A from-scratch Android product
The Android product was built from scratch, with modular boundaries introduced from the first delivery phase.
Android Media Platform · Argo
Short films, social discovery, one Android product.
An Android social video product built from scratch with HLS/DASH playback, discovery context, subscriptions, and a public release.
SpecialtyAndroid Media Platform
Formal role or capacitySole Android Engineer for this phase
Personal scopeAndroid product built from scratch: delivery, playback, discovery, local data, and incremental modernisation
DeliveryInternal beta Day 27 · working MVP Day 40
01 · context
Playback was only one part of the product.
The Android product needed video playback, persistent watch state and social discovery context across a large, changing content graph.
A public social video product
Playback, feeds, profiles, recommendations, subscriptions and local data had to mature together.
02 · ownership
A broad Android product surface under one engineer.
The scope combined media infrastructure, application architecture and social product delivery.
One application-level player
- HLS, DASH and progressive sources
- Custom controls and orientation
- Chromecast and WebVTT subtitles
- Watch-progress tracking
Context travels with viewing
- Creators and channels
- Friends and playlists
- Search and recommendations
- Source attribution in progress events
Ship while modernising
- Room and Paging
- Profiles and social features
- Subscriptions and passes
- XML/MVP to Compose/MVVM/Hilt
03 · system
Playback and discovery context meet behind application boundaries.
One player abstraction keeps source selection, seeking, subtitles, casting and progress behaviour consistent across product surfaces.
Discovery source
Film, creator, friend or playlist context enters the watch experience.
→
Media orchestration
Selects HLS/DASH/progressive sources, restores position and exposes progress.
→
Progress + attribution
Watch events retain discovery context for recommendation and reward logic on the backend.
04 · decisions
Treat infrastructure as product capability.
The engineering choices support continuity across media, feeds and migration rather than optimising one isolated screen.
Keep playback behind one abstraction
Avoid duplicating media-source, seeking, subtitle and casting behaviour across screens.
Use local storage for product relationships
Room backs watch history, profiles, subscriptions and paged feeds—not only a tiny cache.
Carry discovery attribution into progress
Preserve creator, friend or playlist context without moving recommendation rules into Android.
Migrate while shipping
New work moves toward Compose, MVVM and Hilt while existing XML/MVP paths remain available.
Report elapsed delivery honestly
The first implementation is Day 0; beta, working MVP and public release are shown as elapsed progression.
05 · evidence
Progression from first implementation to public release.
Git history verifies the first personal commit and beta/MVP milestones; the exact July publication day is unavailable.
Started from scratch
Started the Android product from scratch and established its modular foundation.
Internal beta build
Prepared the internal beta build.
Working MVP
Completed the working MVP milestone, including the main feed.
Public Google Play release during July 2020
Exact publication day unavailable.
06 · outcome
Fast delivery from a blank foundation.
The case demonstrates from-scratch product delivery and gradual modernisation. Argo remains publicly listed; current reach is product context, not personal causal attribution.
DELIVERY
Beta after 27 days, working MVP after 40, public release during days 69–99.
PLATFORM
Playback, local data, social discovery, subscriptions and architecture migration.
PUBLIC REACH
View Argo on Google Play
Google Play listing viewed 31 August 2026: 50K+ downloads — product reach, not personal impact.
Evidence & NDA boundaryThis case uses approved public visuals and a sanitised technical narrative. Private source, endpoints, credentials, configuration, customer data, and proprietary schemas are excluded. The onboarding MP4 and third-party film and audio material are also excluded.
Work together
Explore a role or project
Target role · Staff Mobile Engineer (Android + Flutter)
Worldwide remote · English / Russian
Novi Sad, Serbia · hybrid possible