Mobile Apps

Applications for phones and tablets, built alongside the systems that feed them.

What you get

Applications for phones and tablets, built alongside your web system so your data stays in one place rather than in two systems that disagree.

An app is worth building when the phone itself is doing something a browser cannot do well, or when your users are returning often enough that an icon on the home screen genuinely changes their behaviour. It is not worth building simply because a competitor has one.

We will tell you which situation you are in. Quite often the honest answer is that a well-built mobile website will serve you better, and we would rather say so early than build something that goes unused.

Who this is for

Mobile app development makes sense when:

• Your users open the thing several times a week, not twice a year
• You need the camera, GPS, offline access or push notifications
• Field staff work where connectivity is unreliable and the work cannot stop
• Customers need something faster to reach than a browser and a login
• You already have a web system and the phone is the natural extension of it

What is included

• Android and iOS from a shared codebase where that fits, so you are not paying twice
• A design that follows the conventions of each platform, so it feels normal to use
• Secure login, tied to the same accounts as your web system
• Offline handling where the work demands it, with sensible syncing when the signal returns
• Push notifications where they serve a purpose
• Store submission, including the account setup and the listing
• The app connected to your existing data rather than keeping a separate copy

One system, not two

The most common and most expensive mobile app mistake is treating the app as a separate product. Two systems drift apart. A record updated in one does not appear in the other. Staff stop trusting either, and go back to the spreadsheet.

We build the app against the same data as your web application, so there is one source of truth. Change something on the phone and it is changed everywhere, immediately, because it was never stored twice.

If you do not yet have a web system, we will usually build that foundation first. It is the part that holds the data, and the app is a window onto it.

Getting into the app stores

Publishing is a real part of the work, and it is where projects often stall.

Both Apple and Google review submissions and both reject apps for reasons that are not always obvious in advance: missing privacy disclosures, unclear account deletion, permissions requested without explanation, or an app judged to offer too little to justify existing. We handle the submission, the store listing and the review correspondence, and we build with those requirements in mind from the start rather than discovering them at the end.

The developer accounts are registered in your name. Your app, your listing, your reviews.

How we work

We scope the app in writing first, including what it will not do in its first version. Mobile scope expands faster than any other kind, because every feature suggests three more.

You get builds you can install and use on your own phone while the work is in progress. Opinions about an app from a screenshot are not worth much. Opinions from someone who has actually used it on their own device, on their own connection, are worth a great deal.

Questions we are often asked

Do I actually need an app? Often not, and we will say so. If your users visit occasionally and you do not need the camera, GPS or offline access, a fast mobile website usually serves better for less.

Will it work on both Android and iPhone? Yes. Where it suits the project we build both from a shared codebase, which keeps the cost and the ongoing maintenance down.

Can it work without signal? Where the work requires it, yes. The app holds what it needs and syncs when the connection returns. This is standard for field staff and inspection work.

Will it use the same accounts as our website? Yes, that is the intention. One login, one set of data, one place to manage users.

Who owns the store listings? You do. The Apple and Google developer accounts are set up in your name.

What happens when the phone operating systems update? Apps need periodic maintenance to keep working as Android and iOS change. We are clear about that upfront, because an app is an ongoing commitment rather than a one-off purchase.

Where are you based? Pretoria, working with clients throughout South Africa.