CASE STUDY
Wellbees
A corporate wellbeing app on Google Play, moved from Kotlin synthetics to Compose and from Google Fit to Health Connect without pausing releases.
Where it started.
Wellbees is a corporate wellbeing app. Companies buy it through HR, and their employees use it. In 2023 almost every Android screen reached its XML views through Kotlin synthetics. Kotlin deprecated synthetics in 2020 and removed them in 1.8, which blocked Kotlin and library updates. Releases shipped every 6-8 weeks, and the app could crash on launch and on some screens.
What was done.
- Started on the backend: in 2022, the server side of the Fitbit integration in C#/.NET. Moved to Android in March 2023, knowing the API from both sides.
- The cheapest fix while designs stayed the same: every screen moved from synthetics to ViewBinding without a rewrite. Done in about 3 months between sprints, with releases continuing.
- Step data moved to Health Connect before the Google Fit APIs shut down on 30 June 2025. The core switch shipped in 1 week, with an install and permission flow for devices below Android 14. Manually entered steps, which Health Connect did not return, were collected separately by matching record times. Steps lost at the 1,000-record read limit were recovered with paging.
- 20-25 screens rewritten in Jetpack Compose with the 2025 redesign, live in about 2 months.
- Launch crash fixed, and security test findings (root detection, SSL pinning, R8) closed in one 2-week sprint. An in-app review prompt added.
Outcome.
Releases went from every 6-8 weeks to about every 2 weeks. The Android app’s Google Play rating was 3.2 in March 2023 and 4.7 in May 2026. Step tracking moved to Health Connect before Google Fit shut down, and known major and mid-level crashes were fixed.
- Kotlin
- Jetpack Compose
- ViewBinding
- Health Connect
- Firebase Crashlytics
- .NET
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