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App development in Manchester.
Including the reasons not to build one.

An app is the most expensive way to reach somebody who already has your website, and it is the only way to reach somebody on their home screen. Both of those are true, and which one matters is the whole conversation. We build iOS and Android apps from Greater Manchester, and we start by trying to talk you out of it, because roughly half the app briefs we take are better served by a web app or an Apple Wallet pass.

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The three costs nobody mentions in the pitch

These are published numbers, they recur every year, and they belong in the budget before the build is approved.

The developer account

Apple charges an annual membership fee to publish at all, and it renews whether the app is selling or not. An individual enrolment also means the app publishes under a person’s name rather than the company’s, which matters more than people expect.

The platform’s cut

Google Play takes a service fee on digital sales, at a lower rate on the first slice of annual revenue. If your app sells anything digital, that percentage is a permanent line in the model.

Review, every single time

Every update waits for review. Plan releases around that rather than promising a client a fix by Friday afternoon.

Sources, checked 26 October 2026

  1. Apple, Program enrollment: the Apple Developer Program annual fee is 99 USD, in local currency where available
  2. Google Play Console Help, Get started with Play Console: a US$25 one-time registration fee

What we would suggest instead, and when

Three alternatives that are cheaper, faster and often better. We would rather sell you the right one.

  • An Apple Wallet pass For loyalty, membership, stamps and vouchers. It lives in Wallet, it updates by push without an app update, and there is no store review in the loop. For a coffee shop or a barber this is almost always the right answer rather than an app.
  • A web app saved to the home screen For anything that is really a logged-in screen — a trade portal, a driver app, a kitchen display. No store, no review, ship a fix in ten minutes.
  • A real native app When you genuinely need push notifications, the camera, background location, offline use or Bluetooth hardware. Delivery and private hire are the clearest cases we build for.

Sources, checked 26 October 2026

  1. Apple, Wallet Passes: creating, signing, distributing and updating passes

Why Manchester app searches are hard to read

Worth knowing before you shortlist anyone, because the first page of this search is not what it appears to be.

Most of page one is not Manchester

When we measured the "app developers manchester" result in October 2026, the top of the page was a directory, and several of the firms listed in the local pack are offshore development shops running a page per city. Position is not proximity.

The local pack admits almost anyone

We read the listings on that query and found businesses in the pack on one, two and three reviews. A firm ranking above another tells you very little about either.

What to ask instead

Ask who writes the code, in which country, and who holds the Apple and Google accounts. If the answer to the last one is the agency rather than you, that is the thing to negotiate before signing, not after.

When we are the wrong firm for this

If your app idea is a marketplace that needs both sides of a network before it is useful, the build is the cheap part and we are the wrong people to be taking your money first. If it is an internal tool for under twenty staff, a web app on their phones will cost a fraction and ship this month. And if you are a startup whose plan depends on being in the App Store to look credible to an investor, say so and we will tell you honestly whether the build we would do is worth that.

We would rather lose the app job and keep the client than build something that renews a developer fee for three years and gets opened twice.

Questions

Before you ask.

How much does an app cost in Manchester?

We quote a fixed price in writing within 48 hours of agreeing the scope, because the honest range for "an app" spans an order of magnitude. What we can tell you up front are the recurring costs that exist whatever we charge: an annual Apple developer membership, and Google Play’s service fee on digital sales.

Should I build iOS first or both?

Both, if the app is for the public and the audience is in the UK. One, if it is an internal tool and you control which phones your staff carry — in which case a web app on the home screen is usually better than either.

Do I need an app for a loyalty scheme?

Almost never. An Apple Wallet pass does stamps, points and membership, updates by push without an app update, and skips store review entirely. We build those, and we build them far more often than we build loyalty apps.

Who owns the app and the store accounts?

You should, and with us you do. The app records, bundle identifiers and signing certificates belong under your own Apple and Google accounts wherever the client is set up to hold them, so changing agency later does not mean rebuilding and resubmitting.
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Ready to get started?

Tell us what you need. We will scope it, price it and build it.

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