Appiskey

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a company that conducts sales training. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Appiskey?

Appiskey is developing an app that we use for training.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re in the middle of developing the app. We have completed the discovery process, during which we talked about the app's basic features, design, layout, and basic functionality.

They’re now in the process of the coding and programming phase. The app has API and KPI tracking that Salesforce can use. They assisted in designing the app layout and determining the best, most effective way of recording stats and data inputs from different sales teams.

What is the team composition?

I mainly work with a project manager, but there are at least 3–4 programmers that I’ve spoken with on Zoom. They have demoed some of the features. I believe there’s a design team as well.

How did you come to work with Appiskey?

I had an associate do a Google search and look at some reviews of programmers in the Orlando area. I think Appiskey had better reviews, and when I met them in person, I liked their responses. In the end, we decided to go with them based on their professionalism and not spend too much time shopping around. 

How much have you invested with them?

It will probably be around $120,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Appiskey in July 2020, and the work is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

It has been an excellent experience working with Appiskey. You can tell that they really care about the project, which has been big to me. They’ve been very helpful. The design and discovery phase was in-depth.

It means a lot to me and makes me feel valued as a customer when companies provide significant input based on their experience, rather than just taking orders. That also makes for a smoother development process. 

How did Appiskey perform from a project management standpoint?

They have good communication skills.  We have progress meetings every few weeks, and they provide demos of what they’ve completed so far. They use Basecamp to upload things for progress tracking.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their creativity stands out, as does the way that they’re able to explain coding. I don’t know anything about coding, so the way that they’re able to explain the high concepts that are involved in development to someone like me who doesn’t know that world is pretty valuable. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Without seeing the final product, it’s hard for me to say that. However, if we’re just talking about the discovery phase, I’d say they did very well. I don’t have anything to compare this to, as this is my first time developing an app, but based on my experience alone in doing business, they do a very good job.

There was only one issue regarding their projected quote versus what it will end up being. However, they did a good job of explaining that this quote change was due to some of the app’s functionality being more complicated than initially gaged. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be prepared to spend a lot of money — I’d hate to go through their excellent discovery phase and then not have the money to be able to execute the vision you’re looking for. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Respawn Rewards, which is a startup in the gaming space.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appiskey?

We needed a partner to develop an application.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had several meetings during which we brainstormed and developed the project’s scope. They broke my idea into sections and then asked key questions to broaden them. Their team built a prototype, created documentation, and provided us with a roadmap.

What is the team composition?

I met the CEO and other individuals from their management team. They then assigned a developer to our project who remains my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Appiskey?

I found them on Google where previous clients wrote positive reviews. When we spoke, they provided suggestions to improve on my idea. We then decided to work together.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve invested $10,000 in their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around July 2020, and it’s ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

I like the prototype that Appiskey made. It’s beautiful.

They recently gave us documents to make us ready for investors. Once we have investors, I plan to engage them for development.

How did Appiskey perform from a project management standpoint?

Although we had a few in-person meetings, we primarily communicate by calls and text. Their team set a deadline of a month to complete this part of the project. However, they have gone above and beyond. Their team still works to make it better without adding to the cost. They’re organized, available, and responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re honest and friendly. I’ve learned a lot from them. They guide the process and use their expertise to help me understand the product from an investor’s perspective. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Meet with them and they will show you who they are. You’ve got nothing to lose.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of an event coordination and automation software company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appiskey?

We needed help with development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created our mobile and web app. The team used Java and PHP. The mobile app is available on iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 20 people from their team. We had an account manager, a technical manager, and a number of other contacts.

How did you come to work with Appiskey?

We found them via a web search. I chose them because of the technical description of what they could do and cost both suited my needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $250,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2018, and our work is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

They’ve done an outstanding job in most aspects. Sometimes when we describe aspects, they didn’t get them 100% right, but it’s understandable. We’ve had some bumpy roads but we’ve always been able to resolve our differences. I highly recommend their account managers, since they work hard to resolve issues.  

How did Appiskey perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re not great at meeting deadlines, but there’s a lot of deadlines that need to be met in a short amount of time. Once they did meet the requirements, they were satisfactory.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their technical director is very knowledgeable. He understands my needs and works really closely with the project manager to resolve issues. Overall, he's easy to talk to and resolves things quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could do way better in meeting deadlines.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to use them. Understand what your requirements are going in and make them detailed. They’re outstanding as far as their app and web development skills go.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of ELN: The E-Learning Network, an online vocational school.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appiskey?

