Software development • Montreal

Mobile App Development in Montreal

Mobile apps are for businesses whose customers or staff work from a phone: field technicians filing reports, clients booking and paying, members checking in. If your Montreal company is weighing an app, the first question is whether you need one, and we will answer it honestly.

DaniMaster designs and builds mobile apps for small and mid-size businesses across Quebec and Canada, usually from one shared codebase for iOS and Android. We handle design, development, back end, store submission and updates. We built ClearCall, an accessible calling app with live captions, so we know how to ship for demanding users.

What we build

We build these kinds of mobile apps:

• Customer apps: booking, ordering, loyalty, account access and payments through Stripe.
• Field and staff apps: inspections, photo capture, checklists, signatures and offline sync for crews who lose signal.
• Companion apps for an existing web product, so the same accounts and data appear on the phone.
• Accessibility-focused apps where captions, contrast and large touch targets are requirements, not extras.

Our default approach is Cross-platform app development: one TypeScript codebase that ships to iOS and Android and usually to the web as well. It keeps the two versions identical and roughly halves the cost. We go fully native only when an app depends on hardware features the shared approach cannot reach well.

We also offer Desktop application development for tools that belong on a Windows or Mac workstation, such as a front-desk check-in screen that needs local printers and scanners. The same web technologies run in a desktop shell and share code with the mobile and web versions.

Every app comes with the back end it needs: APIs, authentication, push notifications and an admin console.

How we work

Mobile projects fail when the scope grows after design. Our process keeps it fixed.

Discovery. We define the one job the app must do well, who uses it, and which phones they own. We decide together whether a mobile app, a progressive web app or a responsive site is the right answer.

Design. Clickable prototypes for the main flows, tested on a real device in your hand, in Montreal or by screen share. Accessibility and French and English text are checked here.

Build. One or two week cycles, with test builds sent to your phone through TestFlight and Android internal testing.

Test. Real iOS and Android devices, poor network conditions and interrupted sessions.

Launch. We prepare store listings, screenshots and privacy declarations, submit to Apple and Google, and handle review feedback.

Support. Operating systems change every year. We keep the app building, patched and compliant, and ship features in small releases.

ClearCall and the systems behind our apps

ClearCall is an accessible calling app with live captions for deaf and hard-of-hearing users. The brief was simple to state and hard to do: a person who cannot hear should be able to make and take calls and follow the conversation as text, in real time.

That constraint shaped every decision. Call state had to be visible rather than audible. Captions had to appear fast enough to keep a conversation natural. The interface had to work for users who may also have low vision or limited dexterity. Those standards now apply to every app we build.

Behind our apps sit the same back-end systems we run for our other products. FacilInvoice handles Stripe subscriptions and Canadian multi-province tax. BizLocal serves a directory of about 49,000 Quebec and Canadian businesses with a lead-routing funnel. We have built both sides: the mobile front end and the API it talks to.

We also integrate apps with Odoo 17 and ERPNext so that orders, leads and invoices captured on a phone land in your central system.

What a mobile app costs and how long it takes

Mobile app pricing in Canadian dollars, with the usual caveat that scope decides the final number.

• A focused single-purpose app, such as a check-in or inspection tool with a small back end: $12,000 to $30,000, six to ten weeks.
• A typical customer app with accounts, bookings or orders, payments, push notifications and an admin console: $30,000 to $90,000, three to six months.
• A companion app for an existing web product with a usable API: often $15,000 to $40,000, because the back end already exists.
• Ongoing support, store compliance and OS updates: from $600 per month.

Cross-platform development is what keeps these numbers reasonable. Building separate native iOS and Android apps roughly doubles the front-end work.

Apple and Google developer accounts, held in your company name, add about $150 per year. Hosting for the back end typically runs $50 to $300 per month.

An MVP version of a Montreal customer app can start from $8,000 when the first release is limited to one flow.

Why build your app with a Montreal team

Here is what a local team brings to a mobile project.

Bilingual apps from day one. Store listings, interface text, notifications and support emails in French and English, written together rather than translated later. Quebec users expect French first.

Law 25 and app privacy. Mobile apps collect location, contacts and device data. We decide with you what the app truly needs, document consent, and fill in Apple and Google privacy declarations accurately. Data can stay on Canadian servers on request.

Canadian payments and taxes. In-app purchases, Stripe and Interac flows, and GST, HST, QST and PST on anything you sell through the app.

Real devices in real hands. We test prototypes with your staff or customers in person in Montreal, and adjust before the build starts.

Same business hours. Store rejections and crash reports get attention the same morning, on Eastern time.

Ownership. The developer accounts, source code and signing keys belong to you.

Who needs a mobile app

Mobile apps earn their cost in a few recurring situations.

Crews in the field. A Montreal HVAC company has technicians filling paper forms that get typed into the office system a day later. A field app with photos, checklists and offline sync removes the retyping and gives the office same-day visibility.

Customers who book and rebook. A clinic or salon takes bookings by phone and loses them to no-shows. An app with booking, reminders and prepayment reduces the admin load and gives regulars a faster way back.

Users with specific access needs. As with ClearCall, some audiences need an interface built around captions, contrast or simplified flows, and a general-purpose app will not serve them.

If you are not sure whether you need an app or a mobile-friendly web application, the next step is simple. Start with a free 30-minute call. We will give you a straight answer either way.

Frequently asked questions

Do I really need a mobile app, or would a web app do?

Often a responsive web application or a progressive web app is enough, and it costs less. You need a native or cross-platform app when users need reliable push notifications, offline work, background camera or GPS access, or a presence in the app stores. We answer this honestly in the first call.

Do you build for both iPhone and Android?

Yes. Our default is cross-platform development from one codebase, so both versions ship together and stay identical. This is the most cost-effective approach for business apps, since both platforms are common among Canadian customers and staff. We build native only when a specific hardware feature requires it.

How does app store submission work?

We set up Apple and Google developer accounts in your company's name, prepare listings, screenshots and privacy declarations in French and English, and submit the builds. Apple review typically takes a few days and sometimes comes back with questions. We handle the back and forth, for the first release and every update.

How much does it cost to maintain a mobile app each year?

Budget for the developer accounts, about $150 per year, hosting for the back end, and a support plan from $600 per month that covers OS updates, library upgrades, store compliance and small fixes. Apple and Google change requirements every year, and an app that is not maintained eventually stops installing.