Appluex

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of SuperfastCPA, which creates study tools for CPA exams.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appluex?

We were trying to take our study tools and create mobile versions that were easier for people to use on the go. Our goal was to enable our users to take a quiz, listen to audio lectures, and read study guide summaries on their phones.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Appluex built an Android and iOS mobile app for us using Flutter. Before this project, I had never developed an app, so I went back and forth with Appluex to show them the study tools and how I wanted the app to work. We already had our user personas because we had an existing customer base. 

As for the UI/UX design, I sent Appluex mock-ups showing the buttons and functions. They got back to us with design versions of those mock-ups. From there, they implemented the requirements into the app. Appluex delivered a prototype, I tested it, and they iterated on it until it was what I wanted. 

The app is tied to our website and pulls from our preexisting database. Users can log in, access different study tools, and review notes that work like a textbook. We also offer audio notes; the app has an audio player so users can listen to lectures while doing other activities. The app also has quizzes with practice questions users can take. There’s also a hybrid functionality where users can read while the audio plays, highlighting the text as it goes.

What is the team composition?

Essiel (CEO) was my main point of contact. 

How did you come to work with Appluex?

I found Appluex through Google. 

How much have you invested with them?

The original app cost $20,000–$25,000. We paid $3,000–$5,000 for each update. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial build lasted from November–December 2018. We’ve gone back to Appluex whenever we needed updates or feature changes.

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

The app Appluex developed has over 10,000 users and a 4.8 rating on the App Store. Even though a few items were hard to code and had issues in their test versions, Appluex figured those out within a few days. 

How did Appluex perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great at communicating, meeting deadlines, and staying on budget; we had no issues. I used Loom to show them how features should work, and we used email and Skype for communication. Appluex responded to messages very quickly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with the finished product and Appluex’s technical skills. Although communication is important, at the end of the day, we needed an app that worked and reduced customer support tickets. We were really happy with the app Appluex delivered, which worked flawlessly without issues.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There wasn’t anything they needed to do differently. They fixed any issues and made sure we were completely happy with the app, its updates, and any changes.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When working with any third-party provider, be clear on what you need from the project. Having a clear plan of what you need a provider to do is important.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Sales and Marketing for AgResource Company based in Chicago. AgResource Company provides research and analysis of agriculture markets to farmers and agribusiness professionals.

For what projects/services did your company hire Appluex, and what were your goals?

We hired Appluex to create a new update of our existing mobile app. This update was put into production with the goal of our app functioning much more efficiently and implement new features for user friendliness and user retention time.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

After diligently searching for an app developer I chose Appluex for a few key reasons. 

1. Appluex had an outstanding amount of experience.
2. Appluex's pervious work seemed elite in terms of UI and functionality.
3. Appluex's Owner/Developer, Essiel, is extremely confident in his abilities.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Our mobile app was completely rebuild through Flutter for Apple and Android devices. We provided Appluex with the API keys and UI mockups for the app. The API keys were flawlessly applied, keeping our app connected with our internal system for content posting, and the UI mockups were matched perfectly.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Owner/Developer of Appluex, Essiel, was my direct contact and handled my project.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Appluex stayed on budget and provided AgResource with the app that we had envisioned! Our mobile app's performance was immediately enhanced and has been verbally acknowledge by a number of our 1,500 clients.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Essiel was very efficient and prioritized communication. I knew at all times the progress of the project, communicating through email.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Appluex is extremely skilled at what they do, without a doubt. However, what put them over the top was their care for the client, ensuring that we were given exactly what we wanted and then some.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I don't feel as though Appluex could have done anything different as we are beyond satisfied and will continue using their skillset.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Zant. Our goal is to create a mobile platform where people needing mental health services can find support easily without roadblocks.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appluex?

We had worked with other providers for about 1–2 years and had horrible experiences with developers working in a different timezone where communication was really poor. Our previous development teams also had a poor understanding and a lack of passion for the project. Although we were apprehensive about working with another company, we had to do it to create what we wanted, and we hired Appluex.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Appluex provides us with mobile app development. Initially, we had an MVP. After the team did an audit and review, they found so many issues with the previous code that they proposed redeveloping the entire app and rebuilding the code. They also advised us to build a native iOS app due to the complexity of the features. 

Simultaneously, we decided to rebrand, so we worked together to build an app that was rebranded and more user-friendly. They collaborated with our internal UI/UX designer. The team has just completed the product's new version: a native iOS app they've built using Flutter. Currently, they're working on the Android version of the app. 

What is the team composition?

Essiel (Senior Software Engineer & CEO) has taken the lead on the project, and we mostly work with him. We've also had support from two other teammates from Appluex. 

