An app is only as good as the system behind it
Mobile apps rarely fail because of their screens. They fail because the data does not match the website, because sign-in works differently on each side, or because nobody planned for the network dropping halfway through an action. So we treat the app as one part of the system, not as a separate project.
We are a software development team in Lisbon, Portugal. We build the app, the backend and the connection between them, and we keep them running after the store release.
What we build
- iOS and Android apps from one codebase, with React Native. One team, one codebase, both platforms, and it still feels like a native app.
- Native screens for what people use every day: search, lists, detail pages, chat, forms. We only embed web pages inside the app where that is the right call, such as a payment step.
- The backend and API, shared with your website, so a listing, a booking or a message is the same thing everywhere.
- Notifications, camera and location, wired to your business rules.
- Internal tools on tablets, for staff who work in the field or at a counter.
How we work on an app
- We start from what already exists. If you have a website or an API, the app uses it. That avoids copying business rules that drift apart later.
- Test builds from the first weeks. Your team and selected users get test builds on their own phones. Fixes arrive together, in batches, not one build a day.
- We always know which build each tester has. Before fixing a complaint we check which version that person installed. It sounds obvious; it saves days.
- Automated tests and type checks before every build, like the rest of our software.
- Store release and upkeep. Publishing to the App Store and Google Play is part of the service: developer accounts, store listings, Apple and Google review, and the updates that new iOS and Android versions always end up demanding.
When an app is not the answer
Not every project needs an app. If your customers use the service once a year, a fast mobile website usually serves them better and costs less. We will tell you so in the first call. rent.moto.pt, for example, has no app: booking, payment and document upload all work in the browser, and the check-in at the shop runs on a tablet.
A senior team, from backend to screen
The people you talk to are the ones who write the code. We run two products of our own in production, so we know what it takes to keep an app alive: the backend has to absorb peaks, messages have to arrive, and every build has to be tested on real phones.
Working from Portugal
Lisbon shares London's clock and sits one hour behind Central Europe, so our working day overlaps with yours. We work in English and Portuguese, under EU rules, GDPR included. More on how we work with companies abroad: nearshore in Portugal.
Your data stays with you
The app code, the backend and the database are yours. We can deploy the backend on your servers or a private cloud of your choice.
What we need from you to start
A short description of who will use the app and what they must be able to do in it, what already exists (website, API, database) and a target date, if there is one. You do not need a full specification: the first call is where we write it together, and the first test build shows quickly what is missing.