React Native or fully native?

React Native for about 90% of products. You get one codebase, faster updates and near-native performance. We recommend fully native only when you need heavy graphics, deep OS integration, or hardware-level performance. We'll tell you honestly which you need.

What if the scope changes mid-build?

Fixed-scope projects have a documented change process: we estimate the change, you approve the cost and timeline impact, then we build it. No surprise invoices, and no silently absorbing scope until the timeline collapses.

Can you take over an existing codebase?

Yes. We start with a paid technical audit that assesses code quality, security, and architecture, then give you an honest recommendation: continue, refactor or rebuild. Sometimes the honest answer is rebuild, and we'll say so.

Who maintains it after launch?

Your choice. We offer maintenance retainers, or we'll do a full handover with documentation and pairing sessions for your in-house team. Many clients start with us and transition to internal ownership around month six.

How do you handle app store rejections?

We build against current review guidelines and handle submission ourselves. If a rejection happens, we resolve and resubmit at no cost. Our current first-submission approval rate is 94%.

App Development

Ship a real product, not a prototype

We build production-ready mobile and web apps. We scope them tightly around what users actually need, ship in weeks and build them to handle growth.

MVP live in 8–12 weeks
React Native + Next.js, one codebase mindset
You own the code from day one

Book a product scoping call See apps we've built

Typical outcomes

Typical MVP timeline: 8–12 wkTypical MVP timeline
Avg. production uptime: 99.95%Avg. production uptime
Avg. App Store rating: 4.7★Avg. App Store rating
Code ownership, yours: 100%Code ownership, yours

Averages across Digital Squad client accounts. Individual results vary. We show you a realistic range for your situation on the audit call.

Trusted by teams at

NorthwindLumen LabsHarborlineVerdantAtlas FoodsPoka HealthBrightsideCobalt BankMeridianArdentFoundryKestrel

The problem

Why app projects fail

Most failed app projects don't fail technically. They fail in scoping, sequencing, and feedback loops.

The scope was never cut

Building every feature before launch means eighteen months of building something nobody validated. The features you cut matter more than the ones you keep.

It was built by the cheapest bidder

Offshore-at-any-cost builds routinely produce unmaintainable code that costs three times more to fix than it did to build. We rescue these projects regularly.

There was no product strategy

A feature list isn't a product. Without clear jobs-to-be-done and a defined activation moment, you'll build a lot of things nobody uses.

Nobody planned for after launch

Launch is the start. Without analytics, crash reporting, and an iteration budget, you can't tell whether it's working or why it isn't.

Our approach

Product thinking, then engineering

We start by cutting scope to the smallest thing that proves value, build it properly, instrument it heavily, then iterate on real usage data.

8–12 wk

Typical MVP timeline

99.95%

Avg. production uptime

4.7★

Avg. App Store rating

100%

Code ownership, yours

What's included

Everything in the engagement.

No line items appearing on month-three invoices. This is the full scope, written down.

Product discovery & scoping

Jobs-to-be-done research, user flows, and a ruthlessly prioritized MVP scope with everything else parked in a v2 backlog.

UX & UI design

Full interface design for every state (loading, empty, error and success), plus a component library in Figma.

Cross-platform mobile build

React Native for iOS and Android from one codebase, with native modules where performance really needs them.

Web application build

Next.js with server components, type-safe APIs, and a database layer designed for your actual access patterns.

Backend & infrastructure

Auth, database, storage, background jobs and CI/CD, deployed on infrastructure that scales without a rewrite.

Analytics & observability

Product analytics, crash reporting, performance monitoring, and error tracking wired in before launch, not after.

App Store submission

Store listings, screenshots, review guideline compliance, and submission managed end to end.

Post-launch iteration

An included sprint of improvements based on the first month of real user behavior.

The process

How this actually runs.

You always know what's happening this week, what's next, and who's doing it.

Discovery
Weeks 1–2
User research, competitive review, technical feasibility, and MVP scope definition with explicit cut lines.
Design
Weeks 2–4
User flows, wireframes, and full UI design for every screen and state, prototyped and tested with real users.
Build
Weeks 4–10
Two-week sprints with a working build in your hands at the end of each one. No black-box development.
QA & launch
Weeks 10–12
Device testing, performance profiling, beta distribution via TestFlight, then store submission.
Iterate
Month 4+
Analytics review, user feedback synthesis, and a prioritized roadmap for the next release.

Proof

Real projects. Real numbers.

App Development engagements where we can show you exactly what moved and why.

21% → 64%

Day-one activation

Field Service Software

Cut onboarding from nine steps to two and tripled activation

Orrery's app had good retention among people who reached their second job log. Almost nobody did. The whole problem was in the first ten minutes.

Orrery9 months

-61%

Inbound support volume

Industrial Distribution

Built the portal their support team had been impersonating

Verrick's customers phoned in for order status, spec sheets and reorders. Twelve people answered those calls. A portal absorbed most of it.

Verrick Industrial10 months

104k

Users in first year

Mobile App / Fitness

Shipped an MVP in 11 weeks, 100k users in year one

Kestrel had an 80-feature roadmap and 14 weeks of runway. We cut scope to what mattered and shipped something people actually used.

Kestrel11 weeks + ongoing

+34%

Repeat bookings

Travel / Guided Expeditions

An itinerary app that works where there's no signal

Their existing app was demoed on office wifi and used on mountainsides. Rebuilding it offline-first cut support calls by more than half and moved repeat bookings.

Trailhead Collective7 months

View all 40 case studies

Investment

Scoped from your actual brief.

No rate card, no guessing games. Fill in what you actually need and we'll come back with a real number scoped to it.

MVP

Validate a product idea with real users, fast.

Scoped to your brief

Product discovery & scoping
Full UX/UI design
iOS + Android or web app
Auth, database & core backend
Analytics & crash reporting
App Store submission
30 days post-launch support

Request a quote

Product

A full product with real complexity and integrations.

Scoped to your brief

Everything in MVP
Mobile + web + admin dashboard
Third-party integrations
Payments & subscriptions
Push notifications & messaging
Advanced analytics & experimentation
Load testing & security review
90 days support + iteration sprint

Request a quote

Squad

An embedded product team for ongoing development.

Scoped to your brief

Dedicated cross-functional squad
Product manager + designer + 3 engineers
Continuous delivery
Your roadmap, your priorities
Direct Slack access
Month-to-month after quarter one

Request a quote

All engagements start with a free audit. Prices exclude media spend, which you pay directly to the platforms on accounts you own.

Questions

App Development questions, answered straight.

Including the ones where the honest answer is “you probably don't need us for that.”

Completely, from the first commit. We develop in your GitHub organization with your team having full access throughout. There's no code escrow arrangement and no proprietary framework lock-in.