Marketplaces and booking
Customers find, compare and book; businesses run their diary, staff and payments. XCii does exactly this for local services across South Africa.
03 · Operate › Mobile apps
An app your customers will actually keep.
We build mobile and progressive web apps for customers, field teams and the public, from a booking marketplace like XCii to the tools your staff carry on site. Light on data, built for both app stores from one codebase, and honest about when you do not need an app at all.
Apps at a glance
- iOS + AndroidOne codebase, both stores. Same features, same release day, half the maintenance.
- PWAProgressive web apps install from a link, skip the store queue and update themselves.
- OfflineField apps that capture jobs, photos and signatures without signal and sync when it returns.
- LightSmall downloads and careful data use, because your customers pay for every megabyte.
What we build
Apps with a reason to be on the phone.
An app earns its place on a home screen by doing something a website or a WhatsApp chat cannot. These are the ones that do.
Field and operations apps
Jobs, checklists, photos, signatures and GPS for technicians and inspectors, working offline and syncing to the office system when signal returns.
Loyalty and rewards apps
Points, vouchers, a card in the wallet and a push when there is something worth coming back for. Backed by the same engine as your WhatsApp and USSD channels.
Public-sector service apps
Report a fault with a photo and a pin, track the ticket, pay an account. Built light for the phones residents actually have.
Internal staff apps
Approvals, leave, timesheets, stock counts and the daily numbers on a phone, connected to the systems you already run.
Progressive web apps
Installs from a link, works offline, sends notifications, no store review. For many South African use cases this is the right answer.
Not sure an app is the right answer? We will tell you honestly, and what to build instead if it is not.
Talk to us about an appHow we work
Four steps, starting with whether to build at all.
The most expensive app is the one nobody downloads. So the first step is a question.
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Decide if you need an app
Will people install it, and what does it do that WhatsApp, USSD or a website cannot? If the honest answer is a PWA or a chatbot, we will say so.
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Design
Flows and screens prototyped and tested on real phones, including the cheap ones. Data use and offline behaviour designed in from the first screen.
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Build
Cross-platform for iOS and Android from one codebase, with the backend, APIs and admin tools built alongside, demonstrated every week.
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Ship and support
Store listings, review submissions, crash monitoring, updates for each new OS release, and a support line.
Before you build an app, ask
We have talked clients out of apps and into something cheaper that worked better. These are the questions we ask first.
- Will they install it? An app competes for storage and data with everything else on the phone. It needs a reason to stay.
- What does the data cost them? A 60 MB download is a real decision for a prepaid customer. We build small.
- Can it work offline? If the job happens where there is no signal, the app has to work there and sync later.
- Is there a backend? An app without one is a brochure. The system behind it is most of the work and most of the value.
- Who maintains it? Store policies and OS versions change every year. Budget for updates or the app dies quietly.
- Would WhatsApp or USSD do? For reach, nothing beats the channels already on the phone. Sometimes the app is phase two.
What you get
From the first screen to the store listing.
The product thinking, the design, the app, the backend and the running of it, from one team.
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Product discovery
Who it is for, what it must do, what it can leave out, and whether an app is the right shape at all.
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UX and UI design
Flows and screens on your brand, tested on real phones, including low-end Android with a cracked screen and 2% battery.
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Cross-platform build
iOS and Android from one codebase, or a progressive web app when the store is not worth the queue.
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Backend and APIs
The system behind the app: accounts, data, payments, notifications and an API your website and WhatsApp bot share.
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Store submission
Listings, screenshots, privacy declarations and the review back-and-forth handled for you on both stores.
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Monitoring, updates and support
Crash reporting, analytics, OS-version updates and a support line, under an agreement in writing.
First screen to store listing. Including the store submissions nobody enjoys.
Get a quoteWork you can open
On phones right now.
Marketplace
XCii
Find and book local services, pay a deposit, manage the whole diary. Live in South Africa.
Open XCii →
Mobile game
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Browser app
Jozi Taxi Run
A 3D driving sim that runs in the browser with no install. Proof of what the web can do on a phone.
Questions we get asked
Before you open the app store account.
Native, cross-platform or progressive web app?
Cross-platform for most apps: one codebase, both stores, native performance where it matters. A progressive web app when you want to skip the store, update instantly and reach people from a link. Fully native only when the app depends on hardware features that need it. We recommend one and explain why.
How much does an app cost and how long does it take?
It depends on the features, the backend and whether it needs to work offline. We quote a fixed price for a first release after discovery, and a first useful version is typically a few months. The backend is usually most of the work, and most of the value.
Do you handle the app stores?
Yes. We set up the developer accounts in your name, prepare the listings and privacy declarations, submit for review and deal with the rejections so you do not have to.
Can it work offline?
Yes. For field and public-sector apps we design offline-first: the app works without signal and syncs when it gets one, with conflicts handled rather than silently lost.
Will it connect to our existing systems?
Yes. The app talks to a backend we build or to your existing systems through APIs, so what a technician captures on site lands in the office system without retyping.
What about data usage?
We keep downloads small, cache aggressively, compress images and avoid pulling data the screen does not need. Your customers pay per megabyte and we build as if we do too.
Not sure you need an app?
The channels already on the phone reach further.
WhatsApp and USSD need no download and no data bundle. For many customer journeys they are the right first step, and the app is phase two once the backend exists.
Ready when you are
Tell us what the app has to do.
Describe the customer or the team and the job in their hands. We will tell you whether it is an app, a PWA or a chatbot, and quote the first release.
Built for marketplaces, FMCG brands and operations teams. See who we work with.