ApnaToto — Full Project: PWA MVP & Path to Native Apps
From idea to launch in 15 days and under ₹50,000. A pragmatic PWA MVP that validated local demand for ride & porter services and provided a reusable backend for later Flutter native apps.
- Rapid PWA MVP — rider & driver workflows
- OTP verification, wallet, payment gateway & surge pricing
- Modular back-end designed to power future native apps
Project Context
Tier-III cities lacked reliable on-demand ride and porter marketplaces. The founder sought a fast validation with minimal budget and rapid time-to-market — an ideal job for a PWA-first MVP approach.
Opportunity
Local mobility & porter services were informal. A simple platform could aggregate spare capacity and unlock new income for local drivers.
Goal
Validate local demand, test driver onboarding, and prove pricing mechanics (surge) before building native apps.
Constraints
Budget under ₹50k, launch within 15 days, unreliable mobile connectivity in some areas, and no pre-existing driver pool.
Where We Started
The founder had an idea and an intent to test economics quickly. Rather than invest in Android/iOS immediately, we recommended a PWA-first strategy to get to market faster and cheaper while collecting real usage signals.
Within two weeks the PWA was live and drivers & early users were onboarded for initial trials.
Key Challenges
Time & Budget
Build a usable marketplace under ₹50,000 and ship within 15 days.
Driver Availability
Unpredictable driver supply required conservative matching logic and experiment-friendly surge controls.
Low Network Reliability
PWA had to be lightweight, tolerant of intermittent connectivity and performant on low-end devices.
Our Strategic Approach
We split delivery into three practical pillars to ensure speed, reliability and learnings:
- PWA-first MVP — ship fast & measure usage.
- Backend-first modularity — reuse for Flutter native apps later.
- Experiment-driven controls — admin-tunable surge & matching parameters to iterate quickly.
Key Engineering Decisions
PWA-First
Allowed near-native UX without app-store overhead, simple update workflow, and fast distribution via URL/shortcut.
Modular Backend
All business logic (surge, assignments, wallet, payments) implemented server-side so both PWA and future native apps could share it without rewriting.
Assignment Logic & Surge
Lightweight driver assignment prioritized proximity & recent acceptance rate. Surge pricing used a configurable demand/supply ratio and time-of-day weight to keep drivers economically viable.
MVP Feature Breakdown
User Flow — Rider
- Enter pickup & drop
- Fare estimate & surge notice
- OTP for confirmation
- Wallet / card payment
- Live status & driver details
Driver Flow
- Login & basic KYC
- See nearby requests
- Accept/reject job
- Start / complete ride, mark cash/online
Admin (MVP)
- Driver management
- Pricing & surge controls
- Ride logs & basic settlements
Technical Architecture (High-level)
High-level view: PWA frontend communicates with a shared backend engine that handles matching, surge, payments, wallet and admin management. The same backend later powered the Flutter native apps.
Components Shown
- User PWA (mobile web)
- Driver PWA (or lightweight driver view)
- Backend: Assignment engine, Surge module, Wallet & Payments
- Admin console (MVP)
- Third-party: SMS/OTP, Payment gateway, Push/Notifications
Project Timeline
Scope finalised, rapid wireframes, dev environment
Core flows: booking, OTP, driver accept, payments
Testing: low-network, edge flows, wallet & settlements
Soft launch, early driver onboarding & feedback loop
Early Results & Learnings
Soft launch showed promising local interest; data collection is ongoing and will drive product & ops decisions for the native app phase.
Validation
Core marketplace flows validated: riders can request, drivers accept, and payments settle via wallet/gateway.
Driver Patterns
Initial patterns helped refine the assignment logic and surge triggers to better match local behavior.
Product Roadmap
Based on validations we scheduled a Flutter phase aimed at improving retention and native experience.
We will publish quantitative KPIs once the data is sufficiently stable.
Product Screenshots
PWA views used during early testing. Click to enlarge.
Want a fast MVP for your on-demand idea?
We build pragmatic, testable PWA MVPs that validate demand without breaking the bank. Get a tailored feasibility report.
