2013 · US · Mobile · Entertainment · Streaming

Inmoo — a streaming media app for an indie movie publisher

iPhone, iPad and Android apps (paid and free tiers) for an independent movie publisher — device-specific encoded streams via Ooyala and Unicorn, integrated with the publisher's existing .NET SOAP backend.

Mobile Entertainment Streaming

Inmoo — a streaming media app for an indie movie publisher

In one breath

iPhone, iPad and Android streaming apps for an indie movie publisher
Integrated with the publisher's existing .NET SOAP/WebServices backend
Device-specific encoded streams via Ooyala and Unicorn streaming services

iPhone · iPad · Android

Platforms

7 man-months

Effort

Free + Paid

Tiers

01 · The challenge

What was broken, what was at stake

An indie movie publisher with a mature .NET backend wanted to move to mobile without rebuilding its content pipeline. Device-specific video encoding, payment tiers and ad-supported free tier had to work across three form factors (iPhone, iPad, Android) from a single backend.

02 · The approach

How we thought about it

Keep the backend as-is. Consume the publisher's existing SOAP/WebServices from the mobile apps via async callbacks — no backend migration. Per-device stream selection via Ooyala and Unicorn handles encoding differences. Build paid and free tiers from the same codebase with ad-supported switching for the free tier.

03 · What we built

The actual solution

Native apps on iPhone, iPad and Android consuming the existing .NET SOAP/WebServices. Async-callback architecture for UI responsiveness. Streaming via Ooyala and Unicorn with device-specific encoded streams. AdMob for the free tier, Facebook and Twitter sharing, and multi-lingual content support.

04 · The results

What shipped, what changed

Three mobile surfaces live for the publisher — paid and free — driving off the same backend that powered desktop, without any backend rewrite work.

Timeline

Phase by phase.

01
Discovery
2 weeks
Backend service mapping. Streaming provider evaluation.
02
Design
3 weeks
Three form-factor UX (iPhone, iPad, Android). Paid vs free flow.
03
Build
7 man-months
Parallel tracks across three apps. Async service integration. Streaming provider wire-up.
04
Launch
2 weeks
Store submissions across three platforms.