How to Spot a Mobile Developer Who Actually Knows What They're Doing

This happens more often than you'd think, and it's not just startups getting burned. I've seen university research projects stalled, corporate initiatives derailed, and individual dreams crushed by developers who talk a good game but can't actually deliver.

After nearly ten years building mobile apps—from university platforms serving thousands of students to enterprise solutions at companies like Experian—I've learned to spot the difference between real mobile expertise and convincing sales presentations.

Here's what I wish everyone knew before hiring their next mobile developer.

The Mobile Development Wild West

The problem with mobile development is that it looks deceptively simple from the outside. Everyone's used a mobile app, most people have ideas for apps, and there's no shortage of developers claiming they can build anything.

But mobile development is genuinely difficult. You're not just building software—you're building software that has to work perfectly on dozens of different devices, handle intermittent internet connections, manage battery life, and provide an experience that feels native to each platform. Get any of this wrong, and your app either doesn't work or feels terrible to use.

The barrier to entry for calling yourself a "mobile developer" is practically zero. Anyone can watch a few YouTube tutorials, build a basic app, and start taking clients. The barrier to entry for being a good mobile developer is enormous.

What Real Mobile Expertise Looks Like

I learned this the hard way early in my career. At one company, I joined a team that had built their iOS app using what they thought were best practices. The code looked clean on the surface, but underneath it was a nightmare of tightly coupled components and singleton patterns everywhere.

When we needed to add new features, every change risked breaking something else. When we needed to share code between different parts of the app, it was nearly impossible. The senior developers insisted their approach was fine—they'd been doing C programming for years, after all.

But mobile isn't C programming. Mobile apps need to handle user interactions, background processing, data synchronisation, and dozens of other concerns that don't exist in traditional software. You need to understand architecture patterns like MVVM and Clean Architecture, dependency injection, protocol-oriented programming, and how to structure code so it can actually be maintained and extended.

I spent months refactoring that codebase, turning it from a monolithic mess into modular components that could be tested, reused, and understood. The difference was night and day—not just in code quality, but in how quickly we could ship new features.

That experience taught me that the difference between mediocre mobile developers and good ones isn't about knowing the latest frameworks. It's about understanding how to build software that works reliably and can grow with your business.

Red Flags That Should Send You Running

Over the years, I've noticed patterns in how less competent developers present themselves. Here are the warning signs I'd run from immediately:

They promise everything can be done quickly and cheaply. Mobile development has inherent complexity. If someone claims they can build your complex app in a few weeks for a few thousand pounds, they either don't understand what you're asking for or they're planning to deliver something that barely works.

They can't explain their technical decisions. Ask any mobile developer why they chose React Native over native development, or why they're using a particular database approach. Good developers can explain the trade-offs. Bad developers give vague answers about "modern best practices" or "what everyone's using these days."

Their portfolio shows a lot of similar-looking apps. This often means they're using templates or pre-built solutions rather than creating custom applications. There's nothing wrong with templates for simple projects, but if you need something specific to your business, template-based developers won't be able to deliver.

They don't ask questions about your users or business goals. Building an app for university researchers is completely different from building an app for retail customers. Good developers want to understand your context so they can make appropriate technical decisions.

They avoid discussing testing or maintenance. Apps need ongoing updates, bug fixes, and platform compatibility updates. Developers who only want to talk about the initial build usually disappear when you need support later.

What Good Developers Actually Talk About

When I'm evaluating a mobile project, I ask lots of questions that might seem overly technical, but they matter enormously for the final result.

I want to understand who will use the app, how they'll use it, and what happens if it becomes popular. Will there be offline functionality? How will data sync between devices? What security requirements do you have? Do you need to integrate with existing systems?

These questions aren't academic—they determine fundamental architectural decisions that affect everything from performance to development cost to long-term maintainability.

For example, when I worked on the University of Nottingham's mobile platform, we had to integrate with Adobe Experience using GraphQL. That sounds simple, but it required understanding both mobile architecture and enterprise systems, plus how to structure the integration so other university departments could extend it later.

A less experienced developer might have built a working integration that couldn't scale or couldn't be reused. We built something that became a foundation for broader digital initiatives across the university.

The Money Question

Let's talk about cost, because this is where a lot of people get misled.

Quality mobile development is expensive. Not because developers are greedy, but because it's genuinely skilled work that takes time to do properly. For anything beyond a basic app, expect to invest at least £15,000-20,000, and probably more if you need custom features or enterprise integration.

I know that's not what people want to hear, especially when they've seen ads for "apps starting at £2,000." But those cheap apps are either built from templates (which means they can't do anything unique to your business) or they're built by developers who don't understand the complexity involved (which means they'll break when you actually try to use them).

The most expensive mobile app is the one that doesn't work. I've seen companies spend £50,000 trying to fix apps that should have been rebuilt from scratch. It's much cheaper to do things properly the first time.

Finding Someone Who Actually Knows What They're Doing

So how do you find a mobile developer who can actually deliver?

Start by having a technical conversation, even if you're not technical yourself. Ask them to explain how they'd approach your project and why they'd make specific technical decisions. Good developers love talking about architecture and trade-offs. Bad developers give sales presentations.

Ask to see code samples or detailed case studies of similar projects they've completed. Real mobile expertise shows up in the details—how they handle data persistence, how they structure navigation, how they manage different screen sizes and platform differences.

Most importantly, ask about testing and maintenance. Apps aren't like websites—they need to be updated when iOS and Android release new versions, and they need to handle edge cases like poor network connections and low battery situations. Developers who don't think about these issues will build apps that work perfectly in their office and terribly in the real world.

When Things Go Right

The difference between working with a competent mobile developer and an incompetent one is transformational.

At Experian, we built native mobile solutions that had to integrate with complex financial systems while maintaining enterprise-level security. The development process was smooth because everyone understood the technical requirements upfront, we had clear testing strategies, and we planned for long-term maintenance from day one.

At Kopin Software, we worked on VR applications that required Bluetooth integration with specialized hardware. The initial codebase was a monolithic mess, but by applying proper mobile architecture patterns, we turned it into modular components that could be reused across different products.

These projects succeeded because we treated mobile development as the complex engineering discipline it actually is, not as a quick coding exercise.

Making Your Choice

Whether you're a university researcher who needs a data collection app, a startup founder building your first MVP, or a corporate manager adding mobile capabilities to your business, the principles remain the same.

Mobile development done properly takes time, costs money, and requires genuine expertise. But when it's done right, it creates applications that actually solve problems, delight users, and grow with your business.

Don't get seduced by cheap promises or flashy presentations. Find developers who ask good questions, explain their reasoning, and have a track record of building applications that actually work in the real world.

If you'd like to discuss your mobile project with someone who's been through these challenges before, feel free to reach out. At TurboGlitch, I focus on helping businesses navigate these decisions and build mobile solutions that actually deliver results.

Because in my experience, the most expensive mobile app is the one that doesn't work. And life's too short for apps that crash when people try to use them.