Hardware that needed an app
A fitness app that talks to the machine you are sitting on
Skandika - German fitness platform
A native app for a German fitness brand that pairs over Bluetooth with ergometers, rowing machines and bikes - reading live metrics off the hardware and driving guided training programs back to it. Shipped in six languages, with finished workouts written into HealthKit.
Built with
- iOS
- Android
- Python
The problem
Gym hardware speaks Bluetooth Low Energy, and every machine in a range exposes its data a little differently. An app that wants to be useful has to find the right machine in a room full of radios, hold that connection for a full workout, and read a live stream of metrics off it without dropping a beat.
None of that happens in ideal conditions. The phone is propped on a moving machine, the screen wants to sleep, and the connection competes with every other device nearby. A stall that would be invisible in a normal app is, here, a workout that stops counting.
On top of the hardware work, the same app ships to a European audience in six languages and has to hand finished sessions to HealthKit cleanly enough that Apple Health treats them as real workouts.
What it does
Live metrics off the machine
Ergometers, rowing machines and bikes pair over Bluetooth and stream their readings into the app as the session runs.
Guided training programs
The app does not just read the hardware - it drives it, running structured training programs back to the machine.
HealthKit sync
Completed workouts are written into Apple Health, so the session counts everywhere else the user already tracks their training.
Six languages
Shipped localised for a European market rather than English-first with translations bolted on later.
iOS and Android
Both platforms, so the brand ships one experience to every customer who buys a machine.
Have something similar in mind?
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