We originally hired Appiskey to build a custom learning management system (LMS) as our core software. One of their other major projects was an Urdu-based app for Pakistani housewives.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Appiskey built an Android app for Pakistani housewives. The app gives them ideas for helping with housework while also pushing products for e-commerce purposes. Since the app uses voice, Appiskey made sure that it could function fully in Urdu. The design of the app was handled externally, but Appiskey did offer input on the UI/UX.

As for the LMS, their team helped us with design and development. Our courses are compliance-based and vocational, so they have to be assessed heavily. We're currently still working on that project.

What is the team composition? 

I work closely with Omer (Co-Founder & CEO, Appiskey) and keep in touch with two project managers.

How did you come to work with Appiskey?

I am from Pakistan originally, and that’s where I got into contact with Omer.

How much have you invested with them?

The app costs about $56,000, and the LMS will probably cost somewhere in the $50,000–$70,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together for over a year, and the engagement is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement

We really, really like the user-friendliness of the apps. They really understand our target market. For instance, the app is in Urdu and is for local housewives in Pakistan. The current voice technology works well in English but not as well in Urdu. Appiskey did a great job of ensuring accessibility for the larger population.

How did Appiskey perform from a project management standpoint?

They were brilliant and handled everything themselves. Communication was very prompt, and they would contact us whenever they would accomplish a milestone. We spoke mostly over email and phone calls, but they even met us face-to-face a few times, where we sat down with the project managers.

They’re pretty much always on time, which is rare for developers in my experience. Their estimations of time, completion, and meeting deadlines are really great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their overall service is just great, and I found them brilliant. The work itself has been exceptional, and I haven’t found people doing the same standard of work anywhere else.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m really happy with everything so far.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have an idea initially like we did, because you need a lot of clarity going into the process. I know a lot of people go into the process confused as to what they actually want. Once you can give a detailed scope, Appiskey is a brilliant company to make your project happen.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner and a partner at CuzHub LLC. Our goal is to use technology to bring people and truck owners together for the simple moving of household goods. For instance, if you bought a washing machine at an appliance store and had no way of getting it home, you’d go on our app and hire one of our drivers, who would pick up the washing machine and drop it off at your house.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appiskey?

We hired Appiskey to develop an on-demand delivery app from scratch.

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, Appiskey created the wireframes. We discussed the functionality and flow that we were looking for. They delivered the app code and the iOS and Android builds, but all of that was nonfunctional.

What is the team composition?

My team worked with four different project managers and Omer (Director, Appiskey).

How did you come to work with Appiskey?

We checked out a few of their recommendations. They also offered very reasonable costs.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $20,500. They underbid, but we had a written contract. We spent an additional $2,500 to get something that was supposed to be included in the original cost. We’ve had to spend even more to hire a consultant, who is also our new developer.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together spanned March 2017–August 2019.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Appiskey didn’t deliver on any of their promises. They were supposed to complete the project in six months, and two-and-a-half years later, we have nothing. Contractually, they didn’t deliver the product they were supposed to. They told us that if we didn’t sign off on the app and make our final payment, they were going to shelve us.

Our consultant and her team found 27 bugs and 30 missing items on the backend code, which my partner and I would’ve never known about. The reason we hired them is that we’re not technologically savvy, and we relied on them as the experts. However, they didn’t provide any guidance or expertise.

On a recent call with them, they offered to either fix everything or give us $4,000 back, but we want all of our money back. Immediately after the call, they shut down our Basecamp.

How did Appiskey perform from a project management standpoint?

A couple of the project managers were very helpful and responsive; for instance, our last one was always available from his cell phone. Unfortunately, the others lied to us or said they couldn’t complete certain tasks. Since we had such a high turnover of project managers, a lot got lost in translation.

Omer also said we’d have weekly calls that never happened. We didn’t push the issue because things were seemingly moving along, but behind the scenes, they weren’t.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Appiskey should honor their written contracts. They signed off on certain things that they then made us pay extra for.

Any advice for potential customers?

Don’t hire them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and president of Ticket to Remember.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appiskey?

We needed a partner to develop our app and website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Appiskey did all of the development for my photo processing souvenir app. I gave them the concept, and we iterated back and forth to create something I was happy with. Users who attend live events can create a photo souvenir with their ticket information on it. Appiskey developed the app from scratch, creating it for both iOS and Android platforms. They also made our WordPress website. The apps and site are live, but we need to make some updates to them soon.

