We rebuilt a screen-sharing app for business and education on iOS and Android in 2 months. It reached #7 in Google Play’s business bestsellers.
Our client sells a small device, the pod, that plugs into a TV or monitor so several people can share their phone screens on it at once. It is used in business and education settings.
The companion mobile app had dropped out of Google Play and needed an update for the App Store. The client asked us to rebuild it.
Screen-recording permissions on Android and iOS shaped the whole project. Android allowed recording screen and audio, while iOS allowed third-party apps to record only the screen.
Android 14 changed MediaProjection permissions. If the app asked for recording permission before showing a notification, the recording came out black. If it showed the notification first, the app crashed to the home screen.
iOS added its own limits. Apps generally cannot stay active in the background, which breaks continuous screen sharing, and audio capture from the screen is not allowed.
We started with a scope based on the client’s requirements and user flow, broke it into Jira tasks and held weekly meetings with the client. We also collected the physical pods from the client’s office, since nothing could be tested without them.
Next we set up the environments and Firebase, then built the screens for smartphones and tablets. On iOS we researched and built workarounds for the platform’s permission and background limits.
Alongside development we prepared everything the app stores require: marketing materials, videos showing how the device works, app descriptions and test builds.
On Android we used a native WebRTC library to record the screen. To get around the Android 14 bug, the app asks for recording consent twice on first use: it takes the first permission, clears the stream, shows the notification, then asks again. The WebRTC and notifee libraries had not fixed the issue yet.
On iOS we built an extension around the native screen recording module. Because the app cannot tell whether the user started recording or just closed the native dialog, the sharing screen stays open until sharing has started. The same dialog stops it.
iOS stopped streaming about 15 seconds after the app went to the background. We kept it alive with an artificial VoIP call that starts muted and on hold when sharing begins. Ending the call ends the share.
The rebuilt app reached number 7 on Google Play’s bestsellers list in the business category. If your product depends on OS permissions that change every release, budget time for platform research up front.
__> Technologies & Expertise
_> Projects where we did this work
