Mobile App Development
We design and build iOS and Android apps for UK businesses and startups, from a first release that proves the idea to complex apps that connect to the systems you already run. Our development team is in-house in Birmingham.
Scorchsoft is a UK mobile app development company. Our in-house Birmingham team designs and builds iPhone (iOS) and Android apps for startups and established organisations.
A mobile app is usually the right format when you need App Store or Google Play distribution, push notifications, offline use, or access to device features such as the camera, location and biometrics. If people should use the product through a browser without installing it, our web app development service is often the better fit.
Most clients arrive with one of three problems. Some have a new product idea and need it built, launched and proven with real users. Some have a process that has outgrown spreadsheets, paperwork and email, and needs to move onto the phone or tablet where the work actually happens. Others already have an app that is slow, unreliable or too awkward to extend, and want someone to take it on.
Whichever applies, the first question is usually the same: what will it cost? Our guide to app development costs explains what drives the number, and our app development cost breakdown covers typical ranges by project type. When you want a figure against your own scope, request a quote and we will come back with our thoughts and an estimate.
For projects combining mobile, web, AI and automation, see how Scorchsoft works as a UK app development company.
How we approach mobile app development
Cross-platform iOS and Android app development
For many projects, we use React Native or Flutter to create one well-structured codebase for both iOS and Android. This reduces duplicated engineering and keeps features consistent across the two app stores.
Cross-platform development is not automatically the right answer. Apps that depend heavily on specialist device hardware, graphics or platform-specific behaviour can justify native Swift and Kotlin development. We recommend the route that fits the product, rather than forcing every project into the same technical pattern.
Hybrid Cloud and Mobile Integration
Our innovative approach extends beyond traditional mobile applications by incorporating cloud-based administrative tools into an online dashboard. This enables enhanced control over your application, whether it's managing user accounts specific to each app or storing data in a manner that's accessible from anywhere. This strategy not only facilitates seamless communication and integration with other online services and tools but also empowers your application with greater versatility and control.
Unlocking New Marketing Channels
Creating an app can open up new marketing opportunities, especially when the goal is to cultivate a large and engaged user base. Once established, push notifications serve as an effective and non-intrusive method for reaching out to your clients, offering a strategic avenue for marketing.
Additionally, distributing an app to potential leads can significantly enhance your sales process, providing high-value offerings that captivate and engage.
Enhancing User Engagement
Applications offer a dynamic platform for presenting offers, streamlining business processes, or delivering valuable tools to your customers. Whether your aim is to boost operational efficiency, enhance your marketing strategies, or create new revenue streams, the advantages of deploying an app are manifold.
Apps enhance the accessibility and usability of your offerings, making it easier for users to engage with your brand and services.
Reducing Hardware Costs
Adopting app-based solutions for managing your operations can lead to substantial reductions in hardware expenses. By leveraging modern tablets and smartphones, your workforce can operate more efficiently and cost-effectively compared to using traditional, vendor-specific till systems and PDA input devices.
Moreover, deploying updates becomes a streamlined process through app stores, simplifying maintenance and ensuring your operations remain cutting-edge.
What a Mobile App Project Involves
Strategy and scoping. We work out what the app has to do, who uses it and what a first release needs to contain to be worth shipping. That produces a scope you can price, and it is usually shorter than the one you arrived with. Our development process sets out how this runs.
UX and interface design. Wireframes first, then screen designs, so you can see and react to the app before anyone writes the code behind it. Where a decision is contested, a clickable prototype settles it with real users rather than opinions.
Engineering. The app itself, plus the back end it depends on: accounts and permissions, an admin dashboard, payments, push notifications and sensible offline behaviour.
Integration. Most apps are not islands. We connect them to the CRM, ERP, finance or legacy systems you already run — see system integration for how we approach that.
Testing and launch. Device testing, a test build in your hands, then submission to the Apple App Store and Google Play, including the store listings and the review process.
Iteration and support. Most apps earn their value in the year after launch rather than the week of it, so we keep fixing, measuring and building once it is live.
Native or cross-platform?
For most projects we build cross-platform with React Native or Flutter: one codebase, both app stores, roughly one budget. Where an app leans hard on device hardware, heavy graphics or platform-specific behaviour, native Swift and Kotlin development is the better answer, and we build that too. If you are weighing the options, our Flutter app development page covers the trade-offs in more detail. We will give you a recommendation before you commit to either.
How projects start
You can start with a Velocity Sprint — see rapid MVP development — where we commit one sprint at a time and most projects aim to launch a functional, usable MVP within two to eight weeks. If you need a firm number and a defined deliverable up front, a fixed-price scope does the same job differently. Either way, ownership and licensing are agreed before work begins. If you would rather assess the team first, you can read about how to hire our UK app development team.
Need help building your app project?
Scorchsoft are app and portal developers based in the UK, with 16+ years' experience building functionally complex apps and web apps. Tell us what you want to achieve, and we will come back with our thoughts on how to approach it and an indication of cost.
