Custom apps
Custom apps built around the way your team already works
I build web apps, iOS apps, websites, and customer and partner portals for businesses whose work does not fit a template. You deal with the engineer who writes the code, from the first call to the handoff, and you own all of it when it ships.
- Most first builds
- 2 to 6 weeks
- Pricing
- Fixed scope, approved before work starts
- You own
- The code, the accounts, the docs
- Who builds it
- Matthew Ryan, first call to handoff
What I build
Internal web apps
The screens your team uses every day to log work, look things up, and move jobs forward. At 4.0 Storage, staff log a job on-site in under a minute and the customer signs digitally on the spot.
iOS apps
For the people who do their work away from a desk and should not have to call it in to the office.
Customer and partner portals
A login where the people you work with see their own orders, invoices, or payouts, pulled live from your systems, like the partner portal behind Skyway Vending.
Websites that update themselves
Public sites that pull live data on their own instead of waiting for someone to go edit a page.
Apps with machine learning inside
Lookzapp runs a custom TensorFlow model that maps 168 facial landmark points per frame, live, in a web app.
Why one engineer, start to finish
Octavian Ideas is me on every engagement. The person on the discovery call is the person mapping your process, writing the code, and writing the handoff docs. Nothing gets passed to a junior you never met, and nothing gets lost between a salesperson and a developer.
When this is the right call, and when it is not
A good fit if
- Your team works around an app instead of with it.
- Customers or partners call and email for information that could be a login.
- Work happens in the field and gets typed up later in the office.
Probably not a fit if
- A brochure site with a few pages and no data behind it. A site builder is cheaper, and you can edit it yourself.
- A tool a handful of people use that a no-code builder already covers.
A no-code builder or a custom app?
| Compared on | No-code app builder | Custom app |
|---|---|---|
| First version | Fast, often days | Weeks, shipped in approved pieces |
| Fits your workflow | Up to the limits of the builder | Yes. It is written around your workflow. |
| Cost over time | A subscription that often grows with users or usage | A fixed build price, hosting on your own account, and an optional flat retainer |
| Connections | Whatever connectors the builder supports | Most systems with an API or webhooks |
| Who owns it | It runs on the builder's platform | Your code, your accounts |
The straight answer
For a simple internal tool with a handful of users, a no-code builder is often the right call. Go custom when the workflow is yours alone, or when it has to reach systems the builder cannot.
Builds that shipped
What was there before, what got built, and what changed.
4.0 Storage
Student storage
Took a student storage business that ran on spreadsheets and rebuilt its operations as a self-running system.
Skyway Vending
Vending
Founded and operate a nightlife vending company across Buffalo and Hamburg, and built the entire operations platform from scratch.
Semres
Moving industry software
One integration and automation layer that sits between a moving company's CRM and its entire customer lifecycle, so the growth work runs without a dedicated ops hire.
How a build actually goes.
The same five steps on every engagement, so you always know what happens next and what it costs before it happens.
- I
Discovery call
Thirty minutes on how the business actually runs. What the team touches by hand, what breaks, and what nobody has time to fix. No slides and no pitch deck.
- II
Process mapping
I sit with the people doing the work and write down what actually happens, step by step. The real bottleneck is usually somewhere nobody flagged on the call.
- III
Proposal with hours
A fixed scope. Every piece listed with the hours it takes and what it costs. You approve the number before anything gets built.
- IV
Build with approval gates
Work ships in pieces and you sign off on each one. No multi-month black box, and no finding out at the end that it solves the wrong problem.
- V
Handoff
You get the code, the accounts, and written documentation covering how it works, what it touches, and what to do when something looks wrong. It runs without me.
- Optional
Then, if you want it, a retainer
Most clients keep me on a flat monthly retainer after handoff for monitoring, fixes, and small changes. It is optional, and everything is built so you are not stranded if you skip it.
Questions about custom apps
Do you build iOS apps or only web apps?
Both. Most business tools start as a web app because it runs on every device. An iOS app makes sense when people use it all day in the field. We settle that on the discovery call, based on how your team works.
Who owns the code?
You do, from day one. The code lives in a repository you own, the accounts are in your name, and every build ships with written documentation.
Can the app connect to the software we already use?
Yes, if that software has an API or webhooks, which most CRMs, payment platforms, and accounting tools do. Connecting to what you already run is usually the point.
What happens after launch?
Most clients keep me on a flat monthly retainer after handoff for monitoring, fixes, and small changes. It is optional, and everything is built so you are not stranded if you skip it.
How long does a build take?
Most first builds land between two and six weeks from the discovery call, depending on how many systems have to talk to each other. You see working pieces at every approval gate along the way, so you are never waiting months to find out whether it does what you wanted.