Beta 19 Mid Update

Beta 19 Mid Update

It's been a while since I last posted here; I haven’t been in the right mindset to write an update. Although the project is very active, and I've posted a few updates on its dedicated website (accessible to the initial beta testers), I just didn’t have the energy to write something here. Losing my buddy Alireza—mentioned in my last post—hit me harder than I expected. However, like everything in life, we humans tend to adjust, even if it's more about adapting to the new normal rather than fully accepting it. I’d say it’s like being born again with a new set of settings every time something drastic happens. Anyway, in this post, I’ll do my best to keep everyone updated on where we are now. One More Feature It feels…
Read More
This too shall pass: On the loss of my buddy, Alireza.

This too shall pass: On the loss of my buddy, Alireza.

I've tried many times in the last few weeks to write about an utterly tragic incident in my personal life, but I found myself speechless every time. I lost one of my closest friends of all time – definitely the closest in the city. I'm trying my best to write a few lines in the hope of being able to move on or at least cope with it. I got to know Alireza about ten years ago when I graduated from engineering school and was moving to Vancouver. He was my cousin's fiance, Susan, who married her a year later. We formed a friendship group with my cousins and some of our friends. We called it the Vlad Group – Vlad was the name of a kind Armenian officer we…
Read More
Beta 18 is Done! – Are you ready?

Beta 18 is Done! – Are you ready?

The beta 23.3 was released a few days ago, and I took a break for a few days after multiple weeks of development and preparing some business documents for our ongoing fundraising effort. In this post, I will update you on what we have done in Beta 18. Development we released a total of 5 versions during beta 18, comprised of one major release and three bug fixes. We also just added the subscription plans to the app. Rebranding The platform's logo mark and logo word had been designed long ago when I was about to start developing what I had in mind. In the early days, you don't know if your idea or project will work, and it would make sense not to put much time into the designing…
Read More
Beta 17 is done!

Beta 17 is done!

We've just released the beta version 22.5 of the platform's iOS app. It wrapped up Beta 17, a phase in which we took many actions toward preparing the platform for the first public beta testing. Beta 17 In the first half of Beta 17, we rolled out some new features and user interface updates. The second half was devoted to preparing presentational materials for the public packed in the company's new portal. The Company's New Portal During Beta 17, we implemented and deployed the very first version of the company's portal. Although it's currently protected from public users, it's almost ready to be used upon revealing the platform's name, starting to accept early access requests (The public beta testing registration) Public Beta As I mentioned in my previous blog post,…
Read More
Beta 16 is Done!

Beta 16 is Done!

It's been a while since my last blog post was published here. Meanwhile, we have released seven updates for the app (two major releases and five bug fixes). With the app's recent update (version 0.21 beta), we eventually concluded the project's Beta 16 phase, which unexpectedly stretched a few months. In this post, I'm describing what we've been through during Beta 16. The Elephant Something happened in September 2022 (#MahsaAmini) that affected some of our Iranian team members. It has been rough, devastating, and disappointing. I'd written a relatively detailed story about what we went through as a team during the last few months. Still, I ended up removing it from this post. Maybe some other time. These events hugely interfered with the typical workflow in our team, hindered us,…
Read More
Beta 15 is Done!

Beta 15 is Done!

This phase of development completed one of the platform's exclusive features. I've already published a detailed post covering the changes we've made in the new version of the app (0.19 beta) and the new features we've rolled out. If you're an invited beta tester, please read it on the app's internal feed.Unfortunately, This is as much I can disclose here at this point. Alright, very informative! Until the next update, stay safe!Cheers!
Read More
Beta 14 is Done!

Beta 14 is Done!

We've pulled off Beta 14 by delivering many new features and sections to the platform. It was a refreshing and promising phase. Most of the tasks we've accomplished had visual and perceivable outcomes. We heard a lot of positive feedback from our beta testers that helped shore-up our stamina. In this post, I briefly update you on some notable events and decision making occurred during beta 14. Audio Version - Read by Author Funded for 2022! We managed to raise enough money to continue the development of the platform in 2022. Despite some lucrative offers, I decided not to go crazy by giving away lots of the company's equity at this point. I am so confident that we've created a solid platform. As a matter of fact, I personally, contributed…
Read More
Beta 13 is Done!

Beta 13 is Done!

We've completed Beta 13 with a massive fundamental process and UX (User Experience) changes. It brings the first batch of new features after almost a year that we constantly worked towards getting the offline features of the app to reach a reliable state. In this post, I'm presenting some highlights of our journey throughout Beta 13. Finally, I'm concluding it with a brief personal update. Audio Version - Read by Author Spotify First of all, I have to admit that I'm sick of not being able to write about the entire story and constantly thinking about whether I should mention a part or exclude it from the blog updates, essentially holding it until after releasing the public beta. I think there would be no points in the holistic approach we…
Read More
Beta 12 is Done! We are over the hump!

Beta 12 is Done! We are over the hump!

A hell of a phase! Much labor of love, dealing with numerous technical challenges, redesigning an entirely different architecture, API, and here we go! We made all pre-planned sections of the app offline accessible! We didn't cheat, didn't take any shortcuts, and stayed committed. Now we are really proud of ourselves.  In this post, I'll briefly cover the problem we faced before Beta 12, our solution to overcome it, and its implementation during beta 12. I also discuss the reasons behind why we accepted the challenge in the first place. Audio Version - Read by Author Spotify Video version is available on author's instagram: @yaashaar_com Beta 11 and 12's Philosophy Beta 11 and 12 were all about changing the beneath architecture of our platform for long-term benefits. But why did we…
Read More
Beta 12 Third Quarter Update

Beta 12 Third Quarter Update

I have been keeping a low profile during the last few months as I have been heavily occupied with completing my share of tasks in Beta 12. Now I thought it would be a proper time to give you a quick update on our progress and other affairs in the company. Lengthy Beta 12 First of all, we were facing numerous technical challenges that we had encountered in making some sections of the app offline accessible. Although we have managed to tackle them one by one, they made us complete many tasks of other phases ahead of us. They made us go out of the scope of the Beta 12 phase many times. Second, we were changing a lot of things under the hood, and applying any change requires us…
Read More