App development
iOS and web apps, designed and built by hand in Lancashire.
Native iPhone and iPad apps, web apps and customer portals for businesses that need more than a website. Built end to end by one person, who can also run your IT afterwards.
Featured app · iOS
FM Talk, the FM news app for EMC Associates.
EMC Associates are facilities management consultants with a steady flow of FM news and analysis. FM Talk puts it in their readers' pockets.
- A daily Briefing plus five topical sections
- Push notifications when something new lands
- Save articles for offline reading
- Search across the whole archive
- Reading-time estimates on every piece
- Adjustable text sizes and dark mode
- A proper iPad layout, not a stretched phone
- Free, no account, no paywall, no adverts
Designed and built end to end for iPhone and iPad, taken through App Store review, and already adapted for the iPhone Duo's three fold states in the Xcode 27.1 beta ahead of the device.
Web apps
Products I built, and still run.
Two SaaS products and the portal every Initiate IT client uses. All live, all built by hand.
Looking for a website rather than an app? See the web design work.
What I build
Four shapes an app usually takes.
Native iOS apps
iPhone and iPad apps in Swift, designed screen by screen, taken through App Store review, and kept current with each iOS release. FM Talk is the live example.
Web apps and SaaS products
Proper applications with logins, data, billing and integrations, not brochure sites with a form on the end. WordPush and Turnmail are products I built and still run.
Customer and client portals
Give your customers a login and a live view of their account, jobs or documents. The Initiate IT client portal is one; yours would be scoped to your business.
Integrations and internal tools
Connecting Microsoft 365, your accounts package, your CRM and the spreadsheet that quietly runs the business into something that stops needing re-keying.
How it works
From idea to the App Store, without a black box.
- 01
A 30-minute call
What the app needs to do, for whom, and whether an app is the right answer at all. Sometimes a good mobile website does the job for less, and I will say so.
- 02
A written proposal
Scope, a fixed fee wherever the scope allows, a timeline, and what you own at the end. Usually within two business days of the call.
- 03
Built in the open
A working build you can try every week or two, not a reveal at the end. Changes of mind are cheap early and expensive late; this keeps them early.
- 04
Launched and looked after
App Store submission handled, hosting set up, and the same person on the phone afterwards for updates, iOS releases and the next feature.
You talk to the person writing the code
No account manager relaying messages to a developer you never meet. Decisions get made on the call.
You own everything
Apple developer account, domains, hosting and source code in your name from day one. Documented in the client portal.
It sits alongside your IT
The same person can run Microsoft 365, the network and the app, so integrations and security are one job, not three suppliers.
FAQ
Common questions about app development.
How much does it cost to build an app for a small business?
Every project is quoted as a fixed fee once the scope is agreed, after a 30-minute call. A first version of a focused app is weeks of work rather than months, and I will tell you on the call if a website would do the job for less. No retainer is needed to commission an app.
Do you build Android apps as well as iOS?
The apps I have shipped are native iOS. If a project genuinely needs Android too, I will say so up front and either scope a cross-platform build or bring in a trusted Android developer I have worked with, with the relationship and the responsibility staying with me.
Who owns the code and the App Store listing?
You do. The Apple developer account, the domains, the hosting and the source code are set up in your name from the start, so you are never locked in to me. That is the same rule I apply to your Microsoft 365 tenant and everything else on the IT side.
Can an app connect to Microsoft 365 or our existing systems?
Yes. Integrations with Microsoft 365, accounting packages, CRMs and anything else with an API are a normal part of the scope. Because I also run the IT for many of my clients, the security, identity and access side is handled properly rather than bolted on.
Do you look after the app once it is live?
Yes. iOS changes every year and web platforms change more often than that. Hosting, updates and small changes are covered by a light monthly arrangement, or folded into a managed IT retainer if you have one.
Start a project
Got an app in mind?
Tell me what it needs to do and who it is for. I'll come back with an honest view on whether it should be an app at all, and a fixed price if it should.
// or talk to me directly
0333 358 0114
hello@initiateit.co.uk