Zack Lovisa Software developer Start an estimate

Service

No. 003

Desktop and Mobile Apps

Small, fast, and yours.

Desktop applications that install and run without an account, a subscription, or a connection. Recently a local-first Windows calendar in about 10 MB.

  • Range $12,000 to $45,000
  • Typical timeline 8 to 20 weeks
  • Scope Fixed, in writing, before work starts

Cross-platform MVP typically $12,000 to $22,000. Store submission and first-round review fixes are included.

Good fit

Tools that should keep working offline, hold their own data, and never need a subscription.

Better options

Validating an unproven idea. Ship a web version first, prove people want it, then pay for the app.

What it can do

4 examples

What an installed app gets you

Installing something on a person's device is a big ask, so it has to earn it. Here is what earns it.

Connected
  • Nothing logged yet.

Work carries on in a basement, a parking garage, and a farm shed. The app does not care until it has signal again.

Works with no signal

This is the reason to install an app instead of bookmarking a website. The data lives on the device first and syncs when it can, so a dead zone costs nobody an afternoon of re-entry.

Getting this right is most of the work. Two devices editing the same record offline is a genuinely hard problem, and it has to be decided before the first screen is drawn.

Every panel above is a working demonstration, not a screenshot. Nothing here sends, saves, or charges anything.

The Work

Software that installs on a machine and belongs to whoever installed it. No login wall, no monthly fee, no service that can be discontinued out from under you.

The clearest example is on the Work page. Drift is a Windows calendar built for a client, with every appointment in a local database file on their own machine. No account, no cloud, works with the connection off.

Why It Is Small

Most desktop applications today ship an entire browser inside them and land somewhere in the hundreds of megabytes. Drift is built on Tauri with a Rust shell instead, and the finished application is around 10 MB.

That is not a technical vanity metric. It downloads faster, starts faster, and uses less of a machine that your staff are already asking too much of.

Local First

Keeping data on the user's machine removes an entire category of problems. There is no server to pay for, no account system to secure, no outage, and no leak. The owner can back the file up or move it to another computer without asking permission.

It also means the software keeps working if I disappear, which is the point.

On Mobile

I build mobile when a project genuinely needs it, and I will tell you plainly that most do not need it first. The modern web handles notifications, offline use, camera access, and installing to a home screen. Going to the app stores adds review delays and a permanent update tax before you have proof anyone wants it. Ship the web version, prove demand, then build the app.

Deliverables

Every project

  • Cross-platform iOS and Android app from one codebase Included
  • App Store and Play Store submission handled end to end Included
  • Offline behaviour and sync that does not lose data Included
  • Push notifications and product analytics Included
  • Crash reporting so defects surface before users report them Included
  • Signing keys and store accounts registered to you Included

Other services