What is the team composition?

I had one main point of contact, but it switched a few times. They put together the team of developers, and I didn’t interact with them.

How did you come to work with Appiskey?

I researched app developers in Orlando and called about 12 of them. Four answered, so I interviewed them. Appiskey was the closest and indicated they’d done lots of work with small startups, so I hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership lasted from May 2018–April 2019.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

For the most part, they met my goals. The apps are both working and available on their respective platforms.

How did Appiskey perform from a project management standpoint?

The last point of contact I worked with was communicative and always followed up on tasks. The entire team was helpful and efficient, mainly communicating via email, phone, and Basecamp on a weekly basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had excellent follow up and understood that I was inexperienced with app development. They did adequate testing, had good graphics, and fixed problems quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They hire overseas developers, which caused a few communication problems. The turnover also created some inconsistency across our collaboration.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Have a good idea from the beginning of what to expect and what each person does.

This review was updated by the client on December 30, 2019.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Appiskey?

We returned to Appiskey to complete a few revisions in the app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

They helped us make some tweaks and corrections for our iOS and Android app.

What is the team composition? 

I worked with two points of contact, including their project manager. 

How much have you invested with them?

To date, we’ve invested $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

They’ve completed the updates a few weeks ago, and our latest version is now live in app stores.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The apps are now about 95% exactly how I want them to be.

How did Appiskey perform from a project management standpoint?

It was very good. We communicated via phone and Basecamp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They gave regular, timely updates.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything was fine. It’s hard to say what we’d do differently since this is such a brand new idea. But, for the most part, they got the concept.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the owner of Otto1, a mobile mechanic service.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appiskey?

We engaged Appiskey to develop a website for our service that could coordinate and dispatch our team of mobile mechanics to customers based on location. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Appiskey designed and developed a website intended to help customers find contractors nearby for various mechanical repair needs, using PHP Laravel and WordPress. They've also helped create a logo based on provided sketches. 

What is the team composition? 

I dealt directly with a project manager.

How did you come to work with Appiskey?

I called some developers, but Appiskey was the only vendor willing to take on the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The web project lasted from around January–December 2018.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Appiskey delivered the best product they could for my budget. However, it ended up not working for us the way we intended, so we're looking to build a mobile app that has notification capabilities.

How did Appiskey perform from a project management standpoint?

Their management team is based in the U.S. while their developers are located overseas. We worked with four different project managers, which was somewhat distracting to overall progress. However, the team genuinely tried to correct any issues and was responsive throughout the engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They worked very closely with me on a daily basis, making sure all bugs were being worked out as they came up. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

At one point their team got a little busy and I didn't hear from them for a few months, but once I followed up with them they were very eager to jump back in. The owner even spoke to me personally to make sure things were moving along. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Stay in touch with their team by contacting the project manager at least once a week so timeline expectations are met on both ends. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is called Live On and it is an app that lets users know about events happening in their neighborhood and make plans with other users.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appiskey?

We hired their team to build an app for both the Android and Apple stores.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We told them our ideas and submitted designs on what we wanted it to look like. We frequently revised what we wanted to be featured in the apps, so we drafted and signed new contracts for every change. Their team built the iOS version first, then created the Android version. For a while, they handled the marketing aspects of the app through Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

What is the team composition?

Initially, the sales manager was our point of contact. Midway through the project, we were in direct contact with another employee who served as our project manager. They managed a team of developers.

How did you come to work with Appiskey?

We found them online. Ultimately, they were the only developers who confidently said that they could accomplish our project at a reasonable price.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $20,000 with Appiskey.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2017 and wrapped up our engagement around April 2018.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Even though we haven’t launched it yet, the app runs smoothly.

How did Appiskey perform from a project management standpoint?

I visited them in person at one point and communication was smooth from that point on. We communicated through Basecamp, where I was able to monitor the project and organize the documentation about all the conversations I had. What did you find most impressive about them?

They understood what I wanted and were upfront with me that the timeline of the project would change. They also gave me their honest opinions about the project but told us that we could do what we wanted, and they would accommodate our wishes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have provided more original marketing ideas and suggested other features to add to our app.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

If you are very passionate about your project and give them a great amount of detail at the beginning of the project—and maybe even sketch a layout of the project—you’ll be satisfied.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Care Connect a medical technology startup company. We provide a telemedicine platform that connects doctors to patients via video consultations, and also keeps patients’ records and histories for later analysis. I'm the founder and CEO.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appiskey?

