What mobile app development means when your business runs on Microsoft
Mobile app development is designing, building and running the app someone opens on a phone or tablet to do their job, plus the plumbing behind it that keeps the data right. For a field team, that app replaces the clipboard, the photo texted to the office, and the evening spent typing up the day’s notes.
If your business already runs on Microsoft, most of that plumbing exists. Your people sign in through Microsoft Entra ID, their devices are managed in Intune, and the work orders, customers and inventory already live in Dynamics 365, Business Central or Dataverse. A good field app is a front end to those systems, not a second copy of them: it signs in with the account your technicians already have, respects the permissions you already set, and writes back to the record your office already trusts.
That is also why our first answer is sometimes “don’t build an app.” If your data is in Dataverse and the job is a simple form, a Power App, or the Dynamics 365 Field Service mobile app you may already license, can be the cheaper answer, and we will say so on the triage call. Custom earns its cost when the app has to work offline all day, use the device properly, or reach customers outside your company. We build those too: customer-facing apps in the App Store and Google Play, on top of the systems you already run.
Power Apps, .NET MAUI, React Native or native: which does your app need?
We build in all four. The right choice depends on who uses the app, where they use it, and what it has to talk to, and we make the call with you in the Blueprint, before anyone writes code.
Power Apps mobile
The fastest and cheapest route when your data lives in Dataverse, the users are your own staff, and the job is forms, lists and approvals. It also covers the Dynamics 365 Field Service mobile app you may already license. It stops at the edges: its built-in offline mode works only with Dataverse tables, not SharePoint or other connectors; Power Automate flows don’t run offline; and the app only syncs while it is open on screen.
When to move from Power Apps to custom development.NET MAUI
The natural fit for field apps on the Microsoft stack. One C# codebase produces native apps for iOS, Android and Windows, shares code with the .NET services behind it, and signs users in with Microsoft’s own authentication libraries. It is also where Xamarin apps go next: Microsoft ended Xamarin support on May 1, 2024, and moving to .NET MAUI is usually an upgrade, not a rewrite.
React Native
A good fit when your team already works in React and TypeScript, or when a customer-facing app should share design and logic with your web app. Mature, widely supported, and well suited to App Store and Google Play apps that talk to an API we build on Azure.
Native Swift and Kotlin
Worth it when the app lives or dies on the device: heavy camera or barcode work, Bluetooth hardware, background location, or performance that has to feel instant. It means two codebases and a higher price, so we recommend it only when the device features justify it.
Not sure which you need? That is what the free triage call is for.
The apps field teams actually ask us for
Most mobile work for a Microsoft-run business is one of these six. The first five run on your team’s phones and tablets; the last runs on your customers’.
Field service and technician apps
Work orders, parts, time, photos and the customer’s signature, captured on site and synced to Dynamics 365 Field Service or Business Central. We also build Job Margin 365 for Dynamics 365 Field Service, so we know that data model from the inside.
Inspection and compliance apps
Checklists that can’t be skipped, photos tagged to the right asset, GPS and time stamps, and a record an auditor can trust, all captured offline and synced when the tablet reconnects.
Delivery and proof-of-delivery apps
Stops, barcode scans and a signature at the door, so the office knows a delivery happened when it happens, not when the paperwork comes back.
Warehouse and inventory apps
Receiving, picking and cycle counts on handheld scanners, posting straight into Business Central instead of onto a clipboard for someone to key in tomorrow.
Xamarin to .NET MAUI migrations
Microsoft ended Xamarin support on May 1, 2024, so every Xamarin app still in use runs without platform or security updates from Microsoft. We upgrade it to .NET MAUI and keep the workflows your team already knows.
Customer-facing apps
Accounts, orders, service requests and notifications in the App Store and Google Play, built on top of the systems you already run, so the app never needs its own copy of your data.
What separates a field app people use from one they work around
Field apps fail for boring reasons: no signal, a forgotten password, a screen nobody can read in the sun, data that never reaches the office. These are the four things we design for first.
It works where the signal doesn’t
Basements, plant floors and county roads are where field work happens. The app keeps what the technician needs on the device, saves their work locally, and syncs when a connection comes back, with conflict rules we agree with you up front so two people editing the same job never silently overwrite each other.
