Jeye

The problem

Drivers have to keep broadcasting their location while the app is backgrounded and the network is patchy, without flooding the server, and without a driver looking offline just because they switched apps.

Live tracking

How a driver’s position gets from their phone to the operations map and the customer’s order screen, even with the app in the background and a patchy network.

1. 01 · Driver app

   The phone reports where it is

   While the driver is online or on a job, the app keeps sending its position over a Socket.IO connection that reconnects by itself, in the background on both iOS and Android.

   A new fix every 20 m moved · heartbeat every 45 s
2. 02 · Backend

   The server keeps only what matters

   Each ping is validated and throttled by time and distance. The latest position goes to Redis and the database, and reachability is tracked apart from being online, so a backgrounded phone mid-delivery never looks offline.

   At most every 10 s and 25 m · 60 s position expiry · 90 s reachability
3. 03 · Operations dashboard

   Operations see every driver live

   Positions stream to each branch’s dashboard and are drawn on a live map with every driver’s load. A background check flags drivers whose position has gone stale.

   Map redrawn every 2 s · stale after 8 min
4. 04 · Customer app

   The customer follows their order

   Once a driver is assigned, the order screen shows them on the map until delivery. Status changes update the iOS lock screen and Dynamic Island, and a push says when the driver is close.

   Refreshes every 15 s · “arriving shortly” within 500 m

Key decisions

1. 01

   The delivery fee comes from real driving distance plus uphill elevation, priced per region by matching the customer’s location against map boundaries, in USD or LBP, with routes cached so the maps APIs aren’t called twice.

2. 02

   Background scans flag stuck orders, orders with no driver and uncollected cash, and accepting a delivery runs in a strict database transaction that re-checks the driver’s cash limit, so two taps can never double-accept an order.

Outcome

From first commit to launch in about four months, as tech lead: the backend and both Flutter apps, published on the App Store and Google Play under my name. Arabic and English.