Ahoy: Flutter-based Boating Insurance App for Safer Sailing

Business Overview

Our client is Ahoy! Insurance, a boating insurance company. They provide insurance and consumer-centric services to US residents who own watercrafts such as power boats, fishing boats, pontoon boats, and sailboats.

Others insure boats. We assure boaters!

Following this motto, the client decided to provide customers with a user-friendly mobile application that would make recreational boating safer and simplify tedious insurance procedures.

Seeking a reliable tech partner to bring their idea to life, Ahoy! turned to NIX, recognized as a reputable vendor with vast experience in mobile development.

Our team leveraged the full potential of AWS cloud capabilities to transform the client’s vision into reality most efficiently and ensure real-time boat tracking, seamless data processing, and streamlined insurance procedures.

Project Scope

We were tasked with developing a cross-platform mobile application that would support the company’s core business by improving boaters’ sailing experience.

Our scope of work included the following:

Development of real-time functionality for ongoing boat tracking

Ensuring efficient processing and synchronization of large amounts of data

Creation of features for simplifying insurance procedures

Solution

We developed a cross-platform Flutter-based application from scratch, harnessing the full power of AWS serverless cloud capabilities.

The app functionality makes sailing more enjoyable and safer for boaters, thereby reducing the occurrence of insurance events and expediting the resolution process when they do happen.

Key App Features

01 Self-Inspection
02 Safe navigation
03 Favorite locations
04 Cell phone overboard coverage

01
Self-Inspection

In the case of insured events, users can submit a claim online and thus speed up its processing. Following the built-in step-by-step guide, they can remotely familiarize Ahoy! with the vehicle by adding pictures of the boat to the app’s photo gallery.
02
Safe navigation

The application detects obstacles or shallow water near the boat and notifies users of a potential threat through vibration and sound alerts.
03
Favorite locations

The app allows the user to select several favorite water locations and view the weekly weather forecast for them and receive warnings of possible storms or thunderstorms.
04
Cell phone overboard coverage

Ahoy!’s insurance covers repairing or replacing a customer’s phone that falls overboard while sailing. The app helps confirm that the boat was on the water at the time of the incident.

Real-time Boat Tracking

The key feature powering the app’s functionality is real-time location tracking. To ensure the best user experience, we developed a special algorithm based on geofence technology and the Flutter library. It allows tracking the boat’s location only on the water without draining the battery when the user is on dry land. This way, we ensured high system performance with optimal resource consumption.

The algorithm triggers an advanced tracking mode, known as hard beat tracking, when the boater is on the water. All designated coordinates are seamlessly uploaded to the cloud for subsequent processing and data synchronization. The process is facilitated by the powerful capabilities of AWS, including Amplify and AppSync services.

Outcome

With the Ahoy! app, the client enhanced their business value and increased customer satisfaction, ensuring they excelled in the market. Boaters from the US are increasingly choosing the Ahoy! company for additional unique opportunities supplementing their high-quality insurance services:

Convenient access to boat data needed for insurance
Timely alert on impending risks, whether it be bad weather conditions or certain obstacles
Simplified work with insurance procedures

The client continues to diligently enhance the application, striving to elevate the quality of their services and refine the customer experience to achieve unparalleled perfection. Taking advantage of cloud features, including those provided by AWS, they gain valuable data-driven insights that guide their continuous improvement journey.