Work happens without signal
Basements, rural sites, warehouses with thick walls, aircraft. The app has to keep taking data and sync when the phone finds a network again.
✦ Mobile app development
App development for businesses that work away from a desk
Most app development companies in the UK will build whatever you ask for. We will first tell you whether you need a native app at all - and when you do, we build it for iOS and Android and handle the store submissions.
✦ The test
When you actually need a native app
One of these is usually enough to justify it. None of them, and a web app on a phone will do the job for less money.
Camera and photo evidence
Damage photos, site conditions, proof of delivery - captured, compressed and attached to the right record without anybody emailing an image later.
Barcode and QR scanning
Continuous scanning at speed, and integration with rugged scanners. A browser can scan; it cannot do it all day at pace.
GPS and location
Route awareness, geofenced clock-in, proof of attendance. Reliable background location needs a native app.
Reliable push notifications
If a missed job alert costs real money, notifications have to arrive on every device, every time.
Locked-down devices
Company handsets deployed through mobile device management, sometimes in kiosk mode with only your app available.
✦ Honesty first
When a web app is cheaper and better
If your team has signal and works from a phone browser, a responsive web app does the job for a lower build cost, no store submissions, and changes that ship the same day.
We have talked clients out of native apps more than once. The usual case is an internal tool used on tablets in an office with wifi, where the only argument for an app was that an app felt more serious.
The common answer is both, in sequence: a web app for everyone, and a focused native app for the twenty people who are out in the field with a camera and no signal.
✦ Plain English
iOS, Android and cross-platform, without the jargon
| Approach | What it means | When we recommend it |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-platform | One codebase compiled into a real iOS app and a real Android app. | Most business apps. Same features, roughly half the build and maintenance cost of writing it twice. |
| Fully native | Separate apps written in Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android. | Heavy device work: continuous scanning, complex offline sync, tight hardware integration. |
| Web app in a shell | A web app wrapped so it can be installed from a store. | Rarely. It usually gives you the cost of an app with the limitations of the web. |
✦ Typical builds
Business apps we build most often
Field engineer app
Today's jobs, full history on the asset, parts used, photos, customer signature and a certificate generated on completion - all working offline.
Stock and scanning app
Goods in, put-away, picking, stock counts and transfers between locations, scanning against your existing product codes.
Site inspection app
Structured checklists with photo evidence, non-conformances raised on the spot and a PDF report issued before the inspector leaves site.
Driver and delivery app
Manifest, route, proof of delivery, failed-delivery reasons and live status flowing back to the office and the customer.
✦ Handled for you
App store submission and device management
- Apple Developer and Google Play accounts set up in your company's name, not ours
- Store listings, screenshots and privacy declarations prepared and submitted
- Review rejections handled by us - expect a round or two, it is normal
- Internal distribution where the app should never be public, including MDM deployment
- Staged rollouts and version support, so a bad release never hits everyone at once
- OS updates tracked and tested under the retainer, before Apple or Google force the issue
✦ Questions we get asked
Mobile app development questions
Do we need separate iOS and Android apps?
Usually not. A cross-platform build produces genuine apps for both stores from one codebase, which keeps the build and the ongoing maintenance considerably cheaper.
How does offline working actually work?
The app keeps its own copy of the data it needs, records what the user does while there is no signal, then syncs when the connection returns. The hard part is deciding what happens when two people change the same record; we agree those rules with you during scoping.
Who owns the app store listings?
You do. The developer accounts are registered to your company, so the app is never hostage to our relationship.
Will it work with the scanners and devices we already have?
In most cases yes. Tell us the models at scoping - rugged Android devices and Bluetooth scanners are common in our builds.
What happens when Apple or Google changes something?
We track OS releases and store policy changes and keep the app compliant under the monthly retainer. That upkeep is one of the real ongoing costs of owning an app, and it is included.
Can the app share data with our web system?
Yes - they are two front ends on the same data. Field staff use the app, the office uses the web app, and everyone sees the same job.
Tell us what isn't working. We'll tell you what we'd build.
Thirty minutes. Bring the process, the systems it touches and the deadline. You'll leave with an approach and an honest answer on whether custom software is the right call.
No pitch deck · We map your process · You own the software