Lysn in: Development Story

May 29, 2014

Earlier we shared with you the Colorboost application design and development story, this time we’ll talk about one of our latest projects – Lysn in. What is it?

The goal

Let’s start from the moment when one SF based startup contacted us with an idea to bring “Silent Disco” technology to iPhone, so any group of people using only their smartphones with headphones and a Wi-Fi connection could throw a party anywhere at anytime.

 

The process and challenges

What was next? – The idea was interesting so we had started to code and in three months two guys from our team created the first version of Lysn in.

The most complex part of the app was a synchronisation of all listeners and we did a great job tweaking it on different Wi-Fi networks. It was a fun picture while we tested it at coffeeshops with seven to ten different iDevices, from second generation iPod to iPhone 5 and iPad Air. Like any good magicians, however, we’ll keep our solution to the problem secret.

How it works

Technically the app works with just Wi-Fi. All listeners connect to a DJ which streams music to everyone. The number of listeners is limited only by Wi-Fi capacity; we’ve tested with a group of 20 people and had a great quality of music streaming. Also any person can turn into a DJ and any DJ can be chosen so you can choose a DJ you’d like to listen or to become one of them and stream music to the crowd.

A DJ can use different sources of music – the local Music Library on his iPhone, SoundCloud tracks, Spotify – and even connect an external device such as an external mic, mixer, guitar, etc. through any audio input device.

With a pocket Wi-Fi router you can listen to your favorite music with friends while biking or other active kinds of sports, so it’s useful for more than silent disco parties.

Talking about future plans, we must mention that soon Android users also will be able to silently stream loud music!