Android mobile application for DiDiDo drivers
Many successful start-ups are connected with the development of mobile applications, and today we will tell you about one of them. It’s a story about how a petrol station chain once came up with a cutting-edge service that would likely have an impact not only on business scaling but also on the entire industry. It was our team’s job to implement the idea.
As part of this project, we have already developed an app for fuel delivery customers:
Today, we’ll tell you how we created an app for fuel delivery drivers.
So sit back and enjoy our case study.
The objective
No more, no less: to take DiDiDo’s business to a whole new level with the help of mobile technologies. Namely, including design, to develop an Android application for fuel truck drivers that would allow:
- pass authorization easily and securely,
- track and process orders quickly,
- instantly generate contracts and waybills,
- plan routes to refuelling points for clients’ and colleagues’ vehicles.
Interface design
The app for fuel truck drivers is currently designed for Android devices, as at the time of development there were no apple smartphone users among the petrol station chain’s employees.
To start driving for DiDiDo, you need to download the app on Google Pay and go through a simple authorisation process:
There are 3 sections in the app for drivers to work efficiently: “Profile”, “Fuel discharge” and “Operator”, and at the end of the working day, the app automatically summarises the results in figures:
Refuelling customers’ cars
New orders are received along with audible push notifications and saved under the corresponding button “Number of orders”. The driver accepts the request and goes to the address, where he waits up to 20 minutes and fuels the customer’s car after confirming the order via a special code:
After refuelling at one or more points, the driver must print out the documents at the delivery address and give them to the customer for signature. For individuals, this is a waybill and an expense invoice, and for individual entrepreneurs and legal entities, a contract and an excise invoice in addition. It is interesting to note that the documents are printed using a portable printer that every DiDiDo driver has, as a delivery is possible only if the waybill is physically available:
Refuelling fuel trucks of fellow drivers
It takes place in 3 scenarios depending on the meeting place:
- waiting for the fuel truck on the spot;
- going to the fuel truck;
- going to the refuelling point determined by the administrator.
Own refuelling
When the tank of the fuel truck has less than 35% and then 10% of fuel, the app notifies the driver with a push notification.
The driver is assigned to refuel at the nearest petrol station or from another fuel truck:
Android application development
The application programming is implemented in Kotlin, and its architecture is designed using the MVVM template. It allows you to organise the code and separate the visual part from the application logic thanks to three components:
- Model — the brain of the application,
- View — the visual display of data on the screen,
- ViewModel — the glue that holds the two together.
The application interface is built without the use of XML layout on the basis of the Jetpack Compose framework. The Ktor framework and the Socket.IO library, which works on the basis of real-time web sockets, are used to communicate with the server.
The Room and Proto DataStore libraries were used to store and retrieve data locally.
Additionally, we used such Android libraries as:
- Coil — for uploading images,
- Hilt — for implementing dependencies in the application,
- kotlinx-serialisation — for serialising Kotlin data into formats that can be transferred over the network or stored on devices (JSON, XML, etc.).
In addition, the app has been enhanced with Google services:
Maps — for location search, object tracking and real-time route planning.
Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) — for secure and free messaging.
The result
A convenient android application for DiDiDo drivers is already available for download on Google Play. Moreover, the employees of the petrol station chain have already made their first fuel deliveries and appreciated the simple design and rich functionality of the app. A reliable and intuitive work programme in your hand: it includes CRM, an online map, and all the necessary documents. Everything a DiDiDo driver needs on the road.
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