Altimeter App Development That Connects Hardware to 100K+ Skydivers Worldwide
Overview
The client is a Danish company, L&B Altimeters, that produces the most accurate and high-quality altimeters for skydivers. They turned to Euristiq for IoT hardware companion app development to accompany their hardware electronic devices. We developed the JumpTrack app, an IoT altimeter app for Android and iOS that gives skydivers a full experience of using their altimeters.
Units sold worldwide
where L&B altimeters are used
Altitude precision the app had to respect
About the product Euristiq worked on
Hardware without a digital layer
Experienced jumpers can configure their own altitudes for warning signals that indicate when the parachute should be opened. The client wanted to give them an opportunity to change these settings easily and quickly via an app, rather than working directly on the device.
Multiple device models, one app
The client offers a variety of digital altimeters for jumpers — wearable devices for a wrist, and those that resemble pagers to be placed inside a helmet. The new versions come with a connectivity option via the BLE module, which opens doors for further innovation.
We applied our 4D approach
One companion app, three altimeter models, zero manual required
Direct device configuration from the phone
Users can check the altimeter’s settings in the JumpTrack Android or iOS app and change them. They can easily set warning altitudes, offset altitudes, and import jump data from three models of altimeters manufactured by the client.
Digital logbook with offline-first sync
JumpTrack connects with L&B Altimeters and retrieves barometric jump data. Professional skydivers can track their skydives, entering their jumps manually or downloading them from their altimeters via Bluetooth, then have it analyzed and visualized in user-friendly dashboards and graphs. Users can manually insert additional information about the jumps, e.g., aircraft models and drop zones, and compare jump records across a month or a year. One of the technical challenges we needed to overcome was offline support for data synching between the altimeter, the app, and cloud DB — so a jumper can download and see jump data even without mobile coverage, with everything uploaded once a network is available.
Serverless AWS Amplify backend
The backend architecture — authentication, data, storage, and API — was done with AWS Amplify. This unified approach enabled rapid provisioning, consistent environment management, and tight integration across services, which mattered once the iOS app needed the same backend the Android app already used.
Scalable, connected IoT experience — built on AWS
Two platforms, one connected hardware experience
Native apps on both stores
Euristiq met all the client’s requirements and created Android and iOS applications with a user-friendly interface. The apps are currently released on Play Market and on the App Store.
Jump data survives zero signal
Jump data collected via BLE from altimeters is stored locally using Room DB and seamlessly synced to the cloud once connectivity is restored, ensuring no loss of critical jump logs.
Partnership extended past launch
Euristiq remained flexible to constant updates of different hardware versions and tailored the apps accordingly. The client has given positive feedback, and the collaboration is ongoing.
Building a mobile companion app
for your IoT hardware?
FAQ
How do you build a mobile app that connects to Bluetooth (BLE) hardware?
A BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) companion app connects to hardware through a dedicated communication layer that translates between the device’s low-level protocol and the phone’s OS. For L&B Altimeters, Euristiq started with a CLI-only Android app purely to validate the BLE/UART connection and confirm the altimeter would respond correctly to commands. Only once that link was proven reliable did development move to the full offline-capable Android app, then iOS — avoiding the common mistake of building UI before the hardware connection is trustworthy.
How is offline data sync handled for a connected device with no cell signal?
Offline sync works by storing data locally on the device first, then pushing it to the cloud once connectivity returns. For L&B Altimeters’ JumpTrack app, Euristiq used Room DB (a local Android database) to hold jump data collected via Bluetooth immediately after a skydive, then synced it automatically to AWS once the phone reconnected to a mobile network or Wi-Fi. This matters for any hardware companion app used where connectivity can’t be guaranteed — in this case, mid-air or at a remote drop zone — since it avoids losing safety-critical jump logs.
What AWS services power a serverless companion app backend?
A serverless companion app backend typically combines an API layer, authentication, and a database that all scale automatically without managing servers directly. For the JumpTrack app, Euristiq built this on AWS Amplify: Amazon API Gateway with GraphQL for the API layer, Amazon Cognito for authentication, DynamoDB for data, Amazon S3 for storage, and Amazon Pinpoint for push notifications. Using Amplify as the unified layer across these services meant consistent environment management and faster provisioning than wiring each AWS service together individually.
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