Project
Staff Augmentation for a Leading Online Cinema in Russia
Staff augmentation for a major streaming service with a purple brand
About project
About project
About project
Our client is one of the largest online cinemas in Russia and the CIS. According to research by the international firm GfK, it ranks among the top five streaming platforms in Russia by number of subscribers.
Four Doubletapp specialists work with the client’s product teams in a staff augmentation format, ensuring that viewers can seamlessly enjoy content and manage playback settings across both the web version and mobile apps.
Our experts strengthen four different divisions of the client’s product team — developing the product core and the video player for Android, iOS, and Web. Doubletapp brought in highly qualified professionals with proven expertise, including published research and presentations at industry conferences such as VideoTech 2023.
Task
Task
Task
Millions of people in Russia and neighboring countries consume content around the clock using the video player developed and maintained by our specialists.
What does the end user gain from Doubletapp’s contribution? Our task is to ensure high quality, fault tolerance, and uninterrupted operation of all streaming functions:
- Video playback works flawlessly in browsers, on mobile devices, Smart TVs, and set-top boxes.
- The video player makes full use of each platform’s capabilities to deliver a consistent user experience.
- Buffering is minimized when changing playback quality or seeking within a video.
- Subtitles are customizable (language, size, on/off), and audio tracks (including multiple language tracks) sync seamlessly across all devices, OS, and browsers.
- Profile settings are role-specific: in a child profile, parents can manage viewing time and content access.
Solution
Solution
Solution
Our specialists guarantee stability, high quality, and fault-tolerant operation of the multi-platform video player across iOS, Android, Web, Apple TV, and Android TV.
The client uses the player not only internally but also licenses it to other corporations as a ready-made solution. For this reason, one of the mobile versions of the player was split into a standalone module for easier decomposition, development, and support.
Our super team
DenisAndroid
KirillAndroid
AndreiiOS
ValerieFrontendImplementation
Implementation
Implementation
Frontend Work
Frontend engineers ensure uninterrupted streaming with optimal quality, smooth playback, synchronized audio, and subtitle functionality. Their tasks include:
- Supporting multiple video formats (mp4, WebM, streaming protocols), each with its own specification depending on browser (e.g., Safari vs. Chrome).
- Implementing Digital Rights Management (DRM) to prevent piracy. Different browsers use different tools — Chrome uses PlayReady, Apple relies on FairPlay, and Edge uses Widevine.
- Parsing video manifests to correctly load subtitles and audio tracks, allowing viewers to switch quality and subtitle options without conflicts between forced and optional subtitles.
- Enforcing partner content requirements — e.g., ensuring foreign-language films are always accompanied by subtitles.
Android Work
Our Android engineer works on the SDK (Software Development Kit) for the video player, so it can be integrated as a standalone unit. Their tasks also include supporting offline playback of downloaded content, implementing custom analytics for offline usage, improving the player UI, and integration and optimization of DRM protection.
Process Improvements
A Doubletapp employee initiated process improvements on the project.
Previously, documentation was neglected, inconsistent, and poorly formatted, which made planning difficult. With prior experience in companies with well-structured workflows, our specialist proposed adopting better processes. Together with colleagues from another department, they identified missing or incomplete documentation and updated it.
For a large, ongoing project, such fine-tuning is crucial — it helps capture requirements from tasks and align the work of specialists across different teams.
