FYTA

The Client & Vision

FYTA transforms plant care through data-driven insights, making it accessible for everyone—from hobby gardeners to professional growers. Their ecosystem of BLE-enabled sensors (Mini, Beam, Sphere, Terra) provides real-time monitoring of critical plant health metrics, empowering users to care for their plants with precision and confidence.

The Challenge: Legacy Systems Holding Back Innovation

FYTA's existing native iOS and Android applications had become difficult to maintain and evolve. With separate codebases requiring parallel development, feature parity issues, and mounting technical debt, the team needed a modern solution that would:

• Enable rapid feature development across both platforms simultaneously
• Maintain robust BLE connectivity with multiple sensor types
• Support complex firmware synchronization and device management
• Deliver rich data visualization for plant health insights
• Provide flexible multi-environment deployment (dev/stage/prod)
• Ensure seamless integration with FYTA's existing backend infrastructure

The Solution: A Modern Flutter Ecosystem

GBot delivered a complete platform rebuild in Flutter, matching—and exceeding—the functionality of the legacy applications in a fraction of the development time.

• Expert BLE Integration: Architected robust Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity supporting multiple concurrent sensor connections, real-time data streaming, and reliable device discovery.
• Firmware Synchronization: Implemented seamless over-the-air firmware updates for sensors, with version management and rollback capabilities.
• Multi-Environment Architecture: Developed dev/stage/prod flavor configurations enabling separate testing and deployment pipelines critical for device firmware validation.
• Advanced Data Visualization: Created intuitive charts, graphs, and timeline views translating sensor data into actionable plant care insights.
• API Version Management: Built flexible backend integration supporting multiple API versions for gradual migration and backward compatibility.
• Cross-Team Collaboration: Successfully integrated with FYTA's backend team, maintaining clear communication and technical alignment throughout development.
• Rapid Delivery: Delivered feature-complete application matching legacy functionality in significantly reduced timeframe, with superior architecture and maintainability.

Technical Excellence in IoT Mobile Development

The FYTA application showcases GBot's deep expertise in IoT mobile development:

• Device Ecosystem Management: Supporting multiple sensor types (Mini, Beam 2.0, Sphere, Terra) with varying capabilities and measurement intervals.
• Real-Time Data Processing: Handling high-frequency sensor data streams, transforming raw metrics into meaningful plant health indicators.
• Offline-First Architecture: Ensuring app functionality even without active BLE connection, with intelligent data synchronization when connectivity returns.
• Battery Optimization: Implementing efficient BLE polling strategies to minimize device battery drain while maintaining data freshness.
• Cloud Integration: Connecting sensors via optional WiFi hubs (FYTA Hub, FYTA Terra as hub, LTE-M Hub) for continuous monitoring and push notifications.
• Smart Home Compatibility: Architecting integrations for home automation ecosystems.

Key Features Delivered

• Multi-Sensor Dashboard: Unified view of all connected devices with real-time health status for each plant.
• Intelligent Care Recommendations: Context-aware watering, fertilizing, and lighting guidance based on plant species and environmental conditions.
• Plant Species Recognition: Photo-based plant identification with species-specific care profiles.
• Historical Analytics: Long-term tracking of soil moisture (VWC), nutrients (EC), light (PPFD/DLI), temperature, and humidity.
• Plant Sharing: Delegate plant care with shared access and notifications for caregivers.
• Task Management: Organized to-do lists for watering, fertilizing, repotting, and other care activities.
• Push Notifications: Real-time alerts for critical plant conditions (when hub connected).

Partnership & Collaboration

A hallmark of this project was the seamless collaboration between GBot and FYTA's backend engineering team. Despite being separate organizations, the teams worked in tight coordination, navigating API changes, firmware updates, and feature requirements with clear communication and mutual respect. This partnership model demonstrates GBot's ability to integrate smoothly into existing technical ecosystems and deliver results even when core infrastructure is maintained by external teams.

Key Expertise Delivered

• Legacy Application Modernization: Complete migration from native iOS/Android to unified Flutter codebase.
• IoT & BLE Mastery: Multi-device connectivity, real-time sensor data handling, and reliable wireless communication.
• Firmware Management: Over-the-air updates, version control, and device synchronization.
• Multi-Environment Configuration: Dev/stage/prod flavors for comprehensive testing and deployment.
• Data Visualization & Analytics: Transforming sensor metrics into user-friendly insights.
• API Version Management: Flexible backend integration supporting gradual migration.
• Cross-Team Collaboration: Effective partnership with external backend teams.
• Rapid Development & Delivery: Accelerated timeline without compromising quality or functionality.