Your team signs in with the Microsoft account they already have
No new usernames to forget. The app signs in through Microsoft Entra ID, so your MFA and conditional access policies apply from day one, and devices are managed in Intune. When someone leaves, turning off their Microsoft account turns off the app, and a lost phone can be wiped remotely.
It writes straight into your system of record
A job closed in the field is closed in Dynamics 365 or Business Central, with the photos and signature attached to the right record. No export, no re-keying, no second version of the truth. The sync runs through an API on Azure that we build and monitor, the same way we build our integration services.
It is designed for gloves, glare and one hand
Big targets, high-contrast screens and as little typing as possible: the camera, barcode scanner, signature pad and GPS do the data entry. We test on the devices your team actually carries, outdoors, before anyone calls it done.
How a mobile app project runs
Four steps, with a fixed price before any build starts. You can stop after the Blueprint and take it elsewhere; it is yours either way.
Triage — free, 30 minutes
A senior engineer hears what the app needs to do and tells you whether it is a Power App, a pilot, a custom build, or not worth building. If something you already license covers it, you leave with its name.
App Blueprint — 1–2 weeks, $2,500
We sit down with the people who will use the app, map the workflow, and design the key screens as a clickable prototype they can try. You get the stack recommendation, the offline and sync design, and a fixed price to build it. The $2,500 comes off the build if you go ahead.
Build in sprints you can hold
Every sprint ends with a new build on your own phones, through TestFlight, Google Play internal testing or Intune, not a status deck. Your field team uses it early, while changing it is still cheap. The engineer from your Blueprint is the engineer building it.
Launch, hand over, support
We publish to the App Store and Google Play or to your managed devices, hand over the source code and documentation, and train your team. The store listings sit in your company’s developer accounts. Support is a monthly arrangement you can start or stop.
What a mobile app costs and how long it takes
Here are our numbers, before you ever get on a call. Every build is a fixed price, sized and priced for companies with 20 to 500 employees. These are the floors most of our mobile work starts from; the number of workflows, the systems the app talks to, and how much it has to do offline decide where you land above them.
Field app pilot
$15,000 fixed · live in 4–6 weeks
One workflow for one team: an inspection checklist, a proof-of-delivery screen, a time-and-materials ticket. Works offline, signs in with Microsoft, syncs to one system and installs on your managed devices. One price, no Blueprint fee, and the pilot’s code becomes phase one of the full app, so nothing is thrown away.
Field operations app
From $30,000 · 2–4 months
A production app for a whole field team: several workflows and roles, offline capture with sync, photos, signatures and barcodes, connected to Dynamics 365 or Business Central. Most land between $30,000 and $75,000; apps that span several back-office systems run higher. Fixed price set in the Blueprint.
Customer-facing app
From $75,000 · 4–6 months, phased
An iOS and Android app for your customers in the App Store and Google Play, on top of the systems you already run: accounts, orders, service requests and notifications. A full customer platform, with payments at scale or a marketplace, runs $200,000 and up. Priced per phase.
Getting to a number is free, then $2,500, then fixed.
- App triage · free · 30 minutes. A senior engineer looks at what you want on the phone and tells you whether it is a Power App, a pilot, a custom build, or not worth doing. If it is a pilot, you leave with a start date.
- App Blueprint · $2,500 fixed · 1–2 weeks. For field operations and customer-facing apps: the workflow map, a clickable prototype of the key screens, the stack recommendation, the offline and sync design, and a fixed price to build it. The Blueprint and prototype are yours whether or not we build the app. If you build with us, the full $2,500 comes off the price.
- The build · fixed price from the Blueprint. You approve a number, not an hourly rate, invoiced on milestones you can hold in your hand.
Support and updates run from $750 a month, and you can start or stop them as you need. They cover the yearly iOS and Android releases the app stores expect every app to keep up with, security patches, crash monitoring and small changes. App Store and Google Play developer fees (Apple $99 a year, Google $25 once) and the Azure usage behind the sync API are billed to your accounts, in your company’s name.
