Not a rewrite, but an evolution

Palumba is a voting advice app for iOS and Android, a mobile Wahl-O-Mat that helps users find their political position. Users swipe through around 30 statements and see which parties align most closely with their views. Originally built for the European Parliament elections, the app needed to support the German federal election as well.

The existing Flutter app needed a complete "Germany mode" without breaking the EU mode already in production. At the same time, the backend, built by our partner Bitperfect, required new election-scoped API endpoints. The German election also brought different rules: users pick a specific state, not just a country. Results needed to show German parties.

What we built

The centerpiece was the new DE/EU mode switch: the app reads a backend parameter to determine which election it's configured for and automatically adapts its content, graphics, and available languages. In Germany mode, German party logos replace the European flags.

We expanded the onboarding flow with new steps: a German state selection screen, an education level question, and a GDPR-compliant data privacy checkbox. The continue button stays locked until confirmed. A new screen was also added to highlight the election date.

The results screens were built from scratch: the backend provides bar chart values and coordinates for the political compass, which we implemented in Flutter. A share button lets users export their result as a screenshot.

On the interaction side, we reworked the question cards: users can flip a card to read background information about a statement, a small animation that makes the act of weighing positions feel tangible.

Launch

To wrap up, we prepared both apps for release and published them on the App Store and Google Play. Germany mode was live in time for the federal election on February 23, 2025.

Today the app is back to EU mode as default, ready for the next election.