Squelch
- Frameworks: .NET, Xamarin
- Released: 11/19/2018
- Updated: 08/23/2020
Details
Squelch was the largest mobile application undertaking I had taken to date. It is a mobile application that enables users to disconnect from their digital devices through the use of “Blackouts.” During the configured date/time, the application prevents users from using the applications they designated during setup. The one thing that makes Squelch different from other applications of its kind is that it imposes a special mechanic called “Bids.” Through the use of bids, users can place money bids against their own success (between $1 and $250). If the user finishes the blackout successfully, their device unlocks and it resumes normal behavior. However, if the user decides they don’t want to finish the blackout, they can pay their bid to immediately end the blackout. As a result, users are given a real and strong incentive to complete their blackouts, improving the odds of their success.
The application is publically available on the Google Play Store, feel free to check it out!
Squelch is a mobile Android app written in C# on the .NET framework using Xamarin. The Squelch website is written in HTML, JavaScript, and PHP for backend components. Due to the size of the application and all of the moving parts, I utilized Visual Paradigm for the class diagrams, entity-relationship diagrams, and user interaction models. I used an Agile development methodology, utilizing Kanban for bug and feature tracking.
Technical trivia about Squelch:
- It is entirely AndroidX compliant and follows Google’s material design principles.
- PHP web services hosted on the https://squelch.app website are used to store user feedback and serve category data for applications based on the Google Play Store.
- Firebase is used for metric collection and event storage.
- Google Pay integration allows for direct and non-intrusive payments fed from the user’s Google Pay profile.
