Web & App Development Company in US

EIFO

Find parking spots on the street in real time

services

Mobile App Development

industry

On-Demand / Transportation

duration

8 Months

country

Argentina

Project Overview

Eifo is an application to find a place to park on the street in real-time. Eifo is a community of drivers that help each other save time and money.

Challenges

Matching algorithm

• Initially, the booking process was simple. Offered parking spots were listed, and the user searching for the parking can reserve a spot by selecting a place.

• Later it was decided that the Eifo system will match people searching with people who offer the parking place directly.

• There were multiple factors to decide a match between users which the system had to handle.

Live tracking

• Once a person books a parking spot, the offering person can track the other party on the map.

• This was implemented using socket but we faced issues with the accuracy of location updates in Android devices.

• A limitation in React-Native framework itself was causing this issue.

Our Solution

Custom Matching Algorithm

• We created an algorithm to match people according to their preferences.

• The algorithm takes into consideration the current location, vehicle size, parking place features such as parking meters among others.

• We perfected this algorithm overtime considering many use cases and parameters.

Native Location Module

• We created a native module for location updates for Android OS.

• This module provided us accurate updates, calculating the position via Wi-Fi or GPS, whichever is available.

• It met our expectations really well, so it was decided to add this module in all our future products.

Features Implemented

The EIFO parking finder app includes the following key features to deliver a seamless real-time parking experience for drivers in Argentina.

1. Introduction

Eifo is an application to find a place to park on the street in real-time. Eifo is a community of drivers that help each other save time and money.

2. Book a parking spot

When you search for a place, the Eifo system automatically finds a parking spot for you. Parking spots offered near your location, matching your vehicle size will be matched with you. You get notified instantly when a match is found.

3. Offer a parking spot

You can earn tokens by offering your parking spot through the Eifo app. As easy as searching for it! When your parking spot is booked you'll get notified. You can also cancel the offer at any time.

4. Tokens

Tokens are the currency of the Eifo app. Tokens are deducted when you book a place and earned when your offered place gets booked! If you are in a hurry and does not have enough tokens for booking a place then you can easily buy tokens from within the app, via In-App purchase.

5. Matching screen

Based on your location, vehicle size and parking requirements, the Eifo system applies the auto-matching algorithm to match other users who are offering parking spots. While waiting for matching with some other user, you can see the Twitter news feed.

6. Track the booking party

After a successful match is found, the app shows the fastest route to the parking spot for the booking user's convenience. The offering user can track the live location of booking user in the app. The system ensures reliability by showing the vehicle details in the app so that the connected users can verify each others identity.

7. Interact with connected user

8. Privacy

You can hide your sensitive information such as vehicle license plate number or your mobile phone number. The call option will be hidden in this case, but you can always use the app's Live Chat feature to connect with the other person.

Mobile App Technology Stack

The EIFO parking app is built with React Native and powered by Firebase, Socket.io, Google Maps, and In-App Purchase for a real-time parking experience.

Social Login

Facebook / Google

Twitter feed

Twitter embedded timeline

Crash Reports

Firebase Crashlytics

Real-Time Communications

Socket.io

Payment

Inapp Purchase

User Chat

Firebase Realtime Database

Conclusion

The EIFO app provides drivers in Argentina with a real-time, community-driven parking solution. Built over 8 months by a team of 5, the app uses an auto-matching algorithm, live tracking via Socket.io, and Firebase-powered chat to connect drivers searching for parking with those offering spots, saving time and money for everyone involved.

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