Recently, I decided to implement a great new feature for all users of the Hockey Bundesliga app (App Store). 

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Multiple hockey clubs in Germany have started broadcasting their team’s games via channels like sportdeutschland.tv, YouTube and more. Needless to say that this involves a lot of organisation and planning, commitment, money and know-how by the clubs. However, even if all this is done successfully and the streams run smoothly, the marketing side cannot be underestimated. So far, I’ve only seen some Facebook and Twitter posts by the clubs.

Since I already have a solid user base with my Hockey Bundesliga app, I thought I could help spreading the word about these streams… Here is what I did:

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How it works on a technical level

Right now, right before every game day, I sit down on my Mac and gather all streams that I can find into one list. This list needs to be in a machine-readable format that I can use for/parse in my app. I’m using a very common format called JSON. The JSON format allows me to convert simple text file into a visual list of livestreams with title, logos, etc.

This JSON file is uploaded and stored on a private server which I can access via a single URL. It’s quite simple, yet very powerful. The major benefit is certainly the dynamic way of adding, changing and deleting streams without having to hard-code streams into the app via an app update. Basically, if I happen to find a new stream just before a game starts, I can simply edit the JSON file and the next time any user updates the livestream screen inside the app, the newly added livestream will also be shown. This is great!

The rest is done inside the app: The streams are sorted by date, the “soon live” badge is displayed only for streams that will be shown in the future and the user can simply tap on a stream and watch it.

 

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No automation

Currently, I sit down every Friday and update the list of livestreams manually. I usually try to automate such processes in order to keep as much free time as I can possibly have. My self-curated livestream list may be dynamic but means a lot of work for me. Needless to say that is a major downside that I will try to solve soon. There is already a service gathering Hockey livestreams; maybe we will figure something out and work on this together…

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Livestream Reminders

Simply swipe left on any stream and select the ⏰ symbol in order to set a reminder for this stream. You will get a quick notification right before the stream goes on air. This is awesome!

Are your hockey livestreams missing? 

Send me a quick email and let me know. I will make sure to add them as soon as possible.