Case Study: Developing an iOS App Connected to a Water Heater
We developed an iOS app for a customer in Japan that connects to a water heater. Users can schedule water heating and bathtub temperature maintenance from their smartphones and view monthly electricity, water, and gas usage. The app brings equipment controls and usage information together in one place.
- Scope of work: Requirements analysis, screen layout design, high-level and detailed design, implementation, design and code reviews, planning and execution of unit and integration tests, and project management
- Team Size: Our team member served as deputy lead.
- Technologies Used: Swift (iOS) and GRDB (a SQLite library for Swift)
Customer Challenges
Users needed a way to adjust their water heater and bath temperature settings and check household resource consumption from a smartphone. The app needed to support timers for hot water and bath temperature maintenance, as well as monthly views of electricity, water, and gas usage.
Project Objectives
The goal was to connect the water heater to a smartphone so users could adjust everyday settings and check monthly usage in the app.
SMILE’s Scope of Support
SMILE developed the iOS app, covering requirements analysis, screen layout design, high-level and detailed design, implementation, design and code reviews, unit and integration test planning and execution, and project management. A SMILE team member served as deputy project lead.
Key Development and Improvement Points
The app lets users set timers for hot water and bathtub temperature maintenance and view monthly electricity, water, and gas usage. It brings everyday equipment controls and monthly usage information together in one app, making the information users need accessible from their smartphones.
Technologies Used
iOS App
Developed using Swift.
Data access
Uses GRDB, a SQLite library for Swift.
Technical Challenges and How We Addressed Them
The app lets users set timers for hot water and bathtub temperature maintenance and view monthly electricity, water, and gas usage. SMILE developed the iOS app in Swift and used GRDB for data access. The work also included design and code reviews, plus planning and execution of unit and integration tests.
Implementation Benefits
The app lets users schedule water heating and temperature maintenance and check monthly electricity, water, and gas usage from their smartphones, making it easier to control the equipment and understand household energy use. We have not included quantitative claims, such as reduced consumption or time saved, because the available materials do not verify them.
Key points for an offshore development structure
SMILE handled the project from requirements analysis and screen layout design through high-level and detailed design, implementation, design and code reviews, unit and integration test planning and execution, and project management. A SMILE team member served as deputy project lead.
Conclusion
We developed an iOS app that connects to a water heater, allowing users to schedule hot water and bath temperature maintenance and view monthly electricity, water, and gas usage. The project brings equipment controls and usage information together on a smartphone.
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