Mobile Apps

App development — a new activity, and our own first product

Software only proves itself when people use it every day. That is why we added app development to what we do — and why we did not start with a client's brief, but with our own product.

Book-it: our first app

Book-it is a booking app for gyms and sports clubs. Members see the classes and time slots available to them, reserve a spot in a few taps, and find their bookings back under My bookings in one clear overview. They manage their own profile, keep their reservations in order, and get a straight answer to the only question that matters when you are standing in the gym: is there still room?

Behind that simple experience sits a structure built for organisations rather than for a single location. After logging in, a user sees the organisations they have access to and enters the one they need. From there the app shows only what that role allows: a member sees their classes and reservations, a gym administrator manages the schedule and the members, and a superadmin manages the organisations and their administrators. One app, several roles, one clear entry point — no separate apps per location and no tangle of permissions to explain at the front desk.

How we build it

Book-it is built with React Native and Expo in TypeScript, so one codebase delivers both the iOS and Android app. Data and authentication run on Supabase, with hosting inside the EU — a deliberate choice, in line with the same conviction that runs through our consultancy and web work: you should stay in control of your data, and it should not leave the jurisdiction you operate in.

We build in phases: first a working local prototype, then real data and hosting, then user accounts, then the administrator environment, and finally release to the App Store and Play Store. Each phase delivers something that works, so decisions are made on what we can see and test rather than on a document.

What that means for your app

The same approach is available for your organisation. A focused app that does one thing properly — a booking, an order, an inspection, a form your staff currently fill in on paper — built to be maintained, not to be impressive in a demo. We start with a realistic scope, agree the roadmap, and choose technology for the long term.

New: apps from Blanchard

App development is our newest activity. We market it under the name of Referenza. Our first app is Book-it — a booking app for gyms and sports clubs: members reserve a class or time slot in a few taps, administrators manage schedule and members. Built with React Native in one codebase for iOS and Android.