Wave Applications: A Simplistic Approach on Location Sharing

In an interview with Insights Success, the Founder and CEO of Wave Application, Manuel de la Esperanza shares his insights behind his triumphant journey of developing an application which focuses on location sharing services.
Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Manuel and Insights Success:
Kindly provide a brief overview of the Wave App and its solutions and services? 
Wave App is a free app (iOS, Android) that helps people to meet by sharing their live location on a private map. It is a useful tool to find friends or relatives especially in places where it’s difficult to meet such as busy streets, music festivals, new cities, ski resorts, skiing trips etc. Nevertheless, the most common use is simply meeting between friends, because it makes the process easy, effective and fun.
How do you diversify your product offerings to appeal to your target audience? 
Wave App is an application focused on the geolocation of people and therefore has several unique features that make it an essential application to meet friends or family. Among them is geolocation in real time, the option to create group maps, to set a meeting point on the map, the navigation, geofencing alerts a complete chat and many more to come.
And above all we offer a private approach. We don’t believe anybody wants to be stalked or followed at all times. Only when you decide to and by who you decide. Therefore there is always an express consent to be located by your contacts. In addition you will decide if you wish to be located for a limited period of time or indefinitely.
What are the core strengths of Wave App offerings? 
The Wave App’s core strengths are its native technology of positioning in real time with pinpoint accuracy, the privacy of its users, since they are aware that they are sharing their location and can stop it whenever they want, and its unique features that improve people’s mobility.
The main features used in the app are: Unidirectional Location, Group Location, Chat and Navigation.
Unidirectional Location is the feature in which one user can send unidirectionally his /her location through a web link to any smartphone user that does not have Wave installed. In group location group can be made from 3 till 10 people where all members are displayed on the screen with their profile picture.
The Chat feature is a complete chat solution which includes sharing messages, voice notes and images. Navigation feature sets users where he can navigate to the meeting point or to their friends in real time, see the estimated time of arrival and the estimated distance. They can also call an Uber if the meeting point is far.
What historical forces, achievements or learnings have shaped the journey of Wave App? 
Wave Application has become a reference for people to meet and it has not been an easy way, since in the beginning people were reluctant to share their location. However, its approach to privacy and the feature dedicated to each user case has allowed Wave to conquer a base of users from all over the world that exceeds 11 million people. Also, it is the ideal moment for these kinds of tools. Geolocation is everywhere, it is probably one of the new big digital commodity. Devices are ready, users are ready and technology is finally ready.
One of the biggest challenges has being shaping the technology to the numerous devices across the world that has different data connection and GPS quality. Along with this, the UX design has been a demanding factor for users that are used to play with apps, so the team has made great efforts, with the help of the Creative Director of Pinterest and advisor of Wave, to define a trendy and friendly interface. These improvements have made possible to achieve a great 80% of retention rate.
Where does Wave App see itself in the near future and what are its future goals? 
The core of Wave App is its leading technology and the biggest challenges that it faces in the near future are the work in the improvement of the technology and its constant adaptation to the positioning novelties, the UX design to adapt it to the demanding consumer trends and the development of new features that users demand. For this, the team must grow and the company is working on the search for new talents.
In the long term, the app wants to be the reference tool in geolocation in all smartphones of the world and to help people meet, move around the city and have a personalized experience.
With the rising number of field service based solution providers, how does Wave App stand out from its crowd of competitors? 
Wave Application has led a market with a unique proposal of geolocation based on privacy. While there are some apps that offer the option of sharing the location, Wave is considered the most private and useful option to meet the people we love in crowded places such as downtown streets, festivals or markets, as well as in places where it is difficult to give directions, such as ski resorts or natural landscapes. Its core value comes along with unique features that complete the experience in the mobility field such as the navigation, the direct access to Uber, the possibility to pin a meeting point on group maps and the chat.
About the CEO 
The co-founders of Wave Application, Manuel de la Esperanza, CEO, and Luis Gelado, COO, have been able to carry a pioneering idea at a time when the market was not as used to geolocation as it is now, by developing its native technology with a unique approach. The most difficult challenges have been to define the technological strategy, to find real professional talents to expand the team and to seek funding to continue investing. Having a large fan base and a positive growth has allowed Wave to conquer investors through several rounds of funding as the recent bet on Crowdcube, in which Wave raised more than € 1M to continue investing in technology and marketing.
About the Company 
Wave App is a mobile application which helps people meet up by sharing live location on a private map. The app enables users to gather personal as well as location information with its user-friendly interface in a secure manner. It runs on major operating systems such as iOS and Android devices. The app heightens its performance especially in difficult places such as busy streets, music festivals, ski resorts, skiing trips and new cities.
Nevertheless, the most common medium of usage for Wave App is its simplistic approach of meeting friends and family, as it makes the process easy, effective and fun.
Source :-The 10 Most Prominent Field Service Solution Providers 2018