Work with Zynx
Bring a brief, a prototype or an existing app.
We design and build apps for iPhone and iPad. Share where your project is now and we will discuss the people it serves, the work involved and a sensible next step.
Step one: describe it in one paragraph.
Before anything else, write a paragraph naming the person the app is for, the task they are trying to finish and how they handle it today. “An app for tradies” is not enough to work from. “A plumber standing in a customer’s kitchen who needs to write up a quote before he leaves” gives every later decision something to push against.
If you can also say what happens today — the notebook, the text message, the spreadsheet retyped at night — you have described the problem well enough for a developer to give you a useful answer instead of a guess.
Your paragraph needs three things
- Feature 1
Who it is for, specifically.
- Feature 2
The one task the first version must complete.
- Feature 3
How that task is handled today, and why that is a problem.
Step two: decide what the first version does not do.
Nearly every app idea arrives with ten features attached. The ones that ship are the ones that pick a single journey and finish it properly. Write two lists: what must work for the app to be worth opening, and what can wait until people are using it.
Accounts, payments, syncing between devices, notifications and integrations with other software each add real work. They are not off limits, but they should be chosen deliberately rather than assumed.
Two lists, plus the unknowns
- Feature 1
Must work: the steps that complete the main task.
- Feature 2
Can wait: everything that adds value only after that works.
- Feature 3
Needs investigation: anything you are unsure is possible.
Step three: understand what actually drives the cost.
The number of screens is a poor predictor of effort. What moves a quote is whether the app needs accounts, whether it takes payments, whether data has to be shared between people or devices, whether it must work offline, and whether it has to talk to software you already run.
Nobody can price an app idea responsibly from a sentence. A developer worth talking to will ask about those five things before quoting, and will tell you when something in your list is disproportionately expensive relative to what it gives you.
Bring the budget range you are comfortable discussing. It is not a negotiating position; it decides which version of the idea is worth designing.
Step four: see it before you build it.
Design is where an idea becomes specific and where changes are still cheap. Flows and an interactive prototype let you step through the app, put it in front of a few of the intended users and find the confusing parts while they cost nothing to fix.
A prototype answers questions about language, order and navigation. It cannot tell you whether syncing, payments or performance will work — those need a small technical experiment instead. Keep the two kinds of finding separate in your notes.
Step five: build, review, and prepare for the App Store.
Development should produce something you can hold and use at regular intervals, not a single reveal at the end. Reviewing on a real device is when you notice the things a design cannot show you.
Releasing on the App Store needs an Apple Developer account, product information, screenshots, a support contact and a privacy policy that matches what the app really does. Apple reviews every submission and makes the final decision; a competent submission is prepared for review rather than hoping to slip through.
Decide before launch who owns the store account, who answers support email and who pays for future updates. Those three questions cause more trouble after release than any technical choice.
Step six: choosing who builds it.
Look for someone who asks about your users before your features, who tells you what they would leave out, and who has shipped something you can download and try. An app on a store is evidence in a way a portfolio of screenshots is not.
Zynx is an independent studio in Sydney. We design and build our own apps — Modes Media Player is on the App Store — and we take on client projects for iPhone and iPad. If your idea is still a paragraph, that is the right time to talk.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get an app made if I am not technical?
Write down who the app is for, the one task it must complete and how that task is handled today. That paragraph is enough to start a conversation with a developer or a product designer, who will work through devices, data, integrations and scope with you before anything is quoted or built.
How much does it cost to build an app?
It depends on accounts, payments, sharing data between people or devices, offline behaviour and integrations with software you already use — not the number of screens. Any figure quoted before those are discussed is a guess. Share a budget range early so the version that is designed is one you can actually build.
Do I need a designer before I talk to a developer?
No. Existing sketches or screens are useful if you have them, but they are not a prerequisite. Product design is a normal first stage of a project and often saves money by settling decisions before development starts.
How long does it take to get an app on the App Store?
The build is the long part; submission is not. Preparing a release means an Apple Developer account, product information, screenshots, a support contact and an accurate privacy policy. Apple reviews every submission and makes the decision, so approval cannot be promised by anyone.
Who makes apps in Sydney?
Sydney has everything from single freelancers to large agencies. Zynx is an independent studio here that designs and builds its own iPhone and iPad apps and takes on client projects. Whoever you approach, ask what they have published and ask them what they would leave out of your first release.
Should I build for iPhone or Android first?
Build for the platform your intended users actually carry, and only one of them first. Zynx focuses on iPhone and iPad; if you need Android as well, say so early so the fit can be discussed before any commitment.
Will someone steal my idea?
Ideas are rarely the scarce part; the work of shaping, building, releasing and supporting one is. Talk to people you would be comfortable working with, share what is needed to get useful advice, and keep genuinely sensitive material — customer data, credentials, commercial contracts — out of an early conversation.