ImagineOn took over the smartphone application development for the German airline Germanwings (now Eurowings) and ported the existing apps on both iOS and Android platforms from an almost exclusive HTML/CSS/JavaScript codebase to native code - while the app was already being actively used.

While it was common in the past to develop web-based apps because it simplified cross-platform development, nowadays for business-critical application there’s almost no way around a native implementation - especially when it comes to an outstanding user experience.

One of the major challenges when working on “Live” code is that any change has do be done very carefully and be a hundred percent backwards compatible with the old app.

During the refactoring, the apps had to remain fully operational during adjustments on backend APIs or when new features were added.

An iterative development approach and a focus on a profound understanding of the in-house development processes at Germanwings / Eurowings in close cooperation with the development team on the customer side made this major refactoring a successful project.