About MobileFirms

MobileFirms explains how mobile app projects usually work and connects businesses with a service partner that designs and builds apps. When you send the project brief form, your request goes to that partner. They reply to discuss your goals and send a written scope and estimate. Nothing is agreed until you accept it.

What the service covers

• Discovery and scoping: turning an idea into a prioritised feature list and an estimate.
• UX and UI design, including clickable prototypes you can test before code is written.
• iOS and Android development, native or cross-platform, plus the backend and integrations the app needs.
• Testing, beta distribution and store submission under your own developer accounts.
• Maintenance, updates and new features after launch.

How an engagement is usually structured

1. Brief and first call. What the app is for, who uses it, deadlines and existing systems.
2. Paid or scoped discovery. For larger projects, a short discovery phase produces the scope and a firmer estimate.
3. Written agreement. Scope, milestones, payment schedule, IP assignment, account ownership, confidentiality and support terms.
4. Design, build and test in cycles. You see working builds regularly and give feedback as you go.
5. Launch and support. Store submission, then maintenance under the support terms you agreed.

Who this is for

Owners and managers of small and mid-sized businesses who don't have an in-house development team: service companies, clinics and studios, retailers and restaurants, membership organisations, and operations teams that want to get paperwork off clipboards. You don't need to know the technology. You do need to know your customers or staff well enough to say what the app must help them do.

Questions worth asking any app developer

• How will I see progress, and how often do I get a build on my own phone?
• How are changes to scope estimated and approved?
• Will the code, accounts and keys be in my company's name?
• Who tests, on which devices and OS versions?
• What happens if we stop working together?

What we don't claim

This site doesn't show a portfolio, client names or ratings, and it doesn't promise prices, launch dates or store approval. Store review decisions belong to Apple and Google. Ask for examples of similar work and references directly when you discuss your project, and judge the proposal on how clearly it answers the questions above.