‘Cross-platform solutions are increasingly becoming the standard’
Although the vast majority of apps are still developed specifically for Android and iOS, cross-platform solutions have rapidly gained ground in recent years. According to Remi Appels, Solution Lead Mobile Apps at Sopra Steria, these frameworks allow you to run multiple platforms from a single codebase, reducing maintenance and speeding time-to-market. We spoke to Remi (37) about how they are helping clients develop apps for mobile platforms.
What exactly does a Solution Lead Mobile Apps do?
As Solution Lead Mobile at Sopra Steria Netherlands, I am the expert and point of contact for everything related to mobile development. This means that I am responsible for developing and guiding a future-oriented mobile development strategy and helping to positioning Sopra Steria as an authority in the field of mobile technologies. I also spend a lot of time with our clients advising them on mobile and app development.
How did you get into IT?
Even when I was at secondary school, I enjoyed building websites and figuring out how to get as many people as possible to visit them. This interest led me to choose a technical degree. During my Media Technology studies at the Hogeschool Rotterdam, I was particularly interested in the subjects that involved creating applications with a visual interface for the end user. But it was the launch of the first version of the iPhone and the iOS development course that really got me hooked. That was when I really thought: yeah, this is really cool. Now you can make applications that fit right in the user's pocket. Since then, that interest in mobile development has never left me.
How long have you been working at Sopra Steria?
After graduating, I set up a company with two fellow students to develop apps and websites. After that, I worked as a freelancer for a while. Then I ran into a former classmate who told me that he worked at Ordina (Ordina was acquired by Sopra Steria in 2023) and that he mainly worked for large clients. That really appealed to me, so I applied and started working as a mobile software developer. That was in 2014, and I have never regretted it for a moment. I have since progressed to my current position as a Solution Lead and I really like it. The nice thing about this position is that you are not only involved with the client in a hands-on way, but you are also part of the leadership team and busy securing contracts, tenders and developing new solutions.
How do you help clients with their mobile issues?
Our clients recognise that mobile is becoming an increasingly important channel for reaching end users and employees. However, they also realise that mobile development is a different ball game that often does not fit into the standard software development they already do. Getting an app to the end user's or employee's smartphone means dealing with different devices with varying capabilities and screen sizes, both on Android and iOS, and interacting with the company's back-office systems. In addition, distribution is different from traditional software, as you need to distribute the app through the Apple and Android stores. All of this requires an approach in which security, integrity and accessibility play an important role, and this requires specialist knowledge. This is why our clients are often looking for advice and a mobile strategy that takes all these aspects into account. It is also possible that a customer already has an application in-house that was built with outdated technology, and they want something new for it. It also varies by sector. Take the financial sector. Banks lead the way, followed closely by insurers, especially health insurers. In the pension world, on the other hand, mobile is still the odd one out.
Can you give one or more practical examples of your work?
Through my work at Sopra Steria, I have had the opportunity to work on many great mobile projects. These include mobile apps that help employees of the Dutch railways, the police and the Ministry of Defence in their daily work, as well as apps for users of the ANWB (Royal Dutch Touring Club) and the health insurance company CZ. The app we developed for CZ allows people to quickly submit claims, check their deductible and also check their reimbursements via the personal search assistant.
What project are you most proud of?
One of the most special development projects was for a start-up called Happitech. In collaboration with the client, we developed a software development kit (SDK) for both iOS and Android based on various studies and algorithms. This technology allows users to measure medical values related to their heart rate by placing a finger on the camera lens of their device. This allows patients to take scans at home to detect arrhythmias.
What makes your work so much fun?
Developments in mobile never stop. Devices get better every year, and there is always new hardware, such as fingerprint or facial recognition for login. But the development possibilities are also constantly increasing. Every year a new framework is released that allows you to develop mobile apps in a more advanced way. In terms of content, I particularly enjoy working with colleagues on a client assignment. How do you get from an idea to a solution, and what steps are involved? It's even better when you can be successful with the end result. For example, the app we developed for CZ was voted the best Dutch health insurance app.
What are the latest developments in the mobile space that you will be incorporating into Sopra Steria's services?
Although in most cases apps are still developed specifically for Android and iOS, with the advent of frameworks such as Flutter and Kotlin Multiplatform Compose, we have entered a new phase in cross-platform development: the focus is now on minimising fragmentation, improving development experiences, and delivering high-performance and user-friendly interfaces regardless of the platform.
Cross-platform solutions have come of age and continue to innovate, with the gap between performance and native look & feel narrowing. Major companies such as BMW, Ahold and Google are all committed to cross-platform solutions. This is increasingly becoming the standard, allowing applications to be developed from a shared codebase. The major advantage is that these platforms reduce the time it takes to develop an app because you don't have to build two different versions for Android and iOS, and testing is faster too. Native apps are expensive to develop and maintain, although they offer an unparalleled experience in terms of look and feel and performance.
Cross-platform solutions also allow you to respond more quickly to changes and have a faster time-to-market. As a developer, you speak the same language because you are all on one platform. The beauty is that these frameworks use rendering technology that allows you to draw directly on the device screen, rather than relying on native components. This provides full control over the user interface (UI), resulting in consistent performance and visual experience on both iOS and Android.
What trends in mobile application development do you find most interesting at the moment?
Personalisation and user profiles within applications. When you use an app, you are dealing with a large group of users who have very different expectations and uses for the app. On the one hand, you have an 80-year-old who is less digitally savvy and prefers to just call to arrange something. On the other hand, you have young people who do everything on their smartphones and don't want any human contact. There will be an increasing focus on user expectations. Developers will respond to that, so the user interface can differ per person. AI will play an important role, both in recognising these profiles and in the desired interaction. AI is already being used. In the CZ app, for example, AI is used at the front-end to check that claims meet the requirements. For example, a photo might be out of focus, or the text might be illegible. With AI, you can detect this early and give the user immediate feedback. You could also use AI at the point of policy take-up, for example, to translate the legal terms and conditions so that everyone can understand them and the helpdesk receives fewer questions about what is covered and what is not. But also consider the use of chatbots.