Mobile App Development
iOS and Android applications, with an honest conversation first about whether you need an app at all or a better mobile website.
Overview
Apps carry ongoing costs that websites do not: two platforms to maintain, store review cycles, operating system updates that break things annually, and the considerable problem of persuading someone to install anything at all.
They earn that when you need what only an app provides — reliable notifications, offline use, device hardware, or genuine repeat daily use. Where the honest answer is that a fast mobile site would serve users better, we would rather say so before a year of budget is committed.
Who this is for
- Companies whose users would genuinely open something daily
- Businesses needing offline capability or device hardware access
- Teams weighing native against cross-platform and unsure of the trade
How we approach mobile app development
The specific pieces of work a typical engagement covers. Scope is agreed up front — nothing here is a surprise line item later.
Platform strategy
Native, cross-platform or web, decided against your feature needs and how you will staff maintenance afterwards.
Product definition
Cutting the first version to what people will actually use. Apps fail more often from scope than from engineering.
Interface design
Designed to each platform's conventions. Users notice immediately when an app behaves like the other operating system.
Offline and sync
Sensible behaviour without a connection, and conflict resolution when it returns. Often the hardest part and the most frequently deferred.
Notifications and permissions
Asking for permissions at a moment that makes sense, and sending notifications people do not immediately disable.
Release and store management
Submission, review, phased rollout and crash monitoring, with the ability to roll back a bad release quickly.
From first call to measured result
The same sequence every time, so you always know what happens next.
Challenge the premise
Establish whether an app is genuinely the right answer. This conversation saves some clients the entire budget.
Define and prototype
Scope the first version tightly and prototype the core journey on a device.
Build
Iterative development with builds distributed to testers throughout rather than a single reveal.
Release and support
Store submission, phased rollout, crash monitoring, and a plan for the annual operating system updates.
Outcomes, not deliverables
A pile of artefacts isn't progress. These are the changes the work is meant to produce — and what we report against.
An app that gets kept
Tight first-version scope produces something people use, rather than something they install once.
A defensible platform decision
Native versus cross-platform argued against your actual needs and maintenance capacity.
Releases that are not frightening
Phased rollout and crash monitoring mean a bad build affects a few users rather than all of them.
Sometimes, no app at all
Where a mobile site would serve better, hearing that early is worth more than the project.
Common questions about Mobile App Development
The things people ask before they get in touch. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Do we actually need an app?
Only if you need notifications, offline use, device hardware, or you genuinely have daily repeat use. If the app would mainly display content people visit occasionally, a fast mobile website will reach more people at a fraction of the ongoing cost. We ask this first, not last.
Native or cross-platform?
Cross-platform for most business applications: one codebase, most of the capability, considerably less maintenance. Native where you need heavy graphics, deep hardware access or absolute platform fidelity. The maintenance argument usually decides it.
How much does an app cost to maintain?
Budget a meaningful annual percentage of the build cost just to stand still. Operating system updates, store policy changes and device fragmentation all require work whether or not you add features. Apps abandoned after launch break within about eighteen months.
How long does app store review take?
Usually days rather than weeks now, but rejections happen and can be arbitrary. We build submission buffer into any launch date and prepare for the common rejection reasons in advance.
Thinking about Mobile App Development?
Tell us what you are trying to change. If we are not the right fit we will say so, and point you somewhere better.
Looking at the wider picture?
Mobile App Development usually sits alongside other work in Web, App & Platform Development. Browse the full area to see what it connects to.