German e-bike subscription startup Dance has revealed the full scale of how it uses tech giant Apple’s products to help run its company.
Apple products are used “in every part of Dance” including within app development, product design and across all teams at Head Office.
Founded in 2020, Dance builds and repairs bikes that are available to customers under a monthly service, which includes full maintenance and repairs.
Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss told Zag Daily that the firm’s mission is to create more liveable cities and we do that by giving lots of people friction free access to e-bikes.
“From the beginning, we chose Apple products because it’s the best technology available to build something like Dance.
“We use them throughout the whole company, from our warehouses and workshops to our design teams on the hardware and software sides.”
All of the startup’s applications are based on Apple’s Swift programming language.
Dance used this to create two apps to address specific workflows.
The first is the customer-facing app that allows subscribers to connect to their e-bike, as well as manage all aspects of their account, including payment history and personal data.
Users can contact Dance directly through the app, report any issues, as well as book a mechanic to do roadside repairs. It also connects to the customer’s e-bike using Bluetooth, providing live data on journeys.
Tiranus, the second app, helps the operations team manage their expanding stock of e-bikes.
Mechanics start their day by logging into the Tiranus app on their iPhone to see the list of jobs to be completed.
They can access the service history of the e-bike by scanning a unique QR code attached to each frame, the completed work is recorded using the app, the repair status is updated, and the e-bike is prepared for return to the customer.
Nynke de Boer, a Dance App Developer, said she learned Swift in a few weeks and built the app within a few months.
Macs are then used to facilitate collaboration among remote teams, while iPads are used in their workshops to manage staff and shift patterns.
“Apple devices have allowed us to build an amazing product for our customers, and the platform gives us the flexibility and innovation we need to move fast as we scale quickly,” said Quidenus-Wahlforss.
From its base in Berlin, Dance has expanded to cover Hamburg, Munich, Vienna and Paris, with plans for continued growth.