Experience Delivering
Features we regularly build into mobile apps, from payments and maps to cloud databases and single sign-on. Explore the full list on our capabilities page.
Mobile Apps We Have Built
A sample of the iOS and Android apps our team has designed, built and launched for UK clients.
iStumble post-fall assessment app
A React Native app for Mangar Health that walks a carer through checking on someone who has fallen.
Live Like Loyalty rewards app
An employee rewards and local offers app, launched on both iOS and Android.
Gapped motorsport live streaming
In-car live streaming and lap timing for motorsport, streamed from the driver's phone.
BICSc cleaning audit apps
Mobile and tablet apps for recording on-site cleaning assessments against BICSc standards.
Mobile App Development FAQs
It depends far more on scope than on coding speed. Working in Velocity Sprints, most projects aim to launch a functional, usable MVP within two to eight weeks, typically spanning two to four sprints; apps with heavy integration or regulatory requirements take longer. Most of the time we save is spent deciding what does not need to be in the first release.
For most business apps, cross-platform is the better value: React Native or Flutter give you one codebase across iOS and Android for roughly one budget. Native Swift and Kotlin earn their extra cost when an app depends heavily on device hardware, background processing or platform-specific behaviour. We build both, and we will tell you which your project needs before you commit to it.
Not always. If your users are on company-issued devices, or your analytics show the audience sitting overwhelmingly on one platform, launching on one is cheaper to build and support. Consumer products usually need both, and because we build cross-platform the second platform is a marginal cost rather than a second project.
You do. Ownership and licensing are agreed in writing before work begins, and we publish under your own Apple and Google developer accounts wherever possible so the listings, reviews and user base stay in your name. Nothing about the arrangement requires you to keep working with us to keep the app running.
Launch is the start of the work rather than the end of it. Operating systems change every year, store policies change with them, and real users find things no test plan did, so we offer ongoing support alongside further development sprints for the features that the first release deliberately left out.
Yes, and it is a regular request. We begin with a code audit and viability review — reading the codebase, the infrastructure and the store setup — so you get an honest view of whether the app is worth continuing or rebuilding before anyone commits to a budget. Our app project rescue service covers how that works.
Yes. We prepare the release builds, the store listings, screenshots, privacy declarations and age ratings, then manage the review process and respond if a submission is rejected. Reviews usually take a few days, so we plan them into the launch date instead of treating them as a formality.
Sensitive data stays off the device wherever it can. What has to be held locally is encrypted, and authentication tokens live in the platform keychain rather than ordinary app storage. The back end authenticates and permission-checks every request per user rather than trusting the app, which is the assumption that matters once an app is in public hands.
Discover How Scorchsoft Can Help
We would love to hear about your project. Please contact us, and share your goals; we'll respond with our thoughts and a rough cost estimate. Scorchsoft is a UK-based team of web and mobile app developers and designers. We operate in-house from Birmingham, and our offices are located in the heart of the Jewellery Quarter.
Building for teams across healthcare, logistics, motorsport and manufacturing
What Our Clients Say
Scorchsoft helped us take our idea for an app and make it a reality. Everything from the planning meeting to decide what we really needed to the project management and execution was great. It was delivered on time - early in fact - and on budget. Highly recommend.
Rebecca PalserDragonfly IntelligenceScorchsoft is a brilliant company with fantastic knowledge of the mobile app industry. From the project management to the development team, they have been the perfect candidate for our project, and we can't thank them enough!
Lance ChorltonGapped OnlineWe're really pleased with the work Scorchsoft has done in developing our web portal! They have been accurate with timelines and budget, delivering a solid product that allows us to monitor and manage patients remotely while they use our novel medical device at-home. The "plan - design - build" approach has worked well and saved us time in the long-run by catching requirements and issues early.
Daniel GreenSensTrainI'm really pleased with how my app came out, it was exactly what I was looking for. The team at Scorchsoft are great at what they do and made the whole process as simple and easy as possible. Being someone who is not very tech savvy the set up and back end operations were done in a great easy to use manner even for myself which makes using my app stress free. Thanks to all the team!
Ruben CarrollMosaic MasterpiecesThe new Flourish Education website has already removed a lot of manual processes, freeing up both schools, candidates and internal employees time. We are delighted with the look and feel which is clean, professional and more engaging. We are also pleased with the decision to have an HD video background on the homepage, and building immediate trust with our clients by giving them a taste of what it looks like in the Flourish Education offices.
James HancocksMarketing Manager, Flourish Education I can't believe how quickly we started to see results with this project. Scorchsoft provided us with graphic-designed mockups of how the app would look once built, and we were able to sell the product for use by our first customer before the product was finished. Since launching in March, we have secured a major television network as a client who now uses Image Approvals to manage the talent approval process for their productions.
Aimee SpinksMD, ImageApprovals.com
Need help building your ideas?
Tell us where you're headed and we'll come back with our thoughts, a realistic plan and a rough cost estimate. Scorchsoft is a UK-based team of app, portal and AI developers, working in-house from Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter.