BeaconControl is a new, open-source proximity management platform that promises to make developers’ lives easier by providing them with free tools to develop, test, and deploy faster. It’s intuitive and easy to navigate, so instead of presenting you with a technical overview, we decided to talk about further opportunities with BeaconControl’s Product Manager, Mateusz Wójcicki. We discussed major challenges of beacon deployments, the impact of the open-source philosophy upon the market, and the future of other software providers. Here’s what we learned.
Kontakt.io: Why did you launch BeaconControl? What problems does it solve?
Mateusz Wójcicki: We’ve been fascinated by the immense opportunities of beacon technology since we started developing beacon-based solutions back in 2013. However, we quickly became aware of some challenges such as expensive and non scalable platforms, mobile OS constraints, various APIs & SDKs, and an endless array of documentation and opinions. While talking to our customers, other businesses, and developers, we found that these issues were common. We then decided to develop an open and flexible environment for beacon development that would help developers, startups, and corporations design and implement beacon-based solutions tailored to their needs. We’ve partnered up with Kontakt.io as a top innovator in the industry, but BeaconControl works with other providers’ hardware, too. Our key demands for the platform have always been: standardized technology, easy hardware integration, scalability, powerful SDKs, and solid documentation. But most importantly, the platform had to be open-source.
Why?
We believe that collaboration is the key to success in development. That’s why BeaconControl is free and open-source so we can join forces with developers around the world and test the limits of beacon technology together. Developers can easily add their own features and add-ons or adjust existing ones. Such an approach will help us identify the real needs that developers have, and, based on that, collaboratively choose a direction for BeaconControl in the future.
So do you have any particular goals in mind or do you rather want to go with the flow?
We want BeaconControl to be the Android of beacons. Ultimately, it’ll become an all-in-one platform where anyone can develop their own solutions, put them in the add-on marketplace which we are planning to launch in the near future, and monetize them. This is the big picture and our main goal. When it comes to features, we have lots of ideas, but now, having the core functions ready, we’re looking forward to seeing what the community will come up with, and what is really necessary. We consider our users to be experts, and we want to exchange knowledge with them. So while we keep developing BeaconControl (we’re finishing Android SDK and getting ready to release it in Q1,) we listen to the market and developers and plan future updates based on their feedback. Only this way we can be 100% sure our platform actually answers the needs.
Sounds like a real game changer. Are you going to take over the market?
There are many proximity management platforms out there but we don’t consider BeaconControl to be yet another competitor. Being the first open-source software solution in this field, it’s a resource which other businesses and platforms can build and grow their own solutions upon. Our mission is to inspire, to advance the technology, and to change the landscape. Not in order to exclude others, but to make beacons more powerful and accessible—for everyone.
Do you want to give BeaconControl a try? Sign up for free!