01 / MOBILE
App development in Nuneaton, by a principal mobile engineer
Most agencies that sell you an app subcontract it. Mobile is what I have done full time for years — so the person scoping your app is the person shipping it, and the estimate comes from having built the thing before.
From £3,000 — a focused cross-platform app on both stores
The first question is never 'which framework'. It is what the app has to do on day one, who has to use it, and what happens when it works. Get that right and the technical choice usually makes itself.
The second question is whether you need an app at all. A lot of businesses who ask for one actually need a fast mobile website and a booking flow — cheaper, quicker, and nothing to install. If that is your situation I will say so on the first call, because a badly chosen app is an expensive way to learn.
What this covers
App development in practice
01
Native iOS & Android
Swift and Kotlin, written against the platform rather than around it. The right call when you need camera, background location, offline sync, heavy animation or deep OS integration — and when the app *is* the product rather than an accessory to it.
02
Cross-platform with Flutter
One codebase, both stores, one bill. For most business apps the user cannot tell the difference, and you get to market considerably faster. This is where the majority of projects land, and it is usually the honest recommendation.
03
Rescuing an app you already have
Inherited a codebase from a developer who has gone quiet? I can audit it, tell you plainly whether it is worth saving, and either take it forward or plan the rebuild. No judgement about how it got there.
04
App Store & Play Store release
Store listings, screenshots, privacy declarations, review submissions and the rejections that follow. The bit nobody warns you about, handled — and the accounts stay in your name.
What a build includes
No surprises in the scope.
Everything below is part of the quoted price. If something you need is missing, it goes in the proposal with its own number rather than appearing on the final invoice.
- A scoping session and a written spec before any code exists
- Design that matches your brand, reviewed before build starts
- Working builds on your phone every week, not status reports
- Backend and API where the app needs one, hosted on Azure
- Analytics and crash reporting from day one
- Store submission on both platforms, under your developer accounts
- Source code, documentation and a handover call — it is yours
When not to build an app
If your customers will use it once or twice a year, an app is the wrong shape — nobody keeps that on their home screen. If you need bookings, ordering or a catalogue, a fast mobile website usually outperforms an app and costs a fraction. I would rather tell you that and build you the right thing than take the bigger invoice.
App development — common questions
How much does an app cost in the UK?
A focused cross-platform app with a clear single purpose starts around £3,000. Native builds start around £5,500 because they are effectively two apps. User accounts, payments, live data or a custom backend move it up from there. You get a fixed number for your scope before anything starts — not a day rate that runs. Bigger agencies quote three to five times these figures for the same work; the difference is their overhead, not the code.
How long does it take?
A tight cross-platform app is typically 8–12 weeks from signed scope to store submission. Store review itself adds a few days to a week. The honest variable is how quickly you can turn around feedback and supply content — that moves the date more than the code does.
Native or Flutter — which do I need?
Flutter unless something forces native. Heavy graphics, deep hardware access, very large existing native codebases, or a requirement to feel absolutely identical to the platform push you native. For a business app with screens, forms, lists and a login, Flutter gets you both platforms for roughly the price of one.
Do I own the code?
Yes, entirely, on final payment. Source code, repository, designs and the store listings all end up in your name. Your developer accounts stay yours from the start, so you are never locked to me.
Often paired with
02 / WEB
Web development
Business and corporate websites that load in under a second and get found for the searches that end in a phone call. Built to be fast first, pretty second — you get both.
From£750
Details →03 / AI
AI agent development
Agents that answer enquiries, qualify leads and clear the admin nobody wants to do. Scoped around one job and measured on that job — not a science project.
From£1,500
Details →Thinking about app development?
Fifteen minutes on the phone, no obligation. You'll get a straight answer on whether it's worth doing and roughly what it costs.