The number of the Internet of Things devices around the world will exceed smashing $50 billions by 2020, which means almost 300% growth since the beginning of this year. No wonder that many companies are taking advantage of this trend and already offer smart home systems to private users.

We also had a great pleasure to participate in the IoT trend while working on a smart home app project called Exta Free for Polish innovative electronic company, Zamel. Check how our cooperation looked like and why the Exta Free system is one of the leading smart home solutions in Poland.

EXTA FREE SYSTEM

Zamel came to us with an innovative smart home system consisting of a wide range of electronic devices and sensors. Bidirectional connection, auto-detection of sensors and ability to control each of the elements separately set the Exta Free system apart from others available on the market. What’s more, the wireless connection of all devices allows to control the whole system from any place in the world.

The idea behind Exta Free system was to provide users with an intuitive and easy-to-use product, consisting of sensors that wouldn’t be conspicuous. What was lacking though was an all-encompassing mobile application that will allow to easily control the whole system.

OUR GOAL

As Zamel doesn’t have an in-house mobile development department, they’ve chosen Ready4S to support them in the last and most visible part of their system construction – building a mobile app.

Our task was to combine all the devices together and allow to control all of them, both separately and in set combinations. Sensors ranged from lighting and blinds to temperature changing and gate opening. All of them were expected not only to be set separately, but also to work in scenarios to work in an easier way and save users the effort.

WORKING ON THE PROJECT

Project so big and complex as Exta Free was a great challenge for our developers. There were two layers that need to be completed: the first was to connect the whole system with the API, and the second was to provide end-users with an appealing and intuitive interface.

We work closely together with the Zamel team in this process to make sure we understand their needs correctly and logical scripts are set exactly as they intended them to be. Multiple iterations and constant communication were the basis on which we build this successful project.

” On the day that I took a tour of their facility, I gained a full understanding of Ready4S’ design and coding capabilities, and they have been our exclusive app provider ever since. I have always appreciated their professionalism and level of customer service, and I highly recommend them to any company. ” – Zamel Sp. z o. o.

FUNCTIONALITIES

A close cooperation with Zamel resulted in creation the Exta Free app, available both for smartphones and other mobile devices. The most important functionalities of the product include:

Logical scenarios

Thanks to the Exta Free app, users are able to control both separate device, the lighting or temperature in one room, and to set unique scripts. For example, it is possible to trigger a sequence of actions such as “welcome home” scenario, in which a single click on user’s smartphone will make the gate open, garden lighting on, garage door up and after three minutes – the living room lights turn on.

Worldwide control

Being wireless and bidirectional, the Exta Free smart home system enables remote control from any place in the world. That means users can not only turn the heating or lights on while coming home, but it also enables them to check the state of any device and get personalized notifications when anything changes. This way, they can quickly react to accidents such as burglary or flooding. All this with a device users always have with them – their smartphone.


Safety

The system’s unique feature on which we focused the most was keeping it safe. Although wireless, the Exta Free system is completely invisible to external devices. This way, impersonation of householders or even checking the system functionalities is impossible for third parties. What’s more, different access levels can be set for each user – an important feature for families with small children.

Easy and intuitive interface

Although the complexity of the Exta Free system is impressive, user experience quality doesn’t suffer because of it. Our strategists and graphic designers made sure that the whole app is divided into clear sections which are customized to both advanced users and beginners.

SUMMARY

The Exta Free project was very complex and thus challenging to our team. That’s why, we did our best to meet and even exceed the expectations of Zamel. Our software architects did a very good job combining all existing devices in an easy-to-use mobile application and our designers created a very intuitive and simple final product, that is recommended by its users. In retrospect we can say that the Exta Free smart home app turned out to be a huge success.