# Mobile App Development in Mansfield > Most businesses that want an app want a website that works well on a phone. Those cost a fraction as much and nobody has to install anything. **Provider:** Web Design Mansfield (a dijitul company) **Location:** The Bungalow, 11 St John Street, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire NG18 1QJ **Phone:** 01623 272050 **Email:** info@web-design-mansfield.co.uk **Price:** From £1,500, excluding VAT **Canonical URL:** https://web-design-mansfield.co.uk/services/mobile-app-development/ --- We build apps, and we start every one of these conversations by trying to establish whether you need one. That is not false modesty — the app graveyard is enormous, and it is mostly full of things that should have been web pages. The hard truth is distribution. Getting somebody to install an app is a genuinely high bar. They need a reason to return repeatedly, or the install never happens and the project fails on day one regardless of how good the app is. Where there is a real reason, an app is excellent. Where there is not, a progressive web app gives you most of the benefits — home screen icon, offline working, push notifications on Android — with none of the app store overhead. ## What you get ### The needs-assessment conversation first What would somebody do in this app, and how often? If the honest answer is "once a year", we will suggest a website and save you thousands. ### Progressive web app where it fits Installable from the browser, works offline, no app store approval, one codebase. For a large share of business use cases this is simply the better answer. ### Cross-platform native where it does not One codebase producing genuine iOS and Android apps, which is far cheaper than building each separately and adequate for almost everything short of games. ### App store submission handled Listings, screenshots, descriptions, privacy declarations and the review process. Apple in particular rejects for reasons that are not obvious until you have been through it. ### A maintenance plan, budgeted honestly Apps are not finished at launch. iOS and Android release breaking changes annually, and an unmaintained app stops working within about two years. We say this before you commit, not afterwards. ## When an app genuinely makes sense - People use it several times a week — loyalty, ordering, booking, tracking - It needs hardware a browser cannot reach reliably: background location, Bluetooth, offline camera work - Push notifications are core to the product rather than a nice extra - It works offline in places with no signal — genuinely relevant for field work locally - You have an existing audience who will install it, which is the deciding factor more often than the features ## When it does not If the app would mainly display information, take an occasional booking, or show a menu, a fast mobile website does all of it with no install friction and a fraction of the cost. We would rather build you a very good mobile website for £500 than a £6,000 app that gets forty installs. That is not a hypothetical figure — it is roughly what happens to most small business apps. ## What affects the price Starting price: From £1,500 (excluding VAT). - Whether a progressive web app will do, or it needs to be native - How many platforms — iOS, Android, or both - Whether it needs offline working, push notifications or device hardware - Backend and ongoing maintenance, which is a real recurring cost ## Local context — Mansfield The app enquiries we get from Mansfield businesses are usually solvable another way, and we say so. The exceptions have tended to be field-service businesses where engineers need something working offline in places with no signal — which, around parts of Sherwood and the villages, is a genuine constraint rather than an edge case. That is a real reason for an app. "Our competitor has one" is not. ## Also known as app developer Mansfield, iOS app development Mansfield, Android app Mansfield, progressive web app Mansfield, app design Mansfield. ## Frequently asked questions ### How much does an app cost? A progressive web app from £1,500. A cross-platform native app from £6,000, and genuinely complex ones considerably more. Budget 15% to 20% of the build cost annually for maintenance, because that is what keeps it working. ### What is a progressive web app? A website that can be installed to the home screen, works offline, and behaves like an app. No app store, no install friction, one codebase for every device. For most business cases it is the right answer and it is rarely offered. ### Do I need separate iOS and Android apps? Not any more. Cross-platform frameworks produce both from one codebase at roughly 60% of the cost of building separately, and the difference is invisible to users for most applications. ### How do I get people to install it? This is the real question and it should be answered before anything is built. If there is no clear answer, that is the strongest possible signal to build a website instead. ## Related services - [Bespoke Web Development in Mansfield](https://web-design-mansfield.co.uk/services/bespoke-web-development/): Custom-built tools and systems for when off-the-shelf genuinely does not fit. - [Web Design in Mansfield](https://web-design-mansfield.co.uk/services/web-design/): Websites that load fast, rank well and turn visitors into enquiries. - [Website Speed Optimisation in Mansfield](https://web-design-mansfield.co.uk/services/website-speed-optimisation/): Diagnose why it is slow, fix the actual cause, prove the difference. - [Online Booking Systems in Mansfield](https://web-design-mansfield.co.uk/services/booking-systems/): Taking bookings while you are on a job or asleep. - [Website Redesign in Mansfield](https://web-design-mansfield.co.uk/services/website-redesign/): Modernise what you have without losing the traffic you already earned. - [WordPress Web Design in Mansfield](https://web-design-mansfield.co.uk/services/wordpress-web-design/): WordPress built the way it should be — light, secure and genuinely editable. --- Web Design Mansfield — Mansfield’s digital agency — websites, SEO and marketing that bring in work. The Bungalow, 11 St John Street, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire NG18 1QJ · 01623 272050 · info@web-design-mansfield.co.uk Trading since 2006. Google rating 5.0 from 35+ reviews.