Mobile products users keep
Hiring rounds often take weeks before anyone writes real code. What you usually need is one person who can own the architecture and the delivery from the first week.
We start with your constraints and what success looks like, then build in short demos so everyone can react to working software instead of documents.
If that sounds like your situation, Arcode is set up for founders who need a mobile app developer. Cross-platform mobile development with clean UX and reliable backends.
What you get
- Cross-platform mobile apps
- API-connected experiences
- Offline-friendly patterns
- Launch and iteration support
- One studio accountable for the result
- Design and engineering on the same schedule
- Support available after launch
How engagement works
As your mobile app developer, we run a shared backlog, design reviews, and engineering sprints, and you keep one point of contact throughout.
- 01
Discover
Goals, constraints, data sources, and success metrics, all settled before we touch architecture or prompts. Nothing here waits on a handover between separate teams.
- 02
Design
System design, AI/tool boundaries, interface direction, and interaction prototypes. On mobile app development projects we favour practical architecture over trendy defaults.
- 03
Build
Modern stack, clean architecture, evaluated AI behavior, and iterative demos you can react to. The work for teams in Edinburgh stays tied to the outcome you asked for.
- 04
Launch
Ship, monitor, harden, and keep improving models, tools, and product after go-live. You see progress on the critical path every week.
How we build it, and why
The stack is chosen per project, not applied from a template. For mobile app developer work these are the defaults, and the reason each one is on the list.
- React Native
- one codebase for iOS and Android, which halves the surface area you maintain after launch
- Expo
- over-the-air updates and managed builds, so shipping a fix does not mean waiting on app store review
- Node.js
- one language across the stack, so context does not get lost at the boundary
- Firebase
- auth, push, and realtime sync without standing up your own infrastructure first
- Stripe
- payments, subscriptions, and the tax and invoicing edge cases you do not want to build
What the first weeks look like
- Days 1-3
Context and constraints
Codebase, deploy path, and what "done" means for the mobile app development. Short, because the useful version of this is specific.
- Week 1
First shipped slice
Something real goes out in the first week — cross-platform mobile apps rather than a setup ticket.
- Weeks 2-6
Build to the milestone
Pull requests, reviews, and weekly demos. You see the work as it happens rather than at a handover meeting.
- Handover
Documented and transferable
Runbooks, architecture notes, and a walkthrough, so the work does not depend on us still being here.
Weighing up your options
There are three realistic ways to get this built. Each is the right answer for someone.
A solo freelancer
Cheapest per hour and fine for a contained task. The risk on mobile app development is breadth — one person covering design, backend, infrastructure, and launch usually means one of them is weak, and there is no cover when they are unavailable.
A local agency in Edinburgh
Same timezone and a face to meet, which genuinely matters for some teams. You are also paying Edinburgh product companies valuing clean engineering and AI. rates for the whole team including the layers that never touch your mobile app development, and a local shortlist is a small shortlist.
Arcode
A small senior team. The people who scope the mobile app development write the code, you get weekly demos instead of status decks, and the engagement ends when the thing is live and handed over.
Work we have shipped
Dare To Donate
Mobile · React Native
Cross-platform blood donation app connecting donors and recipients with Firebase auth and realtime data.
Expo React Native app for donation matching with secure auth and cloud storage.
- · iOS and Android via Expo
- · Firebase auth and realtime DB
- · Donor/recipient flows
- · Secure cloud storage
React Native · Expo · Redux Toolkit · Firebase
Conference App
Mobile · Flutter · Zoom
Cross-platform conference app with Firebase auth, realtime data, and Zoom video sessions.
Freelance Flutter product covering authentication, realtime storage, and Zoom API video conferencing for event attendees.
- · Cross-platform Flutter client
- · Firebase authentication
- · Realtime event data
- · Zoom video conferencing
Flutter · Firebase · Zoom API
Circlin Waitlist
Lead frontend · Next.js 15
Multilingual waitlist and referral product for a secondhand fashion brand, covering localization, analytics, and growth loops.
Waitlist experience with EN/DE localization, referral tiers, MDX blog, and analytics for Circlin.
- · EN/DE internationalization
- · Referral reward tiers
- · MDX blog and SEO content
- · Analytics and cookie consent
Next.js 15 · TypeScript · Tailwind · MDX · React 19
Working with teams in Edinburgh
Edinburgh product companies valuing clean engineering and AI. We work with clients in Edinburgh remotely and keep overlapping hours in GMT/BST. We usually collaborate in English.
How we work with Edinburgh teams
Edinburgh runs on GMT/BST, giving us a full overlapping day. Written updates land before your morning, so the first thing you read is what moved since you logged off.
What Edinburgh clients usually need
Edinburgh briefs cluster around SaaS and fintech — Scotland's financial sector pulls a lot of product work with it — alongside university-adjacent research tools that need to become real software.
Contracts, data, and compliance
Financial-sector clients bring security questionnaires and DPAs early, so we handle those upfront and keep personal data in UK or EU regions by default. We invoice in GBP.
