Mobile app development
People give a new app about thirty seconds. If it is slow, confusing or hard on the battery, it is gone. We build iOS and Android apps that earn their place on the home screen: quick, dependable, and graceful when the connection is not.
Service details
At a glance
- Native and cross-platform builds from one team
- Works sensibly offline and on poor connections
- App Store and Play Store submission handled
- Crash monitoring from the first release
The apps we build
Three kinds keep coming back. Customer-facing apps that extend an existing product or service - the app your users keep asking for. Field and operations apps for people who work away from a desk - engineers, drivers, inspectors, carers - where offline behaviour and a glove-friendly interface matter more than animation. And internal apps that put one workflow, done properly, in every pocket. What they share is that each earns its place by doing a job; nobody keeps an app out of politeness.
- Customer-facing apps on top of your product or service
- Field-force and operations apps built for the real world
- Internal apps that put one workflow in every pocket
- Apps on an existing backend, or built API-first from scratch
Native or cross-platform? It depends, honestly
Cross-platform gets you both stores from one codebase and usually costs less; native buys headroom for the most demanding apps. There is no universally right answer, so we will not pretend there is one. We look at your performance needs, budget and roadmap and recommend accordingly - and either way, one team delivers both platforms.
Built on real devices, for the real world
From early on you get installable builds to try on your own phone, because feedback about the real thing beats feedback about a mockup. We design for the world as it is - patchy signal, interrupted sessions, ageing handsets - and we handle the fiddly platform details ourselves: permissions, notifications, and the quirks of store review.
- Regular installable builds you can hand around the office
- Offline behaviour and sync designed in where it makes sense
- Permissions, notifications and review requirements dealt with
How a build runs
The first fortnight pins the scope: the flows that matter, the devices that matter, and the smallest first release that would genuinely be used. From there the rhythm is the one we build everything to - weekly increments, a demo you can install, automated tests on every change. You carry the builds on your own phone throughout via the beta channels, which is where the truest feedback comes from: the office corridor finds problems no test plan does. Store submission is prepared alongside the build rather than at the end, so review is a step, not a cliffhanger.
One backend, every screen
If you already run a web product, the app is usually cheaper than you expect: we build against your existing API, extending it carefully where mobile needs differ. If the app is the product, we build the backend API-first from day one - the same investment then serves the web app, the partner integration and whatever comes third. Either way you avoid the expensive pattern where each screen of the business grows its own private backend.
The details that decide ratings
App stores are the only corner of the software world where every customer reads the reviews before buying. So the details that drive ratings get engineering attention here: cold-start time, battery discipline, what happens when the lift doors close mid-sync, whether notifications inform or irritate. Crash and performance monitoring are wired in from the first release, so problems announce themselves to us before they surface as one-star reviews.
Through review and beyond
We manage submission to the App Store and Play Store - metadata, review requirements, the lot - so getting live is not a battle you fight alone. After launch, crash monitoring is already wired in, and the store accounts and code sit in your name throughout.
Sometimes the answer is not an app
A store-installed app is the right call when you need what only an app can give you: offline work, hardware access, notifications people actually allow, a place on the home screen. If what you really need is a website that works beautifully on a phone, we will say so - it is cheaper to build, instant to update, and free of the stores entirely. Progressive web apps cover a surprising amount of the middle ground. It costs nothing to ask, and the answer occasionally saves a client the whole project.
What a mobile app costs
A tightly scoped first release starts from £8,000 as a fixed-scope project - cross-platform delivery is one of the levers that keeps that number honest, since both stores share a codebase. Scope and milestones are agreed in writing, and the store accounts, code and IP sit in your name from day one. Ongoing iteration after launch - new features, OS updates, the annual dance with review policies - runs either as further scoped projects or as an embedded team from £4,500 a month per engineer.
Frequently asked questions
- Native or cross-platform - which should we choose?
- It depends on your performance needs, budget and roadmap. Cross-platform is usually faster and cheaper; native suits the most demanding apps. We recommend for your case, not from a house preference.
- Can you deliver both iOS and Android?
- Yes, from one team, whichever route we take - including submission to both stores.
- What if Apple or Google reject the app?
- We build with the review guidelines in mind, so rejections are uncommon - and if one comes back, resolving it is our job, not yours.
- Will the app work offline?
- We design for real-world connectivity: the app degrades gracefully and, where it helps, works offline and syncs when the connection returns.
- How much does app development cost in the UK?
- Fixed-scope first releases start from £8,000, with the price agreed before the build starts. Scope moves the number more than anything else - a focused app that does one job well costs a fraction of a sprawling one, and usually rates better too.
- How long does it take to build an app?
- A focused first release typically takes one to three months, with installable builds in your hands from the early weeks. Store review adds days at the end, not weeks - we prepare for it during the build, not after it.
- Should we launch on iOS and Android at once?
- With a cross-platform build there is rarely a reason not to - both stores come from one codebase. Where native is the right call, launching one platform first can make sense; we make that decision with you, against your users rather than a preference.
- Will the app need a backend?
- Almost always, and it is included in the plan - accounts, data sync and notifications all need a server side. If you already have an API we build against it; if not, the backend we build is API-first, so it is an asset rather than plumbing.
- Can you take over an existing app?
- Yes. We audit the codebase, the crash reports and the store listing, get tests around what matters, and improve it release by release - a rebuild is the last resort here, exactly as it is everywhere else in our work.
- Do we actually need an app, or would a mobile website do?
- An honest question that deserves an honest answer before any money moves. If you need offline work, device hardware or notifications, an app earns its keep; if you need a great experience on a phone’s browser, a well-built responsive web app is cheaper and faster to ship. We will tell you which you are, for free, in the first conversation.
- How do updates work after launch?
- Releases go through the same pipeline as the original build - tested, reviewed, rolled out through the stores with staged rollouts where the stakes justify them. Crash and performance monitoring tell us how each release lands, so a bad one is caught at one per cent of users, not all of them.
- Do you design the app as well as build it?
- Yes - but in our order: the flows get built plainly and tested against real use first, then designed properly once they are true. Screens drawn before the domain is understood are guesses, and mobile punishes guesses harder than any other platform.
- Can the app connect to our existing systems?
- Yes - most business apps are exactly that: a mobile front door onto systems you already run. We build the integration layer with the same care as the app, because a beautiful app on an unreliable connection to the back office is still an unreliable app.
Ready to talk through Mobile app development?
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