Faurecia Aptoide Automotive is a joint venture created by Faurecia Automotive, one of the world's largest suppliers of systems and equipment for automotive manufacturers, and Aptoide, responsible for one of the largest mobile application marketplaces for Android globally. This partnership aims to develop and commercialise advanced solutions for the distribution of android apps to automotive platforms.
The proliferation of screens and touch interfaces of the most varied types within automobiles, to which is added an increasing number of electronic control, monitoring and entertainment systems, create the need for a robust and secure platform that allows distribution and updating software that supports all these new features. New application opportunities that interact with external, payment, product ordering, navigation and promotional services are now possible.
Challenge
After the creation of the joint venture Faurecia Aptoide Automotive, the need to customize the Aptoide base platform for specific requirements of projects already contracted increased. Additionally, there was a requirement to quickly migrate existing app distribution services to the new App Marketplace concept.
In addition to software development, Caixa Mágica provided Design and Branding services, creating the corporate image, logo of the new company and all the graphic components of the user interfaces of the developed platforms.
These highly complex tasks with strict deadlines involved the identification and allocation of a team of multidisciplinary senior programmers. Experience in mobile development for Android, PHP, NodeJS and Cloud Services, among other technologies and programming languages, was a requirement.
Solution
Branding
The primary decision in the development of the Faurecia Aptoide Automotive branding contemplated the essence of both companies, using a pallet that revolves around their original tones: yellow, pink and blue. The logo came from the idea of a car (resembling a wheel or tire) and the idea of connection.
The platform
Caixa Mágica created a team with the necessary skills, having planned, managed and implemented all the necessary developments and customizations. The first phase of the project was entirely the result of the work of Caixa Mágica.
The platform developed by Caixa Mágica for Faurecia Aptoide Automotive encompassed several components and their integration. The main blocks of the solution were the Android mobile application for use in vehicles, a backend derived from the Aptoide platform and all management, provisioning and platform management portals.
Applying Scrum-Agile methodologies in a multiservice architecture, a platform dedicated to the FAA project was created, ensuring full compliance with the company's commitments to its recent customers. Gradually, the Caixa Mágica team became part of the structure created in the meantime by the FAA, giving continuity, without disturbance, to the work previously carried out.
Results
The FAA platform already serves large tens of thousands of vehicles, and is expected to exceed one million in the course of 2020. Caixa Mágica Software's flexibility and technical capacity have enabled FAA customers to meet deadlines and requirements.
The FAA was thus able to concentrate on product and marketing issues, creating its own development team more gradually and integrating the know-how created by Caixa Mágica.
Caixa Mágica continues to work closely with the FAA by providing software development services.