I have an IT background and have been in the technology field for 14 years, including healthcare solution design and development. I'm not a technical coder, so I looked for a company that could work with me as a technology partner and advisor.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed an MVP for Android. They suggested that we build the platform phase-by-phase, based on an initial analysis and discussion. We needed to be small, agile, and continue to add elements as we went further.

We had a statement of work in place, listing our requirements and use cases. They provided me with wireframes, which was very helpful. I could show those to my potential customers for feedback.

They also provide digital strategy. This was part of their competitive edge, as they could provide an end-to-end business solution, not just a development team. They had market research people in place who looked at other products, and they assigned a social media and marketing team who we worked with on the strategy.

What is the team composition?

The team size varied depending on the requirements. We initially started with a project manager and a business analyst, in order to gather requirements and go over our concepts.

How did you come to work with Appiskey?

I performed market research before signing an agreement with them. There were local companies in Pakistan that I could have chosen, but Appiskey seemed very professional. They were very organized and methodical. They could serve as a consultant throughout our journey, rather than just work as a tech company providing a solution for us.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of their work has been around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started discussions with them in March 2017. Development started in the first week of May. We're doing a soft launch and we’re in testing mode.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We have five live customers at the moment from different healthcare segments, using different modules of the app. So far, the feedback about the UI and navigation has been positive. We haven’t had any complaints about the complexity of the design.

How did Appiskey perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a lot of prework and planning. They did okay in terms of timelines, with no delays. The communication was very open, and they were responsive and agile in terms of project management overall. They put a lot of effort into the research, coming up with new ideas, and suggesting alternative approaches. They’ve become a partner for us.

There was a project management tool in place which they sent me links to. I had my own way of working and preferred using Excel for task breakdowns and other items. We also had Skype sessions, phone calls, and in-person meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They stand out in terms of their commitment. Rather than restricting themselves to product development, they saw the big picture I was trying to convey. They suggested that we start small and steady, which it was an excellent advice.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They're doing alright. They were honest when there was something lacking and acknowledged that they didn’t communicate some things earlier. They're quite realistic and honest in how they work, so the whole journey has gone quite well.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Whenever people choose a company, they should look at that company’s portfolio and profile, specifically in the client’s territory.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of business development at a mobile advertising company. We do branding, media buys, and monetization for clients’ apps.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appiskey?

We never had our own app and wanted a vendor to develop a test product, which was necessary to assess potential monetization and ads.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided a template for us to select colors, themes, screenshots for the app’s overall look and feel. We then went back and forth on those ideas before Appiskey started development. The team built a test Android app with no in-app sales. The app is now live in the Google Play store.

What is the team composition?

I worked with three people including one developer. The original project manager changed roles and another resource eventually replaced him.

How did you come to work with Appiskey?

We searched for companies and contact about three that came up via Google AdWords. Appiskey’s rates fit our budget.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them between April–December 2017. They then made a few post-launch tweaks.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The client gets what they pay for. I never expected the app to make money because we only wanted to make it live and then explore monetization, ad space, and ad zones. Although this approach was the simplest method for a low-budget project, Appiskey still took longer to complete the product than expected, even with the despite several changes that arose during development. In addition, several bugs affected the Android application package (APK) files. They had to fix and redploy them before delivering the app as expected.

Regarding downloads, the retention rate is very poor because it’s a wallpaper app with a static design. The picture quality for downloads is granular and not high-definition. However, these results were fine because I didn’t want to spend 80 hours per week working on this thing. The app also doesn’t have many ads because we didn’t want to overwhelm the user and create a poor experience with excessive advertising.

How did Appiskey perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication between teams was very good. The project managers understood our requirements and effectively relayed them to developers. We used Basecamp and they were responsive overall. However, not everything was perfect and some things annoyed me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re organized and keep everyone updated in a flexible process with fair pricing. They didn’t try to charge us unnecessarily at the end. In addition, the app performs better than a separate one a freelancer built for us; that app had lots of bugs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I got quite a few error messages when I tried to upload the APK files they gave me. Either it didn’t work or the permissions were faulty. The product was there, but the team still needed to refine it a couple of times. Appiskey should do more compatibility testing.

Any advice for potential customers?

Clients should have a game plan and know exactly what the end-goal is. Appiskey will give customers advice and guide them through the process.