Mobile app development and custom web apps in Corsica
Some needs fit no software you can buy off the shelf. An unusual booking system, say, or the tool your team needs out in the field. That is where mobile app development comes in, with a custom web app built for you. We design it from the way its users actually work, then it grows with you, on proven technologies.
A custom web app built for the people using it
A web app runs in the browser, on a computer or a phone. Nothing to install. It can also become a PWA (progressive web app), which you add to your home screen and which then behaves like any other app. Depending on your needs, you get:
- 01
One screen per task
Booking, reporting a job, checking a file, approving. Each screen serves a real action, and the mock-ups are tried out with you before any code.
- 02
Accounts and access rights
Customers have their area, your staff have theirs. Everyone sees what concerns them, and only that.
- 03
Data in one place
A secure database, exports whenever you need them, and links with your current tools through APIs. An API is the interface two programs use to pass information to each other.
- 04
Real time, if the job calls for it
Notifications. A dashboard that refreshes by itself, or a piece of information shared instantly across several screens.
What an app changes for your business
An app makes sense when the same task comes up every day and generic tools leave you patching things together, a spreadsheet here, a messaging group there. Some cases we see often:
- 01
Tourism and leisure
Slot bookings, availability management, tickets or vouchers shown on a phone. Practical information appears in the visitor's own language.
- 02
Trades and service companies
Job scheduling, site sheets with photos, the customer's signature on screen. The report goes out by itself, and nobody retypes it in the evening.
- 03
SMEs and startups
A customer portal, an internal business tool, or a first version of a digital product to see whether the market bites.
- 04
Associations and public bodies
Registrations, appointment booking, reporting problems, online procedures. Usable too by people who rarely touch a screen.
How a mobile app development project unfolds
We often advise starting small. People sometimes call it an MVP (minimum viable product), meaning the essentials, done properly, put in users' hands early and then filled out as their comments come in.
- 01
1. Understand
Who will use the app, for what, how many times a day, on which device? We set the goals with you, then the budget and the timeline that go with them.
- 02
2. Design
We sketch the user journeys and the mock-ups, then the technical architecture. You approve the mock-ups before any code, which avoids building screens nobody will open.
- 03
3. Build
Development moves forward in stages. You try each version on your own phone, and a feature only ships once it has been tested.
- 04
4. Launch and evolve
Go-live, help for the first users, hosting, maintenance. What comes next is driven by feedback from the field, not by a list written in advance.
PWA, performance, security: what makes a good app
Tantale, a connected role-playing game we designed, shows well what a PWA can do. Three to six players meet at someone's home. The game master flies the ship from a console, each player holds a phone as an on-board terminal, and the TV shows maps and events as they happen, all thanks to a PWA and a Node.js server keeping every screen in sync in real time.
Another example is Hameau Vivant, a persistent social simulation in 3D that runs in the browser, where the villagers are driven by a large language model (a type of AI). It shows how far a web app can go with nothing to install.
- 01
Easy to use
If an app needs a manual, something has gone wrong. Each screen has one purpose, and common actions fall under your thumb.
- 02
Fast and reliable
It loads quickly. It keeps working when the mobile signal weakens, as it still does in plenty of villages in inland Corsica, and it recovers cleanly after a dropout.
- 03
Secure
Encrypted connections and protected passwords. Access rights are set precisely, and the data is backed up regularly.
- 04
Accessible and GDPR-compliant
Usable with assistive technology, and in line with the GDPR, the EU regulation on personal data. We collect only the data that is needed, and we protect it.
- 05
Built to grow
Structured, documented code on widely used technologies such as React, TypeScript or Node.js. The app can grow without anyone having to start over.
Mistakes to avoid in an app project
- 01
Wanting everything in version one
A feature list that runs too long pushes back the launch and swells the bill. What your first users say beats any amount of guessing.
- 02
Heading for the app stores by reflex
A native app in the stores makes sense for some uses. For many others a PWA is enough, and you avoid paying for two separate builds.
- 03
Forgetting the real users
An app designed without the people who will use it daily tends to end up abandoned. Bringing them in at the mock-up stage changes a lot.
- 04
Skipping maintenance
Operating systems, browsers and software libraries never stop moving. An app nobody looks after degrades on its own.
What drives the price of an app
An app is always priced on a quote, once the need is scoped. Hosting and maintenance appear on a separate line. Here is what weighs most.
- 01
Number of screens and journeys
A tool for one task is not on the same scale as a platform where several kinds of user cross paths.
- 02
Business rules
Calculations, approvals, schedules, special cases. The more exceptions in the way you work, the more the build has to allow for them.
- 03
Integrations
Online payment, a map, sending texts or emails, a link to your management software.
- 04
Real time and offline
Syncing several screens instantly, or carrying on without a network, takes a more involved architecture.
- 05
Web, PWA or native
One codebase for every device usually costs less than two separate apps, one for iPhone and the other for Android.
Hosting, maintenance and growth for your app
An app lives alongside the people who use it. After go-live we can host it, for instance in Docker containers, a technique that makes each deployment repeatable and updates simpler. We also take care of monitoring, backups and security fixes.
After that, the field decides. One more screen, a new kind of user, a connection to another tool. You keep talking to the same person, in Bastia, who knows the app from the inside.
Technologies and methods
- React
- Next.js
- TypeScript
- Node.js
- PWA
- Real time
- Docker
Frequently asked questions
What is a PWA, and how is it different from a regular app?
A PWA installs from the browser, with no app store involved. It opens full screen, can send notifications and can partly work offline. A native app is built specifically for iPhone or for Android, and downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.
Does my app need to be on the App Store and Google Play?
Not necessarily. Being in the stores helps people find you and opens up certain phone features. In exchange you follow their publishing rules, and often pay for two builds. If your users already know you, a PWA is often simpler and cheaper. We decide together during scoping.
Will my app work without an internet connection?
Partly, if it is planned from the start. A PWA keeps the screens and data it needs in memory, saves what you enter without a signal and sends it once the connection comes back. For a team working in a valley with poor coverage, that saves writing everything on paper.
Can we start with a simple version and add to it later?
Yes, that is what we recommend. A first version cut down to the essentials quickly shows whether people use it, and you adjust before investing more. The code is organised from the start to take what comes next.
I have an app idea but no specification. Is that a problem?
No. The first step exists precisely to turn an idea into a precise need. You tell us what you want to achieve, and we draw from it mock-ups, a list of priority features and a quote you can read without a dictionary.