Ben Smiley
CTO At WeHanzi
Berlin, Germany
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolBen Smiley is a Berlin-based technology founder and CTO with 11 years of experience building mobile-first, real-time communication products. As founder and CEO of the widely used open-source Chat SDK and now CTO of WeHanzi, he blends hands-on iOS/Android engineering with product leadership to ship messaging platforms adopted by over 100k projects. His work spans UI polish and core SDK architecture—fixing platform bugs, improving performance, and shaping storage/configuration paths—alongside earlier projects in audio, MIDI, and OpenGL-driven apps. Trained as an aerospace engineer at the University of Bristol, he brings a systems mindset to mobile UX and realtime systems, and a knack for turning complex low-level media or realtime challenges into polished consumer experiences.
11 years of coding experience
5 years of employment as a software developer
Exeter SchoolMaster of Engineering - MEng Aerospace Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Master of Engineering - MEng Aerospace Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at University of Bristol
Stackoverflow
3,285reputation
1.7mreached
29answers
40questions
uiscrollview
top-5%
chat
top-5%
Github Skills (17)
ios10
java10
javas10
sdk10
android10
swift10
autolayout9
ui-design9
chat9
uiscrollview9
firebase8
uipagecontrol6
xcode6
file-sharing6
iphone6
Programming languages (9)
Github contributions (5)
chat-sdk/chat-sdk-ios
Dec 2016 - Jan 2022
Role in this project:
iOS Mobile Developer
iOS Mobile DeveloperContributions:3 reviews, 552 commits, 31 PRs in 5 years 1 month
Contributions summary:Ben primarily focused on enhancing the UI and functionality of the iOS chat application. Their commits involved updating message cells, modifying chat option components, and implementing improvements to thread views. The user's work included incorporating new UI elements for messages and also addressing various performance issues. They also addressed a number of bugs related to the iOS platform and fixed some key issues within.
xmppxmpp-clientiosmessengerobjective-c
chat-sdk/chat-sdk-android
Jul 2016 - Dec 2021
Chat SDK Android - Open Source Mobile Messenger
Role in this project:Mobile Developer (Android)
Mobile Developer (Android)Contributions:1 review, 590 commits, 88 PRs in 5 years 5 months
Contributions summary:Ben implemented template interfaces and classes and also worked on a root path change within the SDK. The code modifications indicate activity in the core of the SDK, suggesting involvement in foundational elements. The changes to the root path point to configuration or data storage adjustments within the Android SDK. The code also references a Firebase storage path.
xmppandroid-chat-sdkxmpp-clientmessengerandroid-open-source
Find and Hire Top DevelopersWe’ve analyzed the programming source code of over 60 million software developers on GitHub and scored them by 50,000 skills. Sign-up on Prog,AI to search for software developers.