ICEO Android Widget Application

About ICEO

ICEO is a global software company from Edinburgh, Scotland, which also has a Polish branch based in Krakow. ICEO specializes in a variety of areas of software development starting from ready to use solutions, through dedicated code development for web and mobile applications or online shops, UX/UI optimization, up to audit, and analysis of client’s products. They work with startups, small/medium businesses, and large companies. They also provide consulting services for business at every turn, using the newest technologies. Collaboration with CrustLab was initiated by Oliwier Kotecki, Chief Operation Officer, because of our experience in mobile apps development and transparent communication.

ICEO principal challenges

Initially, ICEO asked us to develop a widget for the Android version of their mobile application. With plenty of widget applications available on the market allowing users to track rates of cryptocurrencies and help in trading the goal was to create something special that would define a new standard in the market. The need to create a widget was regularly communicated by users. They demanded a solution that would allow users to define far more customizations, comparing to other apps created by competitors. The audience requested a mechanism that would let them preview and watch exchange rates on cryptocurrency stocks in real-time. They needed to take custom actions, be able to preview data gathered from the largest crypto exchanges and have an option to apply UI personalization. The highly personalized experience was the key.

However, our cooperation did not end after completing this task. ICEO, pleased with the results of our work, commissioned us to refresh the code of another mobile application. This type of action was necessary to improve the performance of the application since the app had problems with handling a large amount of traffic. Not only was a change of the system’s backend architecture and technology stack required, but also the addition of new functionalities. Once the refactoring was completed, there was a need for UX and UI redesign to make the application more functional and joyful to use.

How CrustLab helped ICEO build android widget application

With CrustLab as a software development agency, ICEO created a highly extendable and customizable set of widgets that let end-users preview the latest cryptocurrency stock details. The created widgets offer a significant number of customization options: configuration of additional details displayed, selection of visual elements from the offered pool, customization of rate refresh interval, option to add manual trigger of data refreshment, save widget configuration, create a list-like widget with multiple cryptocurrencies displayed, render widget preview during configuration and more.

The second part of the task was to refactor another Android app and apply some performance improvements. We designed a new architecture for the application network layer which results in data processing acceleration and increased app stability.

Then we updated the application with additional functionalities which were available in the iOS version and quite new features, such as the possibility of biometric login, reimplementation of the QR code scanning system that users complained about (required for payments and logging in), the possibility of recharging the account, credit payments and separate wallets for various cryptocurrencies, as well as support and adding new options for push notifications.

Results

We created system with an extensive widget customization option as a separate, universal product with multiple new features. The widget makes it possible to very quickly get insights regarding prices and changes but also it acts as a starting point in the sell or purchase process.

Next we have created a fast, trouble-free, and modern mobile application for Android which defines a new standard on the cryptocurrencies application market. By optimizing the performance of the application’s network layer, we’ve significantly accelerated its operation and improved the readability of data. The system is much more stable. We increased the number of stable sessions from 85% to 99%. Thanks to these improvements resources needed to maintain the application were reduced, which led to a reduction in project costs.