Anio Watch – smartwatch for kids

Case · Family & Lifestyle

About the project

Anio Watch is a smartwatch for children – with calling, location services and parental controls via a companion app. appfarms acted as the full-stack partner from 2017 to 2025: eight years of continuous development, maintenance and evolution. In 2025 the project was handed over to Anio in an orderly process, and the client has been running it with its own team ever since.

Like appfarms, Anio GmbH is based in Bremen. Throughout the partnership, our shared aim was to build a reliable platform for families in several countries.

This project demonstrates two things we consider equally important: long-term, reliable partnerships – and software built in a way that lets it live on without us.

App icon of the Anio Watch companion app

More about the product: anio.eu. The apps remain available on the App Store and on Google Play.

What we built

  • Backend & APIs (Node.js / TypeScript) – the central data hub all clients connect to. Built to scale, hosted on AWS in an EU region.
  • TCP socket connection to the watches – the watches talk to the backend over a dedicated, persistent TCP socket. This connection carries location and status updates between the watches and the platform.
  • AWS hosting – Linux- and Docker-based operation behind a load balancer, redundantly set up, with clear deployment and update processes.
  • Administrative web frontend – the operational control centre for the Anio team: user management, configuration, platform monitoring.
  • Native iOS app (Swift) – for parents, aligned with iOS platform expectations.
  • Native Android app (Kotlin) – equivalent for the Android side, maintained over many OS generations.
  • Hosting, operations & maintenance – under our responsibility throughout all eight years.

Privacy as a requirement

Children’s location and communication data require particular care. During our work on the project from 2017 to 2025, handling this data was a key consideration in technical planning. The platform we operated used AWS in an EU region.

This case study describes our development and operational work during that period. For information about the current service and how it processes data, please refer to Anio.

What made this partnership special

  • A long-term commitment. Eight years of continuous work on one product means we knew every module, every decision, every trade-off. That is the precondition for software that not only keeps working over years but stays maintainable.
  • Platform discipline on iOS and Android. Releases kept up with new iOS and Android versions, new device classes, new store requirements for years. Without that ongoing care, an app silently ages – and eventually drops out of the store.
  • Privacy as a project requirement. Location and communication data informed the planning of architecture and operations.
  • Codebase prepared for handover. Throughout development we shaped documentation, tests and architecture so that another team could take responsibility. In 2025 that discipline paid off.

The handover as part of the success

In 2025 Anio decided to run the platform with its own team. We actively supported that decision:

  1. Documentation of the architecture, operational procedures and the most important domain decisions.
  2. Structured knowledge transfer in multiple sessions with Anio’s internal team.
  3. A guided transition phase during which we answered questions and walked through critical parts together with the new team.

For many agencies a handover like this would feel like a loss. For us it’s the opposite: proof that we don’t build dependency, but software that works for our clients over time.

What does this mean for your project?

If you’re looking for a long-term software partner who can hold backend, admin frontend and mobile apps together for years – and who builds software in a way that lets you eventually take it over without the partner – get in touch. That is the kind of partnership we built with Anio.

Challenge

A smartwatch for children comes with specific requirements: kids as end users, parents as accountable adults, privacy and IT security as obligations rather than nice-to-haves. Location data and voice communication for children must be handled with extra care. The brief: a platform that grows over years, works reliably in families' hands, and remains centrally maintainable – a scalable backend, an admin frontend for the client's day-to-day operations, and native iOS and Android apps that behave consistently across many device and OS generations.

Solution

appfarms designed and built the architecture, the Node.js/TypeScript backend, the administrative web frontend and the native iOS and Android apps – and evolved them iteratively over many years. The platform ran on AWS in an EU region – Linux, Docker, load balancer, plus a dedicated TCP socket connection to talk to the watches directly. Handling location and communication data was a central architectural requirement. Regular releases following new iOS and Android versions, continuous backend maintenance and close coordination with the Anio team formed the foundation of this partnership. The codebase was deliberately built so that it could be operated without external development if needed.

Outcome

What started as a first version in 2017 became a stable, market-established platform with apps in the App Store and Google Play. In 2025 we handed the project over to Anio in an orderly process – including documentation, knowledge transfer and a transition phase. Anio has been running the applications in-house ever since. For us that handover is explicitly part of the success: documentation and knowledge transfer enable the client’s team to take responsibility.

“The everyday support and advice from the entire team during this long-running project were invaluable.”

Translated from German.

Jan-Michael Wolff Anio GmbH

Frequently asked questions

How long did the collaboration last?

From 2017 to 2025 – eight years during which we built, ran and continuously evolved the backend, administrative web frontend, iOS and Android apps.

Which components did appfarms build?

The full stack. Specifically: the Node.js/TypeScript backend with its APIs, an administrative web frontend for the client's day-to-day operations, a native iOS app and a native Android app. Concept, architecture and hosting were ours as well.

Why was the project handed over to the client in 2025?

Over the years Anio built up its own capacity and decided to run the platform in-house. We actively supported that decision – with documentation, knowledge transfer and a transition phase. A clean handover is part of how we define quality in long-term partnerships.

What does this mean for other clients?

We build software in a way that lets it run without us. We support this with a documented codebase and knowledge transfer to the internal team. We completed that handover for Anio in 2025.