Interview: Everlance iOS Team

Hey there, my name is Ashkan and I lead Growth here at Everlance. With so many new features coming out recently I thought it would be great to hear from the creators on what inspired them to design and build these features. This week I sat down with our Lead iOS Engineer to pick his brain on the progression of iOS coding and what are someone of his favorite Everlance features.

Hey, can you please introduce yourself and let us know what you do here at Everlance?

Hi I’m Daniel and I am the Lead iOS engineer. I am directly involved with the design and engineering for the iOS product here at Everlance.

How long have been with Everlance?

Three years, so pretty much since the beginning.

What’s something that excited for the next 3 months:

I am really looking forward to streamlining the app and taking a more minimal approach towards the app. We have spent the last couple years to building great features but now we are going to refine and simplify everything.

In your opinion has iOS changed since you started?

Swift and Xcode has really matured. When I first started, Swift had just really come into its own and become a it’s own major language.  I have also seen ways that Xcode has become more fully featured, which can help me continue building more complex features.

Has it made your life easier at all?

Well, Yes and no. Apple is really good at forcing everyone to move into the new iOS and in the same way Apple is really good at making developers update the code. We are always making changes to the code but with every update Apple pushes it forces us to make sure all our code is organized and compatible. I think this really helps the end user.

If you had to pick, what is your favorite Everlance feature currently?

I think it has to be directions!

Can you tell us about this feature?

This is really different than what we have had in the app. Excited to see how users interact with the app. I spent a lot of time doing research on other well known navigation apps and looking to see what's most helpful for users. I feel that each navigation product does a few things well and we wanted to incorporate the most useful UI and features.

This feature should help make the accuracy and classification of trips more accurate. The reason it is more accurate, we know ahead of time where the user is headed and where they are going. So our tracking is more proactive than reactive. Before we have to rely on outside GPS sources but now we control the process our selves. All of this makes the app more accurate and easier to use for our customers.

How does the directions feature work?

1. Currently you will have to tap on the green plus button and tap directions.
2. From there you can click on the address box and swipe on the box. You can enter in the direction of your destinations and we will give you 3 alternate routes.
3. We show you the deduction amount per route, which helps with knowing how much you will be saving.
4. Then you are all set to drive!
5. After the trip is completed, you will have a great end screen where you can quickly classify your trip.

I envision the app being used during your work day because it helps you navigate to the job and then we insure that you can get the accurate deduction or reimbursement amount.

What is one pro tip you give to users?

I think everyone should give our notifications a second chance. Normally notifications can be really annoying but we are working to make our notifications really useful. This is to help users not get behind on trip classification and we have also incorporated trip maps, deduction amount and 3D touch for classification.

How can customers give you feedback?

We're building the best mileage tracking app, and we can't do that without customer feedback. So please let us know what you think of our navigation, classification, or any other features and I will personally read through your messages. For iOS feedback please contact us at: support@everlance.com

Stay tuned for more interviews with our product team. Please let us know what you would like to hear about next. Happy driving!