Case Study: Cross-Platform Mobile App Migration
Client: A Major US Electronics Retailer
Industry: Retail
Services: Mobile App Development (React Native), Technical Strategy, Accessibility Implementation, A/B Testing
The Challenge
The client, a leading national retailer, maintained separate native iOS and Android applications. This dual-codebase approach led to several challenges:
- Development Inefficiency: Building and maintaining features separately for both platforms was slow and resource-intensive.
- Inconsistent User Experience: Differences between the iOS and Android apps sometimes led to a fragmented user experience.
- Slow Feature Rollout: Coordinating releases across two distinct codebases delayed the introduction of new features and A/B tests.
- Accessibility Gaps: Ensuring consistent accessibility standards (like navigation and voice-over support) across both native platforms was complex.
Our Solution (Senior Developer Role by getProps Founder Lewis Long)
Working as a senior developer within the client's team, we spearheaded the migration of significant portions of the native mobile apps to React Native:
Migration Strategy: Developed and implemented a strategy for incrementally migrating native modules to React Native, ensuring stability throughout the process by identifying key user flows for initial migration.
Feature Flagging & A/B Testing: Integrated a robust feature flagging system, allowing the team to dynamically toggle between React Native components and existing native modules. This enabled controlled rollouts and effective A/B testing of new features and migrated sections.
Cross-Platform Accessibility: Implemented comprehensive accessibility features, including navigation and voice-over support, ensuring consistency across React Native, Swift (iOS), and Kotlin (Android) components.
Navigation Modernization: Upgraded the app's navigation system from React Navigation v4 to v5, improving maintainability and the developer experience.
Testing & Quality Assurance: Developed and maintained unit and integration tests using Jest and React Testing Library to ensure the reliability and stability of the migrated code.
Collaboration: Worked closely with designers and product managers to build new UI flows and features within the evolving hybrid architecture.
The Outcome
The migration project yielded substantial benefits for the retailer:
Increased Development Velocity: Migrating key features to React Native allowed for faster development cycles and simultaneous updates across both iOS and Android.
Improved Consistency: A shared React Native codebase ensured a more consistent user experience and UI across platforms.
Enhanced Agility: Feature flagging enabled safer, controlled rollouts and facilitated rapid A/B testing, allowing the business to iterate more quickly.
Better Accessibility: Standardized accessibility implementation across platforms improved usability for all customers.
Modernized Tech Stack: Upgrading core libraries like React Navigation improved the overall maintainability and developer experience of the mobile applications.
This project showcased expertise in complex mobile app migrations, strategic implementation of cross-platform technologies, and ensuring high standards of accessibility and reliability in a large-scale retail environment.