Digitizing field data for critical infrastructure
BirdNest is a long-established company in the water and wastewater industry, specializing in digitizing log sheets and meter readings used by field operators at treatment plants and monitoring stations.
When BirdNest came to Cheesecake Labs, their mobile applications — used daily by field professionals — were built on legacy iOS and Android codebases dating back to 2005.
Their primary goal was to migrate and modernize legacy apps into a mobile cross-platform that would maintain existing workflows while improving reliability, usability, and data integrity.
Updating a mission-critical app without disrupting users.
Maintaining two separate legacy codebases for iOS and Android
Unreliable offline behavior in low- or no-connectivity environments
Outdated UI patterns that no longer meet modern usability standards
Inefficient image handling and data queuing
Limited error handling, logging, and observability
Risk of data loss during field operations
Since the app was used by experienced field operators, any modernization effort needed to avoid radical changes to workflows while still resolving long-standing technical and usability issues.
Why modernizing legacy apps mattered: reliability, compliance, and future growth
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Why modernizing legacy apps mattered: reliability, compliance, and future growth
A unified, offline-first mobile platform
Cheesecake Labs partnered with BirdNest for a project-based outsourcing, providing end-to-end solutions, from product management & strategy, to UI/UX design, and engineering for the mobile app.
We rebuilt the BirdNest app from scratch using React Native, delivering a single codebase that supports iOS, Android, phones, and tablets. Key improvements included:
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The result was a more reliable and maintainable platform without changing how operators work in the field.
Technologies: built for reliability and maintainability
Mobile
- React Native
- Expo
Observability
- Bugsnag for error tracking and monitoring
Data & Offline
- WatermelonDB for local-first data management
Development Workflow
- Cursor to support developer productivity
- Jira for project management
- Bitbucket for code repository and pipelines
- Codemagic for CI/CD
A strong foundation for the future
The new application is currently being tested with a controlled group of users.
Early outcomes include:
Improved usability and user experience
More reliable offline data collection and synchronization
A modern codebase ready for future expansion and long-term support
The engagement concluded with a signed Support & Maintenance (S&M) agreement, ensuring continuity and ongoing improvements.
Modern mobile software for real-world environments
BirdNest now has a scalable mobile application, designed for real field conditions—offline, reliable, and built to scale—supporting the critical work of water and wastewater professionals.
Ready to modernize your mobile platform?
Ready to modernize your mobile platform?
Cheesecake Labs helps companies modernize mission-critical software while preserving the workflows their teams rely on every day.
Talk to our team and see how we can help modernize your product.