When your app needs a new home
The agency folded, the freelancer stopped replying, or the app simply hasn't been touched since launch and now it's crashing on new phones. We take over existing mobile apps — React Native and Expo especially — stabilise them, and give them a future.
Apps we rescue
Orphaned by the builder
Whoever built it is gone — and with them, the source code, the signing certificates, or both. We recover what's recoverable and rebuild what isn't, starting with an honest inventory.
Crashing on new devices
Every iOS and Android release breaks unmaintained apps eventually. We diagnose from crash reports, fix compatibility, and set up monitoring so the next OS release is a task, not a crisis.
Rejected or delisted
Store policy strikes, missing privacy declarations, expired agreements. We deal with Apple and Google review processes so you don't have to learn their bureaucracies the hard way.
Stalled mid-build
Eighty percent finished, zero percent shipped. We audit what exists, tell you honestly what's salvageable, and quote the path to launch as fixed-price phases.
Stuck on an ancient stack
React Native versions years behind, Expo SDKs long unsupported, dependencies unpatchable. We plan staged upgrades that keep the app shippable at every step.
Backend included
Apps die from their servers too. We take over the API and infrastructure alongside the app — one team responsible for the whole product.
How a takeover runs
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Access & asset inventory
Source code, store accounts, certificates, backend, third-party services — we establish what exists and what's missing. Missing pieces are common and usually solvable; we've recovered apps from surprisingly little.
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Technical audit
Code quality, dependency health, crash data, store compliance. You get a written state-of-the-app report with a prioritised fix list — yours to act on with us or anyone.
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Stabilise
Critical crashes fixed, builds reproducible, a clean release shipped through both stores under your accounts, with monitoring switched on.
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Maintain or evolve
Most rescued apps roll onto an app care plan; some go into active feature development. Either way, everything is documented and the credentials are yours.
Common questions
We don't have the source code. Is it hopeless?
Not necessarily — sometimes it's recoverable from repositories, old laptops or build services, and store listings can be preserved while a rebuild happens behind them. The inventory step tells us fast, before you commit to anything.
The app isn't React Native. Can you still help?
We'll be honest about fit: native Swift/Kotlin apps we can audit and advise on, and if a rebuild is warranted anyway, React Native often lets one codebase replace two. If you're better served by a native specialist, we'll tell you.
What does a rescue cost?
The audit is fixed-price based on app size — typically £1,000–£2,500 — and credited if we proceed to the repair work, which is quoted from the audit's findings. No open-ended day rates on an unknown codebase.
Tell us what state it's in
However messy the situation, it's rarely one we haven't seen. Describe it in your own words and a developer will map the way out — usually the same day.
Discuss a takeover