Idolify — 2022–23
Shipping our own social app to both stores
An independent venture, built alongside full-time work: a social application for iOS and Android where users post photos and video, buy virtual currency, comment, ask questions and send gifts. Published on the App Store.
The situation
Idolify was our own company, built alongside regular employment. No client, no brief, and nobody else to blame for the architecture.
That matters more than it sounds. Everything a consultancy shields you from — store review, payment approval, the cost of a bad schema decision two months in — you meet directly.
What we did
React Native for iOS and Android from one codebase, Node.js on the back-end, MongoDB for storage, AWS underneath, SSO for authentication. Users create posts, upload photos and video, comment, ask questions, purchase virtual currency and send each other gifts.
The virtual currency is the part with teeth: an in-app economy means payment flows, balance integrity and abuse considerations, none of which forgive a casual approach.
The outcome
Shipped and live on Apple's App Store — through review, with the release pipeline that implies.
When we say we can take a mobile product from nothing to published, this is the evidence. We have done it with our own money on the line.
Let’s build something that lasts.
Tell us about the project. If we’re not the right studio for it, we’ll say so — and usually point you at someone who is.