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.
You talk directly to the people writing the code, which keeps architecture decisions close to the implementation.
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 London 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 London
Same timezone and a face to meet, which genuinely matters for some teams. You are also paying London market for SaaS, fintech, and AI product talent. 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
Brain Blog
Frontend · Gatsby · Strapi
Custom Gatsby blog with Strapi CMS, built for fast content publishing and a clean reading experience.
Freelance content product pairing Gatsby performance with Tailwind styling and a Strapi-powered editorial workflow.
- · Gatsby static generation
- · Strapi blog integration
- · Tailwind-driven layout
- · Fast content browsing
Gatsby · Tailwind · Strapi
Working with teams in London
London market for SaaS, fintech, and AI product talent. We work with clients in London remotely and keep overlapping hours in GMT/BST. We usually collaborate in English.
How we work with London teams
London is on GMT/BST, which gives us an overlapping working day rather than a handful of shared hours. Standups, reviews, and demos all fit in normal business hours for both sides.
What London clients usually need
London work is heavily SaaS and fintech: dashboards over real financial data, onboarding and KYC flows, and increasingly LLM features layered onto products that already have paying users.
Contracts, data, and compliance
Procurement in London tends to ask for a DPA, evidence of where data sits, and a security questionnaire before signing. We handle those upfront, and we keep personal data in UK or EU regions by default.