How did you come to work with Appluex?

We searched for quite some time and met with many other teams. I connected to Essiel on LinkedIn because we had a mutual connection. When I looked at his profile, I was surprised at how much he had accomplished and the talent in his portfolio, so I reached out to him. 

We were really excited to find Appluex. We told them the problems we'd faced with previous developers and set out our priorities, especially regarding communication, and Essiel told us he'd personally take on the project. I was familiar with Upwork, so we decided to conduct our contract there to keep it simple. 

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we've spent about $47,000. The total cost of the project will be $50,000 for both the iOS and Android apps. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started around May 2022, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

Appluex has done a great job. With our previous MVP, we had to resubmit 21 times to get accepted into the App Store. Thanks to Appluex, the app was accepted into the App Store on the first submission and went live last week. Since the app got accepted early, we've been able to start our onboarding process early and bring providers into the app. We've brought in about 85 providers and around 40 users — we have about 140 total users on the app. 

Users have praised the app for being easy to use, user-friendly, and for having simple yet powerful features. The extra time has also allowed us to do more testing and fix small issues. The team has been on top of it, responding immediately; they've been on call to ensure they address any glitches as soon as possible. For example, one of the features had a minor issue that some users noticed, and the Appluex team fixed it within two days. 

Many talented software engineers start an agency and fail because they take on too much and don't communicate properly. Appluex knew we had that concern and wanted to work with one dedicated software engineer, and Essiel has done just that. We started working together at the right time, and he's become an extension of our team. There's always transparency when he's had to bring someone else in.

Their collaboration with our UI/UX designer was also great. There were some areas we had to adapt, and the Appluex team always came in with a solution. Additionally, since they also know about design, we didn't have to call our designer for every minor tweak, so there was no pause in production during that stage. In the end, the app has become like our baby; it's amazing what Appluex has been able to do with it. Overall, they've taken exceptional care of our relationship and product.

How did Appluex perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication is so fantastic that it makes me feel safe working with the team. Since we had so many nightmare experiences with other development groups that didn't know how to communicate, Appluex has made communication a big component of our relationship. They get in touch with us every day or every other day to make sure that our priorities stay their priorities. 

Essiel prefers to keep communication through email or Zoom calls. We had a Zoom meeting every day leading up to the app launch. They're also fantastic with email communication. We can send them an email with a list of details, and they reply within the hour— often within 15–20 minutes — with solutions, recommendations, and a timeline. They also start a new email chain for each subject so that information doesn't get buried. That organization reflects in Appluex's work. 

Currently, we're not using a project management tool. However, as we grow, we'll need to use tools for ticketing and further communication. Moving forward, we'll likely be using other software solutions with the team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Essiel and his team are problem solvers, and working with them has been a breath of fresh air. Appluex doesn't just find issues; they come with solutions and suggestions, and we work collaboratively to address problems. Moreover, they're aware that they're the development experts and we're the experts in the vision. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing they could improve is to have more regular calls with the whole team. Although using email has been great, Essiel is communicating directly with me most of the time, and each of us relays information to our respective teams. Looping in our entire team through biweekly or monthly calls could be really great — it would be a bonus. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to be as detailed and organized as possible. Appluex is a smooth and fast-running train, depending on the speed you want. We learned from previous experiences that communication is key, and keeping organized will help streamline your communication. For example, we create a document with feedback every time we review and test the app internally. Then, Appluex goes on that document and adds suggestions and comments on each area, which has helped keep us organized. 

Although Essiel has his own organization system, the team will work with your method so that you understand everything best. Therefore, you should have a really clear vision of what you want to do and write everything down, so you both have something to refer back to.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the customer support manager for an industrial machinery manufacturing company. In my position, I provide support for customer experience and help ensure our customers are successful with our products.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appluex?

We needed assistance with creating a new mobile app. We had an older version of our app that was outdated, so we needed to create an updated and entirely different version.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Appluex has helped us redevelop our mobile app. When we started this project, we didn’t have a clear scope; we only knew what we wanted as an end product. Therefore, we communicated back and forth with their team to understand what we wanted to achieve and define the requirements.

Although I don’t know the entire technology stack that Appluex has used to develop our app, I know that they’ve used Flutter to some extent and Firebase to create databases. The app is available for both iOS and Android devices. During the development process, they helped us test them side by side to ensure they were consistent and had no differences.

Recently, we started a second project with Appluex to update the app. After its release, we found more features we wanted to add to it, so we’re currently working on adding those features to launch an update.

This app has a niche usage in our space; it helps our customers identify air and gas leaks using an instrument that listens to ultrasonic waves that aren’t audible to the human ear. It also has cost equations so that users can find out how much those leaks are costing them per year.

