§ CASE STUDYHEALTHCARE · STAFF AUGMENTATION

Seven Years of Embedded iOS & BLE Engineering for the World's Largest Hearing-Aid Maker

Sonova needed senior mobile engineers with rare Bluetooth Low Energy expertise to extend their iOS app capabilities. We built a hand-picked team that became a long-term part of their mobile organisation — now in its seventh year.

CLIENTSonova

INDUSTRYHealthcare / MedTech

SERVICESStaff Augmentation

YEAR2018

Sonova — Embedded iOS & BLE Team app screenshot

CLIENTABOUT

NAMESonova

INDUSTRYHealthcare / MedTech (Hearing Care)

TEAM SIZEEnterprise (10,000+ employees)

COUNTRYSwitzerland

Sonova is the world's largest manufacturer of hearing aids — a global enterprise in hearing care, headquartered in Switzerland, whose devices are used by millions of people worldwide.

RESULTSOUTCOME

Eight years in, the same team is still shipping.

What began as a search for hard-to-find BLE talent became a seven-year partnership. The same senior engineers have stayed embedded in Sonova's mobile org throughout — retaining institutional knowledge, shipping continuously alongside the in-house team, and growing the company's mobile capability rather than just filling a gap.

01 / 03

8+ yrs

ONGOING PARTNERSHIP

02 / 03

SENIOR IOS ENGINEERS EMBEDDED

03 / 03

100%

TEAM RETENTION ACROSS THE ENGAGEMENT

OVERVIEWTHE BUILD

✕ The Problem

Senior iOS engineers with BLE expertise are almost impossible to hire

Sonova's hearing aids rely on iOS companion apps that communicate with the devices over Bluetooth Low Energy. To expand what those apps could do, Sonova needed to scale mobile engineering quickly — but senior developers who combine strong iOS skills, deep BLE expertise, and the communication skills to work inside a large enterprise team are extraordinarily rare. Hiring them in-house, at pace, simply wasn't feasible.

✓ The Solution

A hand-picked iOS & BLE team, embedded for the long term

We assembled a dedicated team of senior iOS engineers with proven Bluetooth Low Energy expertise and embedded them directly into Sonova's mobile organisation — not as contractors filling seats, but as a long-term extension of their own team, expanding their mobile development capability.

01Three senior iOS engineers embedded directly in Sonova's mobile organisation
02Deep Bluetooth Low Energy expertise for hearing-aid device communication
03Native development in Swift and SwiftUI
04Contributions to Sonova's core mobile app infrastructure
05Hearing-aid connection and pairing over BLE
06Personalised sound-adjustment capabilities
07Long-term continuity and knowledge retention across 7+ years

TECH STACK /iOSSwiftSwiftUIBluetooth Low Energy

FEATURESWHAT WE SHIPPED

Inside the
Sonova — Embedded iOS & BLE Team build.

Core capabilities that make this product work in the wild.

FIRST POINT

Hearing Aid Connection

Our engineers contributed to the Bluetooth Low Energy layer that pairs and connects hearing aids to the app — reliable, low-latency device communication.

SECOND POINT

Sound Adjustment

Our team contributed to personalised sound-adjustment features, letting wearers fine-tune their hearing experience directly from their iPhone.

HOW WE BUILT ITPROCESS

From a Hard-to-Fill Role to a Seven-Year Partnership

STEP 01

Understanding the Need

Worked with Sonova to define the exact profile required: senior iOS engineers with proven BLE experience and the communication skills to operate inside a large enterprise team.

STEP 02

Sourcing & Rigorous Vetting

Screened for the rare intersection of mobile depth, low-level BLE expertise, and collaboration skills — rejecting strong coders who couldn't communicate, and strong communicators who lacked BLE depth.

STEP 03

Embedding the Team

Integrated three engineers directly into Sonova's mobile org, working inside their codebase, processes, and release cycles as a true extension of the in-house team.

STEP 04

Sustaining a Long-Term Partnership

Maintained continuity and retention over 7+ years, so Sonova kept institutional knowledge rather than churning contractors.

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