askcust develops farm mobile apps on iOS and Android for farms and agricultural companies: native, with offline mode, field maps, camera and push notifications. For farms that need a tool for people in the field, and for agricultural companies that want to give their farmer clients an app of their own.
Farm mobile app development is building an iOS and Android app around a specific agricultural workflow: recording operations and observations in the field, tasks for staff, orders and advice for the clients of an agricultural company. Unlike the mobile version of an off-the-shelf service, such an app follows your processes, works with your backend and is published under your name in the App Store and Google Play.
A worker records an operation, an observation or a problem in the app on the spot, with a photo, geotag and time. The record reaches the shared system at the next sync, without copying notes from a notebook at the end of the day.
The app stores data on the device, shows the map and reference data without a network and sends the queue of changes once there is a connection. Rules for conflicting edits, whose change wins and when, are agreed at the prototype stage.
An agricultural company's app gives the farmer a product catalogue, orders, delivery status, documents and a request for an agronomist's advice. The manager sees the client's history in the system instead of searching through messages and calls.
Screens, fields and statuses are designed around your work orders, inspections or orders, not around a vendor template shared by all clients. Extra steps are removed, because in the field the app is used in gloves, in the sun and on the move.
The feature set is defined by user scenarios; below are the typical building blocks of an app for agriculture.
Swift and SwiftUI for iPhone and iPad, Kotlin and Jetpack Compose for Android: predictable performance with maps and the camera, and support for current versions of both systems.
A local database on the device, a change queue with retries, conflict resolution by agreed rules: people work in the field the same way with or without a network.
Field boundaries and inspection points on the map, current location, navigation to a field, and maps downloaded in advance for areas without coverage.
Geotagged, time-stamped photos linked to a field, task or machine; compression before upload to save mobile data; QR code and barcode scanning.
Tasks from the agronomist or dispatcher with completion statuses, reminders and notifications through Apple Push Notification service and Firebase Cloud Messaging.
For client apps: catalogue, orders, delivery history, documents and settlements, and a request for an agronomist or service engineer in a few taps.
An API on Node.js and PostgreSQL, a web admin panel for the dispatcher or manager, exchange with accounting and event analytics that show how the app is actually used.
The app is published in the client's developer accounts, and the backend exchanges data with the client's systems.
| criterion | Mobile version of a ready service | Custom app by askcust |
|---|---|---|
| Scenarios | Whatever the vendor built for all clients; adding your own fields and steps is hard. | Your work orders, inspections or orders, with your own reference data, statuses and fields. |
| Offline work | Within the limits the vendor has set for its product. | Designed for your scenarios: what works without a network and how changes sync. |
| Brand | Clients see the name and brand of the service vendor. | The app is published under your name, in your developer account. |
| Data and code | Data is stored in the vendor's service, and the code is not available. | The code of the app and the backend is yours, and the data is on your server. |
| Cost | A per-user subscription; a start without development. | One-time development and support by agreement; developer account fees are separate. |
| When to choose | Standard tasks that a ready service already covers, with no need for your own brand. | Field processes of your own or a client product of an agricultural company under its brand. |
Who uses the app, what they do in the field or at home, what must work without a network. The result is a prioritised list of screens and scenarios for the first release.
A clickable prototype of the key screens is tested with an agronomist, a machine operator or a farmer client before development, not after the release.
Native iOS and Android apps, the backend and the admin panel; test builds through TestFlight and Google Play closed testing for the first group of users.
Description, screenshots and privacy policy, App Store and Google Play review, and a staged rollout of updates so that a bug does not reach all users at once.
Crash reports, usage analytics, updates for new iOS and Android versions, and further development based on feedback from people in the field.
examples of askcust's work →not agriculture, but the same kind of task: records, CRM, automation
askcust builds native apps: Swift and SwiftUI for iOS, Kotlin and Jetpack Compose for Android. For an app that works in the field with maps, the camera, GPS and an offline database, this gives predictable performance and direct access to device capabilities. The trade-off is two codebases, so on a tight budget the first release can target the platform most of your people use.
The timeline is set after the scenarios and the prototype: it depends on the number of screens, the depth of offline mode, integrations and whether both platforms are needed at once. The MVP is deliberately limited to one or two key scenarios, so that the app reaches real users as early as possible and the remaining features come in later releases.
Yes, publishing is part of the work: description, screenshots and privacy policy, review in both stores, test groups and a staged rollout. The app is published in developer accounts registered to your company, so the app, its reviews and its audience belong to you, not to the contractor.
Yes. If the system has an API, the app works with it through its backend; if there is no API, askcust adds an intermediate service that exchanges data with your system, accounting software or spreadsheets and gives the app only what it needs. The mobile client then does not depend on the internals of your records, and your records do not depend on the app version.
The cost depends on the number of scenarios and screens, the depth of offline mode, integrations and the number of platforms. Once the scenarios are described, askcust gives an estimate for the first release with a fixed scope. Also plan for developer account fees: the Apple Developer Program fee is annual, and Google Play Console registration is a one-time fee.
On the client's backend, running on the client's server or cloud account; the device keeps only the local copy needed to work offline. The code of the apps and the backend is handed over to the client's repository, so the app can be developed further with askcust, with another team or in-house.
A reply within one business day; a call only if we agree on one.