This app also provides users with reports so that they can see those costs. Additionally, they can take pictures and do other things, allowing them to populate the system with information immediately.

What is the team composition?

We only work with Essiel (CEO), who is basically the liaison between his team and us.

How did you come to work with Appluex?

When we decided to outsource support for this project, we met Essiel on Upwork.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $20,000 on the first phase of the project, and the second phase will cost around $6,000 more. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2021 and launched the app in April 2022, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

Appluex’s team has been instrumental in helping us evolve our app, allowing us to work through the challenges of not having a clear scope from the beginning. Other companies wanted us to provide them with clear details of what we wanted, but we didn’t have the experience to do it. However, Appluex helped us out a lot by taking what we had and running with it.

Now, we have around 700 active users using our app, which is a lot for us because, as previously mentioned, it is a very niche app. The app serves to collect images and data, and so far, we’ve collected over three gigabytes of data, meaning that those users are using it aggressively.

Moreover, we’ve received a lot of feedback from those users, who have told us how much they love it. Some of them use our app to perform inspections for their customers and provide them with reports, so the app has been impactful for their work, too.

How did Appluex perform from a project management standpoint?

Appluex has stayed on budget, and whenever some things haven’t worked out correctly, they’ve handled those issues. They’ve always stayed focused on our end goal and met our expectations.

We’ve only come across one situation where something was outside of our initial expectations, but it was realistic and understandable. Moreover, there were some changes with the App Store that caused our initial submission not to go in, but Appluex helped us fix that, which we really appreciated.

We initially communicated through Upwork messages, but we eventually moved our communication over to email exchanges. Appluex wanted to use a communication method that could help us keep everything documented to ensure they could check things off without missing anything, which we really appreciated.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Working with Appluex, we have a good full stack team — we feel they can do everything. Their team is able to solve a lot of the challenges we encounter, and they’re very open and honest about the tasks they’re not knowledgeable of. For example, we needed the app to generate a report in Excel, but Appluex didn’t work a lot with Excel. Still, they were very upfront about it, as well as willing to figure it out. Overall, they’re very flexible, and they’re concerned about making our vision a reality.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Appluex prefers to handle the project through written communication channels, which makes it very difficult to have a verbal discussion with them. Still, I understand that they don’t like to communicate via phone calls unless they have to, and it hasn’t been a problem for us either. However, it would be great if we could get some verbal discussions instead of going back and forth via email.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Realize how flexible they are and share your concerns with them. If you’re able to give them a good starting point and communicate clearly with them in a documented way, the engagement will go a lot faster and easier for both parties.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of replenishment and analytics for a greenhouse space company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appluex?

We had hundreds of field representatives in the market and needed to process information with them. As a result, we hired Appluex to come up with a mobile solution to help us do that. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Essiel (CEO) and his team provide us with both front- and backend development services for our app. The product is designed to let us track inventory transactions at each of our stores — these are large, big-box retail garden centers. The app has both native iOS and Android versions. We use Firebase as our database interface with the apps and our SQL server. 

To give context to the functionality of the app, our field representatives usually go to a store and handle the merchandising of the products from our garden center. They’re also responsible for logging inventory transactions for markdowns and waste products in their respective garden centers.

Given that, the app geotags the representatives; the store where they currently are will show up on the app when they start their work. From that point on, we can see the store’s inventory, markdown, and waste inventory — these are three functions. Moreover, the representatives can do a cycle count, which is the fourth main function of the app. 

Appluex has recently finished the second version of the app. It shows all the performance metrics we want to show to each representative so they can see their costs, their inventory position, and what kind of markdown metrics they have. They can also answer a store visit survey through the app. 

What is the team composition?

Essiel is our main contact person. Other contractors work on different aspects of the build, and he collaborates with them. 

How did you come to work with Appluex?

I found Appluex through Upwork. We searched for providers with the experience we wanted and interviewed around five agencies. Ultimately, we picked Essiel and Appluex at the end of the process. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent just over $50,000 dollars.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.  

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

My main success metric is to have an MVP available for testing by December 2021 so we can launch by January 2022 — this has been our biggest milestone, and Appluex has met it with flying colors. 

How did Appluex perform from a project management standpoint?

Appluex has stayed on budget; the only times we’ve had to change the budget are when we want to add something to the app during the development process. We’ve had some time considerations to take into consideration, too. 

