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Case study · Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam · Edtech

Took over Holo Speak's language app and made its live video reliable.

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How did InApps help Holo Speak?

Holo Speak, from HOLLA Education Technology in Ho Chi Minh City, is a mobile app where English learners practise speaking with partners and teachers over live video. InApps, a software company in the same city, took over its existing codebase, stabilised and rebuilt it, and made the real-time video sessions, partner matching and payments for partner English centres work reliably on iOS and Android.

Holo Speak logo Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Industry
Edtech Language Learning
Services
Code Audit & Remediation Custom Software Development
Main technologies
React Native Node.js PostgreSQL AWS

About Holo Speak

In its own words, “Holo Speak is an online platform that connects English Learners and English Instructors/ Teachers together, creating a dynamic language exchange online environment.” Learners practise one-to-one over video for free, book paid tutors, and English centres use the app with their own students. It has been on the App Store and Google Play since 2019.

The challenge

Holo Speak came to InApps with a codebase built elsewhere. Its core is a live video call between two people in different countries, plus matching them and taking payments, and the setup it inherited was not holding up under real use.

In a speaking app, a dropped call is a lesson that never happened.

The solution

We took over the codebase and stabilised it first, then rebuilt the parts that could not carry real use. We made the real-time video sessions dependable, built the matching that pairs learners with partners by language and interest, and added payments for the English centres that run classes on the app. The app is built in React Native for iOS and Android, on a Node.js and PostgreSQL backend on AWS.

How we take over an app
Takeover and rebuild
  • Codebase takeover and stabilisation
  • Real-time video practice
  • Partner matching
  • Payments for English centres

The stack

React Native Node.js PostgreSQL AWS
Two Holo Speak app screens: a two-minute timer while the app finds a speaking partner, and the Target partners filter by country, learning language, gender and topic

The outcome

An app learners and English centres can build lessons on.

  • A stable app, taken over and rebuilt where it needed it.
  • Reliable live video for one-to-one speaking practice.
  • Partner matching by language and interests.
  • Payments for English centres that teach on the app.
iOS app Android app See it on the App Store

Source: InApps project records; screens from Holo Speak's current App Store listing.

Questions about this project

InApps took over Holo Speak's language-exchange app and stabilised and rebuilt it. InApps, a software company in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, made its real-time video practice reliable and built partner matching and payments for partner English centres, in React Native for iOS and Android.
A language-exchange app from HOLLA Education Technology in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly called Holla English. Learners practise speaking English one-to-one over video with partners and teachers, book paid tutors, and English centres use it with their students. It has been on the App Store and Google Play since 2019.
Yes. Holo Speak was first released as Holla English, and its Google Play address still carries that name. “Hola Speak” and “Halo Speak” are misspellings; the app and its App Store and Google Play listings all say Holo Speak.
Stabilise first, then rebuild what cannot carry real use. For Holo Speak that meant making the live video sessions dependable before adding matching and payments on top.
With the call as the core, and everything else built around it. That is our custom software development service; for an app you already have, start with a code audit and remediation, and keep it steady with software maintenance and support.

Inherited an app that keeps breaking? Start with an audit.

Audit your app [email protected]

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InApps engineers in the Ho Chi Minh City office