Launching a startup to help enterprises quickly build mobile apps

The Problem

Even though mobile has been around for a while, many enterprises have fallen behind and are still struggling to establish an effective mobile strategy for their organization. Whether it's bringing new products to market or replacing outdated manual processes, these organizations have a need for mobile apps that they can't meet. This is especially true for non-technology organizations that have no mobile developers on staff or budget to outsource development.

The Solution

To help enterprises meet their mobile needs, we created a powerful yet intuitive app development platform that provides all of the tools required to take a mobile app from concept to production.

By using Dropsource enterprises can:

• Leverage their current team to build mobile apps without retraining or hiring.
• Quickly launch mobile apps to both customers and employees.
• Save money by bringing mobile development in house.
• Maintain and update mobile apps with minimal effort.

How It Works

1. Design screens with drag and drop

Screens are constructed on a canvas using a drag and drop interaction similar to many popular design tools. This interaction makes the screen building experience approachable for users without a strong technical background and provides a realistic representation of what the app looks like during development.

Additionally, since Dropsource is used to build functional screens and not just mockups, rules were added to the canvas to assist users in building mobile friendly interfaces and navigation patterns that translate to code without any issues.

2. Configure custom workflows

‍Workflows are created to add custom functionality to an app. To abstract away the complexity of building these workflows, an event-action model was used. This model requires users to pick a trigger and configure what happens as a consequence of that trigger. For example, when a button is tapped (the event) navigate to the next page (the action).

Events and actions are constructed visually and displayed as a nested hierarchy to help users understand the branching nature of these workflows, which typically have many pathways and loops.

3. Integrate external data

‍Mobile apps are dynamic and data rich, meaning they need to be connected to a data source. To enable this, integration points are exposed to import an API and visually map its endpoints to screens and workflows.

For users without the skills to use an API, preconfigured integrations with simpler database providers such as Google Sheets, Bubble, and Backendless are available.

4. Track and fix issues

Debugging is foundational to software development. However, since Dropsource does not expose any code it replaces traditional error handling (found in an IDE) with a smart error reporter that watches users as they work and logs issues and their location so users can go back and fix them.

Additionally, for more technical users a network activity log was added to help troubleshoot API issues.

5. Get feedback from stakeholders

Dropsource provides multiple ways to simulate an app and share it with stakeholders for feedback.

First, a web simulator is available to quickly preview an app during development and make sure screens and workflows are working properly.

For more comprehensive testing or to get feedback from remote stakeholders a link can be generated and sent to any smartphone to use the app natively on the device.

6. Distribute to users

‍Under the hood, Dropsource takes all of the screens, workflows, and API mappings and generates source code that can be downloaded or submitted to an app store, beta testing service, or other distribution services.

To submit an app, users are guided through the process of providing the required information, settings, and screenshots. This makes it possible to launch apps without having to buy expensive hardware (eg. a MacBook) or install complicated development environments.

7. Maintain and update multiple versions

‍A git inspired version control system was added to allow users to iterate on their app while maintaining a working version of their app in production.

A dashboard was provided to manage projects and versions on a holistic level while a version switcher in the editor is used to branch off and create a new version or switch between versions without interruption.

Testimonials

"With Dropsource, we got a state-of-the-art mobile app faster than we ever thought possible. They surpassed all my expectations."

‍Mike B, Senior Director of Technology & Analytics

"The ease of use is amazing. As long as you understand the basic logic flow of programming, you can build an app without any familiarity with native mobile technology. It's really quite amazing."

‍Chris W, Entrepreneur

"We would never have had a mobile solution if it wasn't for the ease and accessibility of Dropsource."

‍Joe C, Entrepreneur

"Dropsource really helped kick off our digital transformation. We’ve left the paper-based processes behind and improved how we interact with our delivery drivers and customers. This mobile app and this partnership were game-changers for us."

‍Jeff L, Senior Manager of Technology Solutions

Highlighted Customers

Selected enterprises that built apps on Dropsource to streamline internal processes or launch new offerings to customers.

Industry Recognition

Based on an independent review of the product, strategy, and market presence of 12 industry leaders, Dropsource was named a Strong Performer in the 2018 Forrester Wave™ for Mobile Low-Code Development Platforms for Business Developers.