Kadeo Photo Uploader: photo app for the studio

Projects Kadeo – Keramiek Atelier Katleen Deprez

Kadeo Photo Uploader: photo app for the studio

Private Flutter app that lets ceramicist Katleen Deprez add photos of new work to the katleendeprez.be gallery from her iPhone and follow up on messages.

  • Flutter
  • Dart
  • Riverpod
  • GoRouter
  • Dio
  • Material 3
  • REST API

New work comes out of the kiln, the photo is taken with the smartphone… and then it still has to go to the laptop to be cropped and uploaded. For the ceramics studio Kadeo I therefore built a small, focused Flutter app that skips that detour: pick a photo, pick a section, upload. Done.

The challenge

The Kadeo website has a full admin panel, but a browser CMS is cumbersome on a smartphone. The app had to be fast and simple, deliver photos in the right quality automatically, and communicate securely with the website without typing a password every time. Moreover, it did not need to be in the App Store: it only runs on the ceramicist’s own iPhone.

The solution

  • Upload in three steps: pick one or more photos from the photo library, choose a gallery section and upload with progress indication
  • Automatic optimisation: photos are compressed on the device to a high-quality JPEG before sending, so uploads are fast and the server does the heavy lifting (WebP, thumbnails)
  • Follow up on messages: inbox and archive for contact form messages, with read/unread, archive and delete
  • Notifications: a badge and a local notification as soon as new messages arrive
  • Secure connection: one-time set-up with an API key stored encrypted on the device
  • Recognisable: the same earthy colour palette and typography as the website

Technology

  • App: Flutter with Riverpod (state management), GoRouter (navigation) and Dio (HTTP), Material 3 with a custom theme, fully in Dutch
  • Security: API key in the secure storage of iOS, all traffic over HTTPS to the website API
  • Backend: the existing Express API of the website, extended with API key protection and rate limiting for mobile uploads

Result

A tailor-made app that does exactly one thing very well. From photo to online gallery in less than a minute, straight from the studio.