As far as project management goes, we don’t have to do any hand-holding for Appluex. We communicate our needs, and the team runs with the project. Everything is done as quickly as possible. Overall, they’re truly independent — we don’t have to keep on top of them because they get things done exactly the way we want. To communicate, we mainly use Slack, emails, and phone calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Appluex’s ability to quickly see what we need is impressive. On top of that, they can leverage their experience to build the necessary features of our app and meet our needs. They can also get the project done quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. We continue to work with them, and they haven’t let us down at all.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of product development at GTR Event Technology. I oversee our app and product development projects.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appluex?

Within our organization, we don’t have the skill set for mobile app development. Over the last three years, we worked with various consulting and staff augmentation companies to try and build some of our mobile apps. Unfortunately, we kept running into situations where projects got delayed or costly, which really complicated our attempts to get our apps done. Thus, we were looking for a company that could help us clean up what we already had and take those projects to completion.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Appluex has helped us get our apps to completion. They came in and took over our three apps, which were in various states of implementation or not implemented correctly. One of these apps was about 70% developed, but the other two were in their very early stages, not having started their development process yet. Thus, we provided them with what we already had, as well as with documentation and information about these apps.

Then, Appluex asked us great questions and consumed our documentation to come up with a plan. Within two weeks, we already had a solid project plan, and we were able to start the development process for these apps. They fixed the issues they found, organized and cleaned up everything, and implemented them correctly within six months, helping us take them to completion.

As an event company, we provide technology to run various kinds of events. We provide attendees with badges that they can print and scan when attending the event; that’s where our apps come into the picture.

One of these apps is a lead retrieval system. When attendees go to exhibitor’s booths, the exhibitors can use our app to scan their badges and get their contact information. Another app is an attendance tracking system with similar functionality. It allows users to track when attendees enter or exit rooms, as well as to track when those attendees have already cashed their courtesy beverages, for example. The third app is an agenda app that allows attendees to enter their event code and see the different sessions and seminars scheduled for their specific event.

We needed our apps to work on both Android and iOS devices, so Appluex has developed them on Flutter. In addition to those mobile apps, Appluex has helped us develop a web app. It integrates with our mobile apps from an administrative perspective, helping us manage the licensing, activation codes, leads, and more.

Although we’ve already completed those apps, our engagement with Appluex continues. Now, they’re helping us develop an efficient building process so that we can white label our apps and provide other companies with customized versions of our technology. Additionally, we have other apps in mind we want to build.

What is the team composition?

We worked with six people from Appluex, including Essiel (Senior Mobile App Developer), who was our main point of contact, and other developers.

How did you come to work with Appluex?

An acquaintance of mine had worked with Appluex before, so when I was talking with him about our challenges, he recommended them. Then, I went to their website and contacted them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2022, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

Thanks to Appluex, all of our apps are now on the App Store, and hundreds of thousands of people are using them. Currently, we’re averaging around 250,000 monthly activations of our lead retrieval app, and we’re averaging similar but slightly lower numbers for our other apps. In total, we’re reaching about 500,000 monthly activations and downloads across our three mobile apps.

Our clients love our apps, as we do. They’re great and high-functioning apps with no bugs, and they do everything we want them to do. Overall, we were really pleased with Appluex’s work.

How did Appluex perform from a project management standpoint?

Appluex has offered very strong project management throughout the project, completing our three apps under budget and fastener than anticipated. They’ve also been very good at communicating with us. Throughout the development process, we had daily check-in meetings first thing in the morning, and I met with the project manager every Friday to go over adjustments and the milestones we were approaching.

Appluex has also been very responsive. Whenever we’ve realized that a feature was under-scoped or we changed requirements mid-project, they’ve been very quick to respond with an update to the project plan, ensuring everything we change makes sense.

Throughout the process, they’ve guided us and helped us manage our expectations. They do a fantastic job at keeping us in the loop and ensuring we understand what’s going on so that we can communicate progress to upper management and clients.

We’ve only had one issue we didn’t anticipate; our lead retrieval app would fail to collect data if the user didn’t have an internet connection. However, Appluex was able to fix that issue within 72 hours, and the app now has an offline cache mode.

Furthermore, Appluex is very open to communication, and we have great communication channels. Besides our regular meetings, we manage the project on Asana and YouTrack and communicate through email and Slack, where we can provide real-time comments and feedback. Having worked in this field for over 25 years, I can honestly say that Appluex is one of the best consulting companies I’ve worked with, and we will continue working with them moving forward.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Appluex’s main differentiator is their eagerness to understand what their clients are trying to do. They’ve made sure that, foundationally, everyone is on the same page and understands the direction we’re going as a company. They’ve become one of our biggest facilitators for making our success happen.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they could improve on; they’ve even anticipated problems before they became problems.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The sooner you can engage with them, the better. As soon as Appluex starts doing their work, your project becomes very easy. Reach out to them and get them on your staff!