Remote across the U.S., in person around Houston
We build mobile apps for businesses across the United States. Most of the work happens remotely, in your systems, your standups and on your team’s own devices, during U.S. business hours, which keeps the cost sensible wherever you are.
Our home base is Sugar Land, Texas. For businesses around Fort Bend County and Greater Houston (Sugar Land, Missouri City, Katy, Richmond, Stafford and Houston itself), we can also meet in person and spend time on site when a project benefits from it. If you are local, there is a page about custom software development in Sugar Land.
Before you commission an app
Power Apps or custom?
Where the Power Platform is the right answer for a mobile workflow, and where it stops scaling.
What each option really costs
Licensing, build cost and five-year cost of ownership for Power Apps against a custom app, with the math shown.
Rebuilding a Power App as a custom app
The playbook for moving an app your team depends on off Power Apps without disrupting the people using it.
The API behind the app
How the Azure APIs that feed a mobile app are built: authentication, retries and monitoring.
Mobile app development: FAQs
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How much does mobile app development cost?
A one-workflow field app pilot is a fixed $15,000 and is usually live in four to six weeks, with no Blueprint fee. Larger apps start with a fixed $2,500 App Blueprint, credited in full if you build with us, and are then quoted as a fixed price: a field operations app starts at $30,000 and most land between $30,000 and $75,000, and a customer-facing app in the App Store and Google Play starts at $75,000. The number of workflows, the systems the app talks to, and how much it has to do offline decide where you land.
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How long does it take to build a mobile app?
Four to six weeks for a one-workflow pilot, two to four months for a field operations app, and four to six months for a customer-facing app, delivered in phases. The Blueprint adds one to two weeks at the start. Your team has a working build on their own phones from the first sprint, so you never wait months to see anything.
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Should we use Power Apps or build a custom mobile app?
If your data is in Dataverse, your users are your own staff, and the job is forms and approvals, Power Apps is usually cheaper, and we will tell you so. A custom app earns its cost when it has to work offline with data outside Dataverse, run logic or sync in the background, lean on the camera, scanner or Bluetooth hardware, or reach customers outside your company.
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Native or cross-platform: which is better for a business app?
For most business apps, cross-platform: one codebase for iOS and Android costs less to build and to keep current. The natural fit for field apps on the Microsoft stack is .NET MAUI, because it shares code and sign-in with the systems behind it; React Native suits teams already working in React. Fully native Swift and Kotlin is worth the extra cost when the app depends on heavy device features or has to feel instant.
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Will the app work offline?
Yes, if it needs to, and for field teams it usually does. The app keeps the data a technician needs on the device, saves their work locally, and syncs when a connection returns, with conflict rules we agree with you in the Blueprint so nobody’s edits are silently lost.
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Can the app connect to Dynamics 365 and Business Central?
Yes; it is the core of what we do. Our field apps are built to read from and write to Dynamics 365, Business Central or Dataverse through an API on Azure, and to sign users in with Microsoft Entra ID. We are a Microsoft Partner, and we also build Job Margin 365 for Dynamics 365 Field Service.
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Who owns the app, the code and the store accounts?
You do. The source code, the documentation and the Azure resources are yours, and App Store and Google Play listings are published under your company’s developer accounts, not ours. You can take the app to another team at any time.
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Do internal apps have to go in the public App Store?
No. Apps for your own staff can be distributed privately: on iPhone and iPad as a Custom App through your Apple Business Manager account, on Android as a private app in managed Google Play, and pushed to your team’s devices through Microsoft Intune. People outside your company can’t find or install them.
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What does support look like after launch?
Apple and Google ship a major OS release every year and expect apps to keep up, so every mobile app needs some ongoing care. Support and updates run from $750 a month and cover OS updates, security patches, crash monitoring and small changes. It is a monthly arrangement you can start or stop, not a dependency we build in.
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Do you work with companies across the U.S.?
Yes. Most of our mobile work is delivered remotely for clients across the United States, during U.S. business hours. Our home base is Sugar Land, Texas, so businesses in Fort Bend County and Greater Houston can also meet us in person and get on-site time when a project benefits from it.