house engineers were committed to the server and desktop client and it was wary of long-term in-house hiring just for mobile. INNERLUXES supplied a senior Android developer who joined the in-house team and, in four months, built an Android client with all the key features of the desktop software.

About the Client

The Client is a North American IT product company with offices in the US and Canada. Its product pairs a flexible server solution with client software — a JavaScript application that runs in desktop browsers — for organizing high-quality, stable video conferences.

Adding Mobile to a Desktop-First Video Conferencing Product

The product was built for desktop, but the Client also wanted it available on mobile. With most of its in-house developers focused on the server and client software, the Client needed extra mobile capacity but wasn't sure in-house hiring could guarantee a stable, long-term flow of work — and its top priority was the successful release and adoption of the desktop solution first. It asked INNERLUXES for an experienced Android developer, skilled in Kotlin, available for the next four to five months.

A Senior Android Developer Embedded in the Team

INNERLUXES shared a few fitting CVs and, once the Client selected candidates, arranged interviews — after which one of its most experienced mobile developers joined the Client's in-house team of five software engineers, two testing specialists, and two project managers. The Client favored an anti-micromanagement culture and flexible processes, holding weekly stakeholder meetings and using Jira and Slack for task reporting. With no hard deadlines on the mobile work, progress rested on the developer's sense of responsibility and skill — and in just four months, the INNERLUXES Android developer built a mobile app with all the key video-conferencing features of the desktop software:

• Real-time video streaming.
• Real-time audio streaming.
• Real-time messaging.
• Security protocols.
• Data sharing, including shared screens and virtual whiteboards.

A Mobile Client Delivered in Four Months

After four months, the Client said the INNERLUXES developer had done a fantastic job and that it was thoroughly happy with the progress on the Android version of its client app. The Client is now focusing on releasing its core solution, and plans to return to INNERLUXES when it turns to the mobile applications.

Technologies and Tools

Kotlin, Android Studio, Android SDK, Jira, Slack.