Darf ich das? (Am I allowed to do that?) - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

For nearly 20 years, InTradeSys has developed highly customized eCommerce software for web applications and mobile apps for our globally known clients like eBay, Groupon, or DHL. As we mainly work as a service provider “Darf ich das?” was the very first app that saw the light of the day under our own brand. Usually, the applications that have been developed by us were published with the brands of our clients.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

The most challenging aspect wasn’t the development of the app itself but to satisfy the guidelines of the app stores. Apple as well as Google have very strict policies who may publish which apps that cover different aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic to prevent misleading information or fake news from being published via their stores. Eventually, after long discussions, we were allowed to publish the app but we must not use any related keywords in the app descriptions like pandemic, corona, Covid-19, virus, etc. That makes it difficult to find our app via in-store keyword search, but nevertheless, after the first weeks, it went viral due to several radio interviews and TV reports without any additional active marketing.

However, the real work and added value of the application lies in the editorial part. The rules change very often and are always different from region to region. There is no overview of changes from the government side, all changes have to be researched manually every day.

_{InTradeSys GmbH}

At InTradeSys GmbH, we create very individual eCommerce solutions for our customers. Our strength is that we question the requirements placed on us and usually develop better solutions together with the customer. It is important to us that we have a good relationship of trust with each other and that we can also find unconventional solutions. We also work in a very user-focused way, so that the user understands the application and can use it well.

In Picture: InTradeSys team members working from home during the pendamic.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

As technically interested people, we love browsers, of course. :)
But we also like to use communication clients like , Signal and Slack.
Beyond that, we all have very diverse and different interests.

How long have you been working on this app?

We had the first thoughts of developing the app in June 2020. After a first phase of brainstorming and investigations where to get the combined and summarized information for the more than 400 counties in Germany. After the development phase the Android version was published in the Google Play Store in September.

The iOS version followed its way in the Apple App Store in October. Since then, many updates, feature enhancements, and new functionalities have been developed and pushed to the stores to cover the needs in the rapidly changing situation of the pandemic.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

After the first Covid-19 lockdown in Germany during spring 2020, the country reopened step by step. Due to the federal government structure in Germany, people were confronted with many different regulations, e.g., if and where to wear face masks or with how many friends you were allowed to visit a restaurant. These differed in part from region to region or even from district to district or city to city. With the App “Darf ich das?” (“Am I allowed to do that?”) we wanted to help everyone to get to know the currently applicable regulations exactly for the district or city they live or work in or they want to travel to without the need to read the difficult to understand legal decrees.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

We were by far the first app on the market to tackle the problem of opaque corona rules with a digital solution. To this day, we work pro bono, do not store any personal information or track users, and do not display any advertising. “Darf ich das?” is a really clean social innovation project that grows in close cooperation with its users. We are very proud of this unique project.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

In the upcoming weeks we will look more closely at the rules of our European neighboring countries and hopefully record them editorially soon.

It is thinkable to extend the system of incidence value history globally, provided we find a suitable data source. All in all, we paradoxically hope that our app will become less and less important in the coming months and that the world will become a little more normal. Unfortunately, the Delta variants seem to have other plans.

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

We are happy about new users especially now that the incidence values are low and nobody feels like dealing with the corona rules anymore. We ask our community to share the app so that as many people as possible are well informed and thus safer in the pandemic. New ideas and wishes for the app are always welcome!