Android App Development for UK Businesses

Where Android fits

Android matters more in business than people think. Most rugged handhelds used in warehouses, depots and on delivery rounds run Android, often with a hardware scanner built in. Field teams are frequently issued Android phones because they are cheaper to buy in bulk and easy to lock down. And a customer app that only works on iPhone leaves a large share of UK users out.

We build fully native in Kotlin with Jetpack Compose when the app drives specialist hardware, such as a vendor scanner SDK, Bluetooth label printers or NFC tags, or runs as a locked-down kiosk. For most customer and staff apps we build cross-platform in Flutter or React Native so the same code also runs on iPhone.

Google Play rules that catch people out

• Target API level. Google's target SDK requirements page says that from 31 August 2026, new apps and app updates must target Android 16 (API level 36). Existing apps must target at least Android 15 (API level 35) to stay available to new users on newer devices. This rises every year, so an app nobody touches slowly disappears from the store for new customers.
• Testing for new personal accounts. Personal developer accounts created after 13 November 2023 must run a closed test with at least 12 testers opted in for 14 days in a row before they can publish to production. Organisation accounts are not subject to this, which is one reason we set you up with an organisation account under your company name. Google charges a one-off 25 US dollar registration fee and verifies the organisation's identity, including a D-U-N-S number.
• Data safety form. Every listing declares what data the app collects and shares, including data collected by third-party SDKs. We audit each library before we fill it in.
• Payments. From 30 June 2026, Google changed its UK, US and EEA fee structure, splitting its charge into a service fee and a separate billing fee, and widening the options for using other billing systems. Physical goods and services can use your own provider, such as Stripe.

Staff apps without the public store

Internal apps do not need a public listing. Managed Google Play lets you publish a private app that only your organisation can see, and push it to company devices through Android Enterprise and your device management tool. You can lock devices to a single app, set the app's configuration remotely, and wipe it from a lost handheld.

Google has also announced Android developer verification for apps installed outside Google Play, starting with four countries on 30 September 2026 and expanding globally in 2027. If your app is sideloaded onto devices today, we will plan for registering it properly rather than relying on unknown sources.

How we build it

The app talks to a secure API, usually Laravel or Node.js, which connects onward to your existing systems. See API development. Tokens live in the Android Keystore. Work done offline is stored in a local Room or SQLite database, and WorkManager syncs it reliably when signal returns, even if the app has been closed. Photos queue for upload rather than blocking the user.

Android runs on thousands of devices, so we test on a spread of real phones and the exact handheld models you use, plus Firebase Test Lab for wider coverage. Releases go out as Android App Bundles through a staged rollout: a small percentage of users first, then everyone once crash rates look normal.

Battery and background limits deserve care too. Android restricts what apps can do in the background, and some manufacturers add their own aggressive battery savers on top. Location tracking for drivers, for example, needs a foreground service with a visible notification and the right permission declarations, or the system will stop it mid-shift.

Getting started

Tell us which devices your users carry, what they need to do and where signal is poor. We will recommend native or cross-platform, check whether a progressive web app would do, and give you a fixed-price quote for the first release. After launch, app maintenance keeps it ahead of each year's target API deadline. Book a free chat.

What we deliver

• An Android app built in Kotlin and Jetpack Compose, or cross-platform
• A secure API linking the app to your stock, job or CRM systems
• Barcode, camera, GPS, NFC and signature capture where needed
• Offline storage with background sync using WorkManager
• Google Play listing, Data safety form and staged rollout
• Private distribution through managed Google Play for staff apps
• Documented source code in your own repository

How it works and what it costs

Every project gets a fixed-price quote after a free initial chat and a short scoping stage. You own the code and the data.

1. Free chat

   Tell us the problem in plain English: what you do now, what goes wrong and what "better" looks like. No charge, no obligation.

2. Scoping

   We map the processes, systems and data involved, agree what is in and out, and write it down so there are no surprises.

3. Fixed-price quote

   You get a fixed price for the agreed scope, or a phased plan for bigger builds, so you can start small and prove it works.

4. Build and test

   We build in short stages you can see and try, test against real data, then go live carefully with a rollback plan.

5. Hand over and look after

   You own the code and the data. We can host it, support it and keep improving it, or hand it to your own team.

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