Inspiration
The inspiration came behind a Medium article regarding MessageKit, which included the concepts of integrating business services and apps into the iMessage platform. While this is currently not a feature in iOS 8 and iOS 9, it provided the discussion to understanding future capabilities of messaging platforms, especially since text messaging technology hasn't changed much since MMS was introduced. The team found the challenge to be exciting, and we attempted to develop it.
What it does
The application allows for users to connect with other services using a messaging interface, specially for the iOS model.
How I built it
This was built using various Cocoapod frameworks for UI and web handing, along with Swift, and Xcode. Initially, we created a design of the app with Sketch, and worked from there.
Challenges I ran into
The biggest challenge we faced with creating the API's for sending responses to the user. Troubleshooting the bugs were proved to be increasingly difficult as time went on. With the help of some mentors and research, we were able to reduce the number of bugs in our program.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
We are proud of being able to integrate this concept into iOS. The opportunities allow for other apps and businesses to take advantage of this "MessageKit" platform to better connect with users outside of their application.
What I learned
We learned that with proper planning and realistic sketches, we can tackle complex issues when we understand the resources that are at our disposal. There were times that we felt that the scope was too large with the time restrictions of the hackathon, but we were able to develop most of the functionality. We also learned different types of custom UI capabilities, particularly with custom buttons to interact with web content.
What's next for Servis
Servis wants to expand to adopt multiple application, including transportation, restaurants, and lifestyle applications. We also want to serve both the phone and tablet platforms with this software, after doing some research on user habits and needs.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.