Client

Our client is a leading national lottery company offering a selection of lottery draws, sports tournaments, digital instant games, and parer instants. The company distributes lotteries in print, on the web, and via mobile devices.

Having been in business for 27 years, the national lottery operator has outgrown some of its technological solutions. The client was seeking a reliable mobile app development company because it lacked the necessary expertise in-house. They turned to Exoft to revitalize an old iOS app based on their evolving business needs and technology best practices.

Challenge

Initially, the client wanted to optimize, relaunch, and maintain its mobile lottery app. The native iOS application hadn't been updated for 3 years, and some features and contents didn't align with the website or worse — were entirely missing. Such inconsistency between channels had a negative effect on user engagement. Lastly, the critical errors hampered performance.

Our cooperation

Our partnership hit the ground running in 2022 and is now in full swing. During different project stages, Exoft assigned five people to the project. Our UI/UX designers, mobile developers, and a project manager seamlessly integrate into the client’s internal teams and workflows.

In our work, we focus on code and open communication rather than formalities and bureaucracy. Our teams coordinate all tasks in a shared group chat and structure them into clear, manageable milestones.

There were three stages to our partnership:

  1. Old iOS application maintenance
  2. iOS app redesign and reengineering
  3. Android app optimization

Stage 1: App maintenance and approach consultancy

As a first step, we have conducted a thorough code base audit. As we discovered, the app was developed using Swift 3 and RxSwift and lacked updates with each new language version. This aspect complicated application upkeep.

We have added high-priority content, adjusted ticket prices, fixed critical bugs, and released the application to the store.

Yet, one thing was certain: further updating and maintenance would drain resources and take twice as much time. We advocated for technology modernization.

Our team suggested two redevelopment strategies: either create a cross-platform application or build separate native iOS and Android apps. After weighing all the pros and cons, the client selected the latter, additionally requesting a complete UI/UX redesign.

Stage 2: iOS app redesign and reengineering

Exoft was tasked to create a new native iOS application from the ground up, covering the following aspects:

  • Designed a stylish, intuitive UI/UX in line with the client’s new branding in 2 months
  • Rewrote the whole code base in Swift 5.5, using modern approaches and software development best practices
  • Designed, developed, and released the first lottery app prototype with basic functionality in 6 months
  • Expanded the application with new lottery app features and contents, aligning it with the company’s website

Currently, we are maintaining and supporting the iOS application, adding requested features and improvements with each new iteration.

Stage 3: Android app optimization

Our high-quality iOS development services convinced the client to engage us for Android app development as well. Currently, we are creating a brand-new UI/UX and developing basic functionality to replace the older Android app.

Solution

A new iOS lottery application is already in the store, collecting user feedback and feature requests.

The app has all the essential functionality for secure user administration, profile configuration, password protection, balance management, menu, and notifications. We have integrated payment options, statistics, combinations, and management of draw, instant, and blitz lotteries. With each new iteration, the application expands with new functionality and content.

The Android application currently has only basic functionality, including authorization, verification, password management, and theme configuration. We, however, have bigger plans in progress.

Results

During our cooperation, the client enjoyed consistent, on-time delivery. We produced a UI/UX design in just 2 months and a prototype of an iOS app – in 6 months. Currently, we are working on a second version release.

Exoft has become a technology partner for the client. Apart from mobile development expertise, we bring proactive technical advice on how to improve the client’s overall IT infrastructure and the server side of things.