Conferencia Episcopal Española

The challenge

The team responsible for the official CEE app needed an immediately available senior iOS profile to resolve critical bugs affecting the production version. In parallel with the bug fixes, new screens had to be developed and a text-to-speech feature added to improve the user experience.

The added technical challenge: the app was written in Objective-C on UIKit, a legacy stack that most current junior and mid-level iOS profiles don't master. The required profile had to be able to read, debug and extend Objective-C code without friction and deliver within a few weeks.

The solution

AtalayaSoft brought in Francisco José García Navarro as a senior iOS engineer on the CEE app as senior iOS reinforcement in a short-engagement format. The scope of the work included:

• Fixing critical production bugs on the App Store-released version.
• Developing new screens integrated with the existing UIKit architecture.
• Implementing text-to-speech reading of the app's liturgical and documentary content — an iOS accessibility improvement that enabled users to consume the app without needing to read on screen.
• Validation and pre-delivery testing to ensure stability of the Objective-C codebase.

Featured technical achievements

Text-to-speech with AVSpeechSynthesizer

To add the text-to-speech feature over the app's liturgical and documentary content, Francisco implemented AVSpeechSynthesizer (Apple's native speech synthesis engine, part of AVFoundation) with Spanish-language voice configuration. The improvement adds value especially for visually impaired users or those who prefer consuming content in audio mode. It's an iOS accessibility feature implemented years before the European Accessibility Act (EAA) came into force, demonstrating that AtalayaSoft's accessibility focus is not reactive to regulation but part of its baseline expertise.

Maintenance on legacy Objective-C code

The app was built on Objective-C + UIKit, a stack most current iOS developers don't handle comfortably. Francisco worked on the existing codebase without rewriting anything in Swift, applying senior judgment to identify the root cause of production bugs and deliver stable fixes within a few weeks. This kind of intervention is common in enterprise projects with years of history in their codebase.