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With the Alarm Control Center developed in Germany, Alarm IT Factory GmbH offers state-of-the-art alerting software that transmits messages from process control and visualization systems securely and efficiently to a wide range of end devices. Whether smartphones, cell phones, pagers, laptops, tablets or PCs - alarms are sent directly and automatically, for example via SMS or push notification, to the person or group responsible.
With the ACC app for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android devices, you remain in control: Alarm Control Center messages can not only be displayed, processed and acknowledged. Numerous additional functions ensure that alerting is even more convenient and user-friendly.
Our experienced team has provided significant support to Alarm IT Factory GmbH in the following areas in order to offer you an even more robust and future-proof solution.
The development team at Alarm IT Factory GmbH commissioned us to support them with the migration of the existing ACC app from Xamarin.Forms to .NET MAUI.
After a short onboarding meeting, we were able to clarify the requirements and wishes directly with all those involved and jointly realize the project goals.
In addition to the complete migration, further improvements to the app were also introduced as part of the project. Thanks to the rapid implementation within the planned timeframe and budget, we were not only able to improve the code quality and performance of the app, but also design and implement the missing dark mode in close coordination with the Alarm IT Factory project management team.
In order to continue to guarantee reliable alerting for end customers via the ACC app, the quality of the implementation was a particular priority for Alarm IT Factory GmbH. The dual control principle and intensive testing during the course of the project therefore ensured that all of the app's functions worked at least as well after the migration as before.
In addition, the reliable and fail-safe receipt of push notifications via Apple or Google had to be guaranteed. A failed push notification could mean a missing alert in the event of a critical fault and lead to damage for end customers.
The existing Alarm IT Factory GmbH project team, consisting of three developers, had already started the migration, but encountered various obstacles. In order to avoid generating additional effort through parallel development, the team decided to pause the development of the Xamarin.Forms app and prioritize the MAUI migration. In order to continue the further development of the ACC app as quickly as possible, the existing team was supported by experienced .NET MAUI developers from Cayas Software GmbH. In addition to the time pressure, modernizing the code to the current .NET version and dealing with workarounds for framework bugs were additional challenges of the migration.
The architecture of the ACC app included communication with a REST API and the use of push notifications and SignalR. Presentation and logic were largely separated through the use of the MVVM pattern. In some cases, reusable control elements were already used. Specific requirements also required the use of custom renderers, which were ported into MAUI handlers.
The development process was carefully managed, with open tasks organized and addressed through an issue tracker. This facilitated clear progress tracking and efficient collaboration within the team.
During the implementation phase, various aspects were addressed, including migrating the views and replacing custom Renderers by custom Handlers to restore functionality from the Xamarin.Forms app. Additionally, successful data migration from the Xamarin.Forms app to the .NET MAUI app was ensured through appropriate functions. Cayas Software also assisted with design aspects, as a modern concept for the dark mode was developed by our designer and subsequently implemented. Extensive refactoring to reduce redundancy in the source code and improve code maintainability, along with the use of current best practices, completed the migration. This significantly contributed to improving the stability and future maintainability of the app.
Comprehensive testing on various devices and platforms ensured that the new .NET MAUI app matched the existing Xamarin.Forms version and provided smooth functionality on Android and iOS devices.
The results were overwhelmingly positive: within one month, the team not only achieved functional parity with the old Xamarin.Forms app but also made significant improvements to the source code, greatly enhancing the maintainability and future-proofing of the application.
With the successful migration, the ACC App now has a solid foundation for future development. Improved maintainability and future-proofing ensure that the team can quickly resume app development without being constrained by outdated technologies.
»Thanks to the perfect advice and technical support from Cayas Software, we were able to implement the migration of our ACC app in less than half the planned time. At the end of the project, this even allowed us to make further improvements to our app. The communication with our development team via Microsoft Teams was very efficient at all times, which led to excellent collaboration and many learnings on our side. We are already looking forward to future projects with Cayas Software!«
