DEVELOPING A FLUTTER-BASED MOBILE EDUCATION APP FOR A LANGUAGE-LEARNING PLATFORM
Camino is a cross-platform mobile application that helps users learn Spanish through a unique immersion method.
KEY FACTS:
Country
USA
Industry
EdTech
Cooperation period
2013- 2024
Cooperation type
Dedicated development team of 3-7 experts
KEY FACTS:
Country
USA
Industry
EdTech
Cooperation period
2013- 2024
Cooperation type
Dedicated development team of 3-7 experts
WHAT THE CLIENT SAYS
In 2012, I decided to turn my simple little Spanish audio course into a mobile app. My initial vision of what it would be, and what it’s actually turning out to be are miles apart, and that’s a great thing. This is very much because of the brilliance and intelligence of the team that I have worked with at MobiDev. Thank you for all your work. I hope you find it rewarding.
THE STORY BEHIND
Studyspanish.com stands at the forefront of digitalizing the language learning industry. Established in 1998, it pioneered educational websites, offering online services to millions of Spanish students and teachers. Recognizing the rising popularity of mobile devices, Studyspanish.com aimed to complement its web platform with a mobile application. MobiDev assumed the full responsibility for developing and delivering the mobile app, Camino, primarily designed to enhance Spanish listening comprehension through an extensive library of audio drills, dialog records, and visual materials.
INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
In addition to providing top-notch content, a mobile app that offers audio recordings for learning languages needs to address various challenges to ensure a satisfying user experience. Specifically, there is a strong demand for offline access, as many users prefer to listen to audio content while on the move when an internet connection might be unstable.
HOW WE DELIVERED
1
Performed a consulting stage before the development started
Our cooperation with Studyspanish.com began with an extensive consulting stage, which encompassed both technical and business analysis. The MobiDev team prepared documentation, including a tech analysis summary, design assets, a finalized product vision, and functional and non-functional requirements. The outcomes of the consulting stage provided a roadmap for developing a mobile application that aligned with Studyspanish’s business objectives, delivered an exceptional user experience, and was built using the appropriate technologies and architecture.
2
Provided a dedicated team for frontend development in cooperation with the client's backend development team
After completing the consulting stage, MobiDev provided a dedicated development team that covered frontend development, design, quality assurance, and project management for the new mobile application. Meanwhile, another development team from Argentina had previously developed a web app and subsequently handled the backend development for Camino. MobiDev’s team established effective communication with them through regular sync calls and utilized tools such as Jira for efficient project management.
3
Developed custom plugins for Flutter to implement the unique functionality of the app
After thoroughly assessing the project's technical and business needs during the consulting phase, MobiDev recommended Flutter as the ideal technology stack for Camino. Leveraging Flutter enabled the consolidation of development efforts through a unified codebase for iOS and Android platforms. Thanks to Flutter's flexibility, the MobiDev team managed to successfully implement essential functionalities such as background and offline audio playback by combining custom and ready-made plugins. In particular, MobiDev engineers developed a custom plugin to enable the “Listen Only” mode and applied the sqflite plugin to ensure offline functionality.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Mobile
Flutter, Provider + BloC, sqflite plugin, custom-developed plugins for background audio playback
Testing
functional, integration, regression testing
OUTCOMES
During COVID-19, most education went online, especially the study of foreign languages. Launched in 2020, Camino appeared at the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming an integral part of the educational process offered by Studyspanish.com. As of Q1 2024, Camino has amassed over 10,000 downloads on the Play Market and a rating of 4.6 on AppStore.
