Tipster

This news aggregator app provides access to public safety information and helps users stay connected with real-time updates.

Whether you are jogging in the park, working at the office, or partying with friends, breaking news is always at your fingertips. Tipster keeps you informed wherever you are and enables rapid and effective responses to emergencies.

Application type: Media, News

Versions: Web and Mobile

Languages: English, Spanish

BENEFITS

For users

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Stay up-to-date with the latest news — you'll be informed every moment on your smartphone or computer

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Customized news feed and news alerts — you don't need to search for new or updated website pages manually

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Relevant stories based on user's location — you can access local safety-related news and information by state and area

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Social responsibility — with Tipster, you are always informed about ongoing events in your area and can respond to them quickly

For businesses

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Advertising space for online ads

For the public and social sector

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Improving communication between public safety departments and local communities

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Raising awareness of public safety issues at the local and national levels

CLIENT'S NEEDS

Commercial

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Development of a platform to connect, inform, and unite communities in the USA within the public safety sector

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Creation of a simple and lightweight mobile application

Initial technical requirements

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Using the Twitter API for news feed generation

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Developing several notification types based on their urgency

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Creating a high-performance and stable app experience

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Developing both web and mobile app versions

LIST OF FEATURES WE'VE IMPLEMENTED

News import: collecting Twitter topic-related news and displaying them in a customized news feed with the source name, author name, and publish date

Push notifications: receiving news alerts and getting snippets of information before reading the entire news

News categorization and filtering options: enabling users to quickly and easily access news using a range of filters and consume news according to their preferences:

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Topic filter — personal customization by news topics the user wants to be informed about

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Location filter — filtering news by geography, allowing users to read location-based news only

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Emergency filter — highlighting breaking news on top of others (amber alert, silver alert, blue alert, weather alert)

Personalized settings: customizing news and alerts according to the user's preferences

Accessing different media types: supporting images, GIFs, and videos for better user experience

News feed: allowing users to track a list of the latest news related to various topics

Social sharing: enabling readers to share articles via a copy-link button or automatically repost them on Facebook or Twitter

DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES: ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS

1) Freshcode Portal toolkit: reducing development costs

Time is the most valuable resource; most clients want to achieve the quickest results without delays or compromising quality.

SOLUTION: We used Freshcode Portal, our platform designed to streamline software development process and reduce overall costs. It offers the following:

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Full automation of key business processes without the need for complex diagrams and enterprise systems

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Custom ERP development tailored to each client, delivering operational, managerial, and strategic benefits

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Reducing the number of developer hours

We offer clients constrained by tight deadlines the opportunity to benefit from automated software development processes. The Freshcode development team used its ready-made toolkit for this project and achieved the expected successful result.

2) Issues with alert configuration when alerts run over similar datasets

In the alert's search results some events had the same keywords and simultaneously caused multiple alert triggers on the same data.

SOLUTION: We updated the alert configuration to address duplicate/redundant alerts and eliminate unwanted data duplicates when patterns match.

3) Handling notifications on mobile devices depending on their state: Firebase Cloud Messaging issue

While working on the notifications service extension, we faced several issues.

FCM, Data only (silent notification). Initially, we sent silent push notifications via Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM). Everything seemed fine until we faced app's killed state issue. Depending on the mobile device's state, such notifications are handled differently.

While FCM silent push notifications functioned seamlessly in the Foreground, Background, and Quit modes, this method failed when the application was forcefully closed (killed app). Therefore, setting notifications via the FCM background (silent) was the wrong solution.

FCM, Notification-Only (alert notification). Then, we decided to take a different approach and try FCM Notification-Only. However, after a brief analysis, we found this approach cumbersome, considering the specificity of notifications filter configuration (1 location * 2 languages * 3 notification types).

SOLUTION: Finally, we stopped at the OneSignal push notifications service, primarily because of its Data Tags feature. We needed a solution to address the challenge of filtering and coherently categorizing push messages by Location, Language, and enabling/disabling speсific notifications (instead of generating plenty of topics for each Location). OneSignal filters connected clients before sending notifications, making it a perfect fit for this task.

PROJECT DETAILS

TEAM

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Mobile Developer

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Web Developer

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Backend Developer

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Designer

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QA Engineer

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Project Manager

DURATION

Aug 2020 — Dec 2020

SERVICES RENDERED

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Mobile Development

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Web Development

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UI/UX Design

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Testing

Backend & Database

Node.js, Express.js, GraphQL, PostgreSQL

Frontend

React

Mobile Development

React Native

External Services

Twitter API
Google API
Firebase

WORKFLOW PHASES

Client's requirements assessment

Project plan development and feature prioritization

Development plan implementation

Regular communication with the client, interim reports, and project demos

Implementation of the evolving requirements

Ongoing implementation of new features and tech support

LESSONS WE'VE LEARNED

When it comes to public safety and the protection of people, even the tiniest detail matters, and every second is crucial. You are responsible for taking the appropriate actions without delay.

This development experience has taught us the following:

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to pay even more attention to details

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to provide maximum reliability, performance, and quick and easy debugging

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to create easy-to-use mobile apps with a simple design and an intuitive interface

We at Freshcode appreciate this partnership and look forward to the continued development of such a socially significant product.

Introducing the Tipster App: Public Safety at Your Fingertips

Tipster provides real-time, relevant, and reliable pubic safety tips, resources, news, & alerts. This information is sourced from your city, country, state, and federal public safety departments.