The challenge
In 2014 Het Geluidshuis first felt the need for digitalization. Until then they provided all of their books with a CD to listen to the accompanying audio play. But with a shift in the audio market and a change in devices, the CD lost its prominent place and they felt the need to come up with a future-proof solution. Het Geluidshuis wanted a player for their audio content. A player that works both on iOS and Android. Since the world of app development was pretty new to them, they knocked on our door to help them figure out a fitting solution.
An application tailored to the needs of a broad audience
Our partnership has its roots in 2015 when we started with the development of a player for all audio content Het Geluidshuis creates. Since they have a very broad audience, users from 6 to 106 years old, the application needed to be user-friendly for all. Children, parents, and even grandparents must be able to figure out how to start playing audio guides, audio plays, podcasts, … in the app. That is why we chose a clean and simple user interface. By using large buttons, bigger fonts, and a lot of contrast on all of the different screens, we ensured the readability of the application for all users. Overall, the goal was to make the application very accessible, and we're happy to say that succeeded.
Playful and future-proof
When we first set up the application, we decided to develop it in native technology, one for iOS and one for Android, with a Node.Js backend. Cross-platform technology was still relatively unknown territory back then.
Recently, we did a rewrite of the application in Flutter. A cross-platform technology that gives us a lot of flexibility to play around with. Since the application has a completely custom design, Flutter is a very welcome technology with its wide variety of icons, styles, and fonts. By using this cross-platform technology, we can ensure that the application is exactly the same for both iOS and Android users. And it makes the application future-proof, which is very important within this ever-changing environment.
Listen whenever, wherever
At the moment the application is everything Het Geluidshuis intended it to be. All the audio content can be played both online and offline, after a download. This comes in handy when you want to listen to their audio content on the road or as a bedtime story during your holiday. Other than that the app offers a wide range of in-app purchases, so people can also use the application without buying the books. By providing this, Het Geluidshuis is able to reach an even broader audience.
The impact
By now Het Geluidshuis has over 33 000 users and up to 60 audio plays in the application. With its new rewrite in Flutter we're already up to V3.0.3. But with a head full of new and cool ideas, it definitely won't be the last update. It goes without saying that the possibilities with this application are endless.