--- title: "Mobile App Development · 316Software" description: "Apps built for how phones get used on the job: one hand, poor signal, bright sun, gloves on. I ship them to both app stores and keep them there." canonical: "https://316software.com/services/mobile-development" last_updated: "2026-10-21" --- # Mobile App Development Apps built for how phones get used on the job: one hand, poor signal, bright sun, gloves on. I ship them to both app stores and keep them there. ![Two phones lying side by side showing the same job form, a caliper laid across them, and a pair of work gloves beside them.](https://316software.com/img/services/mobile-development-1536.webp) The same app on both phones, built for gloves, one hand and poor signal. ## What you get - **One app, both platforms**: Unless there’s a good reason not to, and if there is, I’ll tell you what it costs. - **Works offline by default**: Field software that assumes there’s always a signal fails in the first basement. - **App store submission handled**: Accounts, review, screenshots, the privacy questionnaire, and the first rejection. - **Updates on your terms**: Push updates yourself, or have me do it, whichever you prefer. With no signal, the app keeps taking entries and holds them on the phone. When the signal comes back, it sends them to the office one at a time. ## Pricing Fixed prices for the common jobs, and a quote after discovery for anything bigger. Prices in CAD, plus GST. - 01 Fits most businesses **Field app** One job, done away from a desk, on both platforms. $45,000 fixed · 5 to 6 weeks One job: a form, a list, photos, offline as the normal state, a backend to sync to, both platforms from one codebase, both stores submitted including the first rejection. - One job: a form, a list, photos - Offline as the normal state, with sync and its backend - iOS and Android from one codebase - Both stores submitted, the first rejection handled [Start with Field app](https://316software.com/contact?service=mobile-development) - 02 **Custom** More than one job, or hardware the phone has to drive. from $55,000 after discovery More than one job, hardware beyond camera and location, an existing system to fit, or a design of its own. Scoped in discovery, built in phases. - Several jobs, or several roles - Scanning, sensors, printing, wearables - Fits the systems you already run - Paid by phase [Talk about Custom](https://316software.com/contact?service=mobile-development) - **Run plan · from $3,000 a year**: The infrastructure it runs on, kept up, backed up and watched. The server it runs on. Storage, and backups you can be restored from. Dependency and security updates. Monitoring, and someone who notices. Cancel at any renewal. You own the software either way. - That’s the starting price. A busier or more complex system costs more to run, and we agree on the number in writing along with the build, so it never comes as a surprise. - Not included: what you pay other companies. AI model and API keys, third-party licences and app subscriptions stay in your own accounts, at cost. I don’t mark them up. - The plan doesn’t include hours for changes. Each change gets its own price, agreed before I build it. - I’ll never take a percentage of what you sell: no royalties, no cut of transactions, no per-user fees for software you own. 180 hours **Most of the cost of paper is typing it up afterwards.** Two field officers in Western Australia recorded each of 1,068 interviews, one on paper and one on a tablet. The paper forms took 180 hours to enter and check afterwards, and reached the database within 5 working days; the tablet’s data was there as soon as it synced. Fields left blank or entered wrong ran 5.1% on paper against 3.1% on the tablet. The fixed tier is built to close that gap, offline sync and the backend included. [Tate & Smallwood, PLOS ONE, March 2021. 1,068 field interviews.](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0247570) ## When it’s the right choice - The work happens away from a desk: a site, a vehicle, a warehouse, a customer’s premises. - The phone’s own hardware matters: camera, location, scanning, notifications. - You’ve tried a mobile web page and it wasn’t enough. ### When it isn’t If a mobile-friendly web page would do the job, build that instead. It’s cheaper, it updates instantly, and nobody has to install anything. ## Get in touch [Talk about mobile development](https://316software.com/contact?service=mobile-development) I’ll read your message myself and reply within 2 business days. ## Related services [All 8 services](https://316software.com/services) - ### [Software Development](https://316software.com/services/software-development) When the app needs a back office to go with it. - ### [Integrations](https://316software.com/services/integrations) When what’s entered in the field has to reach the office systems. - ### [Web Development](https://316software.com/services/web-development) When a mobile-friendly web page would do the job. --- Page: https://316software.com/services/mobile-development The whole site for agents: https://316software.com/llms.txt