After 10 years
On December 30, 2009 we launched DailyRoads Voyager version 1.0 on the Android Market – the original name of the current Google Play store. At that time only a handful of Android phone models were available, and Voyager started its existence as the very first Android dashcam app for these devices. Detailed explanations were needed to convey its purpose to the drivers, who were also learning about that new mobile operating system.
First developed in Romania during 2009, the app “moved” to United Kingdom, when DailyRoads Ltd. was incorporated there in 2011. After more development and improvements, DailyRoads Ltd. entered into a number of commercial agreements, mainly to develop and maintain various white-label solutions based on DailyRoads Voyager. These dashcam apps work basically the same way, but they run under different names, and some come even preinstalled on specific hardware models.
DailyRoads Voyager has also gone through various transformations and improvements, being completely free and without ads for 4 years. We launched the Pro version only in 2015, while the free version still offered all the functionality most drivers needed.
Also in 2015 we tried to turn the app’s popularity into a proper business, first via a Kickstarter campaign. The proposed solution didn’t resonate with the drivers, who mostly lacked the data plan and bandwidth on their phones for live video streaming. We haven’t abandoned this idea, though. But, we’ll get there via a different route, by first offering a fleet management service, where the dashcam app also plays an important part.
During these past 10 years, most of the development of the app and website has been done by one developer, so the release schedule was less than ideal. Despite this, positive reviews kept coming, the app’s rating staying between 4.2 and 4.3 on the Play store (over 30,000 ratings, 30% with reviews). Downloads also reached 3 million on the Play store, with roughly another million on alternate app stores, the app frequently being in the top 10 of the Auto category in various countries. We provided user support via the app stores, email (over 10,000 replies), and via the now defunct Google Plus.
The DailyRoads.com website has been an important companion for the app, but ultimately we failed to develop it into a proper social network for drivers. Because the site hasn’t been properly redesigned since 2009, we ultimately stopped displaying public videos and photos, but drivers can still log in and manage their own uploaded files. We’ve spent a significant amount of money for hosting the terabytes of those files during this past decade, so next year we’ll decide how to make available the half a million videos, and roughly the same number of photos uploaded so far.
In 2019 we entered into another phase, going back to Romania in order to incorporate DailyRoads SRL, and hire a team to turn the app’s success into a profitable business. We are still working on the “profitable” part, but we’ll achieve a significant milestone in the second part of January 2020, with the launch of the GPS tracking service for fleets.
In preparation for this, we launch today this DailyRoads.app website, to host the app help pages and offer a new way for user support. Instead of sending private emails, please ask questions on the issues page, so the answers could also help future users facing the same problems. If you already know the answer to a question, you can also respond there, or vote for questions and answers.
We also plan to allow votes for suggested new features. Based on your votes, we’ll prioritize the most desirable features for future versions of the app. Thank you all for using the app and providing valuable suggestions during these past 10 years. We’ll be here for you in the next decade, too!
