7pm Thursday
A video-centric dating app
6 months
Online dating app
Mobile Apps
iOS, Android
The client had a vision on
Business model
Initial design
Desired list of features
Approximate deadline
Project challenges
Fast scalability
Interactive design
Hosting and framing thousands
of video profiles
Live video sessions starting 7 PM every Thursday
About
Project Idea
The issues of numerous online dating scams and growing frustration from traditional dating apps inspired our client to create an innovative video dating app.
Features
- Love is Love: For male, female, fluid & nonbinary, LGBT, transgender
- 100 % Video App: Video profiles speak louder than photos
- Specific Night Dates: Browse introductory videos during the week and meet new people at 7 pm every Thursday
- Safe dating environment: Сommunity pledge, no scam, only real people
Team
iOS Engineer
Android Engineer
Back-end Engineer
Front-end Engineer
UI/UX designer
DevOps
QA specialist
Wireframes
Simple and user-friendly design is a top priority for the development of 7pm Thursday.
Technology Stack
How our development team has implemented client’s requirements
Design
Custom illustrations
Icon set
Live Video Dates
7 p.m. on Thursday marks the start of the three-hour-long live session. In this session, users can make video calls to matches they got during the weekend. The system of statuses allows them to understand who is available for the call.
Community pledge
I pledge to be kind. I pledge to respect others. I pledge to be myself.
Challenges and Solutions
Backend
Problem:
The first problem we faced concerned displaying the user’s status. Initially, it was not clear whether the user was available during a live video session in real-time. Also, there was a problem with sending notifications about outgoing calls. The first problem we faced concerned displaying the user’s status. Initially, it was not clear whether the user was available during a live video session in real-time. Also, there was a problem with sending notifications about outgoing calls.
Solution:
We decided to use Twilio Programmable Chat to introduce special service channels for “calls” and “statuses” for each user and to develop a more informative notification system. By subscribing to these special service channels, any device could receive real-time notifications.
Tracking user’s access and exit from the Twilio video room
Problem:
Tracking user's access to the Twilio video room, as well as their exit from it, must be controlled in order to understand the user’s current status and monitor the start/end of the video call.
Solution:
We decided to use Twilio Webhook Events. This mechanism is rather difficult for testing in a range of environments, but convenient for this case.
Subscriptions and purchases
Problem:
Working with subscriptions and purchases on iOS/Android devices remains challenging. For example, Google Play subscriptions possess many statuses and conditions that are difficult to verify.
Solution:
We decided to use Google Cloud Pub/Sub as it possesses an integration with Google Play services. Pub/Sub can be configured to receive notifications about changes in subscriptions’ statuses.
