Client
Our client is an Australian Entrepreneur whose next project was chosen to be in the e-learning domain. They had the idea of a schedule organizer app, so they went and studied the mobile app development services market, and contacted Elinext.
Project Description
We were contacted with the request to develop an application that would allow users to systematize their children's schedules, enable them to process emails related to kid’s activities, convert emails into tasks and events, save parents' time, eliminate the fear of missing something important, and integrate the resulting tasks and events into the parent's schedule.
This mobile schedule organizer app would allow users to qualitatively and quickly analyze emails related to their child, integrating kids’ tasks into the parents' schedule without missing important information.
With a simple and user-friendly interface, one can:
- Create a child profile, and integrate organizations related to the child (school/sports section)
- Connect all family members
- Receive forwarded emails related to children's activity in this application
- Create events and tasks based on received emails
- Filter tasks by organizations (school/sports section) and children (if there are multiple)
The app processes emails which are later displayed in the update list. The update contains basic info from the email, such as time, seder, and a list of tasks and events highlighted in the email. One could view the original email in the app as well.
Challenges
The client needed a solution to streamline children's schedules and manage activity-related emails efficiently. The pain point was pre-existing and specific to modern parenting challenges, intensified by the increasing volume of communication and coordination required.
The business objective of the project is to save parents’ time, reduce their stress, and eliminate the opportunity to miss events.
From a technical point of view, the tasks included the opportunity to leverage AI to process emails, convert them into tasks/events, and integrate them seamlessly with calendars. We have experience delivering similar AI software development solutions. The client expected streamlined schedule management, reduced workload for parents, improved task accuracy, and a user-friendly, integrated solution for family organization.
This challenge arose from shifts in family dynamics and growing reliance on digital tools for coordination in busy households. Our proven expertise in delivering innovative, user-friendly solutions and strong relationships built through successful collaborations on other projects in different domains brought us this client. Our deep understanding of their needs and ability to leverage AI technology made us the ideal partner for developing the app.
During the process of development, we were faced with the following challenges:
- Adapting FlutterFlow templates to meet specific client requirements (would also be useful for future projects involving Flutter app development services)
- Managing complex business logic of the app.
- Configuring GPT-4o and other OpenAI models effectively for accurate email processing and task conversion (top integration and Node.js development services were needed).
- Language models weren’t able to always correctly process the emails, so we had to adjust to the latest versions of them for better processing and automatic creation of calendar events about the kid in question.
Process
Our team adopted an Agile methodology to ensure iterative development and adaptability. Leveraging prior experience with family management tools (we’ve recently released a child tracking app and a child support app), we prioritized user-centric design and AI integration. The research focused on analyzing common parental pain points and studying email processing technologies to build an effective solution.
Yes, we refined the strategy by improving AI accuracy for email processing and optimizing the user interface of the developed schedule organizer app to ensure seamless and intuitive interactions.
There was regular collaboration with the client. Communication was managed through a Trello board for task tracking, and daily text-based reports were shared via Slack to ensure alignment and transparency.
The process of development can be divided into four stages:
Stage 1: (2 months) Registration and Family Management
Stage 2: (2 months) Email Processing and AI Integration
Stage 3: (3 months) Subscription and Search Integration
Stage 4: (2 months): Notifications and Image Processing
Solution
The solution is a mobile app with a target audience of busy parents who manage their children's schedules. The product owner plans to scale the app to thousands of users. The solution will meet the demands of parents who are dealing with overwhelming communication volumes, have fear of missing important events in the lives of their kids, and have difficulties in coordinating their schedules.
The mobile app covers the needs of:
- Simplified task management
- Accurate email processing
- Seamless calendar integration
Had it been needed, we could add practically any functionality that would be necessary for running, let’s say a child support app or a child tracking app, but here we had a pretty standard set for these types of applications.
Implemented Features
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User Registration Handling
Registration in the cloud is enabled for users. The one creates a new email account for the user and integrates it with an email engine. The generated credentials are stored in Firestore.
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Email Processing and Analysis
A cloud function was built to analyze emails received by the email engine. When a webhook is triggered, the function evaluates the email and its attachments. With the help of AI, a content summary of the event is made, and the email is categorized as “positive”, “negative”, or “neutral”.
Here AI isolates the message, and the calendar event is created based on the information in the event. The data is being validated, and some other operations are made with the email.
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Calendar and Notification Features
ICS files are being generated, and OpenAI detects events and integrates them into users’ calendars. Push notifications are being sent with important reminders and updates.
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Family Management
With the help of this feature, verification notifications are sent when new members join a family group. Here upcoming actions are being aggregated for family groups, summarizing the week’s activities.
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Engaging Push Notifications
Engaging, personalized notifications summarizing the day’s events and tasks from structured JSON data is an important part of any commercial app.
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Image Analysis with GPT Vision
Our engineers developed functionality to analyze images and generate actionable items, events, or tasks based on the content.
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Error Monitoring
Notifications for errors are being sent via Slack, enabling prompt resolution.
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Implemented three main screens
Updates Screen
Displays processed emails with summaries, events, and tasks, allowing users to view details, and archive, or delete updates.
Actions Screen
This screen lists tasks by due date, with options to mark them as completed or create new tasks.
Events Screen
Features an interactive calendar for viewing and managing events by date, with filtering options by child or organization.
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Subscription Management
Integrated a third-party API: RevenueCat for managing in-app subscriptions. It enables seamless subscription handling, including user upgrades, downgrades, and cancellations.
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Search Functionality
Our developers Integrated Algolia for intelligent, real-time search capabilities.
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Real-Time Updates
Our team implemented real-time data synchronization using Firebase, ensuring users see the latest updates without manual refresh.
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CI/CD Pipeline
Continuous Integration and Deployment: our development team sets up Codemagic for streamlined CI/CD pipelines. Automated build and deployment processes for faster iterations and reliable updates.
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Additional application security
The application is protected with an additional PIN code
Results
The project’s budget and timeline were revised during development, as tasks evolved and new requirements emerged. This iterative adjustment ensured the final product met the client’s expectations and needs.
At the moment, the project is at the stage of active testing by the product owners. They conduct thorough testing to refine functionality and address any remaining issues.
What’s next for the schedule organizer app: the initial version launched is planned in the near future. After that, version 2 development is in plan: new features and enhancements based on user feedback from the initial release are coming.
Release: Launch the initial version to the target audience.
Version 2 Development: Plan and implement new features and enhancements based on user feedback from the initial release.
Based on our experience, this app’s future could go in multiple directions: from leading the market as the best schedule organizer app for parents to turning into a child support app or even a child tracking app.
As for additional benefits for our developers, they have gained valuable experience in integrating and fine-tuning AI for real-world applications, specifically for email processing and task automation. Also, they enhanced their skills in adapting FlutterFlow templates and managing complex business logic to meet dynamic client requirements.
Benefits for the Client/Business
Our client is actively testing the app and preparing for the release of the application on iOS and PlayMarket platforms, They plan to monetize it on a subscription base.
