Your developer is gone
The app still has users, but nobody knows where the passwords, store accounts and signing keys are. I find them, move them into your name and keep the app running.
Take over your app Currently Booking projects for Q4 2026
Build it, take it over, run it. All taken care of.
Your app runs. I take care of the rest.
Book a free call Watch the video 1:00
Start with the App Check: a fixed $2,000, credited in full if you continue within 60 days.
For companies without their own tech team. I build, take over or rescue your app and then run it: updates, store releases, security and support from one person, at a fixed monthly price. The accounts are in your name and the code sits in your repository from day one.
Marcel R. G. Berger Software architect, 20+ years How the first call works
Talk to the architect who will be accountable for your app
In 30 minutes we look at what happened, who holds which account and what it takes to get your app running smoothly with you covered. You leave with a clear next step. Free, no obligation.
Free 30-minute call, no obligation
You talk to Marcel directly, the architect who is accountable for the work. No sales rep, no pitch.
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Prefer to write first? Describe your situation, with a link to your app, repository or questionnaire. You get an answer within one business day.
- 1 Tell me what happened: the developer is gone, a prototype has to go live, the store said no, a customer is reviewing you, or there is a new idea. Plain words, no tech knowledge needed.
- 2 Together we work out the next step: usually an App Check, sometimes a takeover, a rescue or a new build straight away, with a rough budget and timeline.
- 3 You leave with a clear written next step. No prep, no pitch, no obligation.
Fixed price per milestone, in writing. The code sits in your repository from day one; with each paid milestone, the rights to everything delivered up to that point pass to you.
Which one sounds like you?
Your AI prototype has to go live
It proved the idea. Real customers need more: access rules, backups, a database nobody can read from outside, a clean way into the stores. I check what holds up and fix the rest.
From prototype to productionApple rejected your app
A guideline number, a short note and a launch date that slips. I read what App Review flagged, fix the app and prepare the new submission.
App Store rejection helpA big customer is reviewing you
A security questionnaire is on your desk and asks about access, data location, audit trail and exit. I prepare answers and evidence your team can stand behind.
Vendor security reviewSomething else? Payments stopped, the app crashes after an update, or the agency stopped answering. Describe it in one sentence when you book.
The surprise is rarely the code. It's the account nobody remembers.
I take care of running it, and the app stays yours. A ZIP file of the source code won't protect you there. You're covered when you can answer these seven questions without calling anyone:
- 1 Who owns the Apple and Google developer accounts?
- 2 Where are the signing keys and certificates?
- 3 Whose name is on the servers, the database and the domain?
- 4 Which payment, email and API services does the app use, and who can log in?
- 5 How does a new version get from the code into the stores?
- 6 When was the last backup restored as a test?
- 7 Who gets the alert when the app goes down?
The App Check answers all seven in writing. In a takeover, everything that sits in someone else's name moves into yours. While I run the app, the emergency handbook and the account register are kept current, so the answers stay true.
What the App Check coversStart small. Stay as long as it helps.
Every step has a fixed price in writing. You can stop after any step; everything you have paid for is yours.
- 1
Check
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$2,000
$1,100 for the first five clients (until 31 December 2026 at the latest)
One app and its backend: accounts and keys, data and access, store risk, releases. Traffic-light report in five business days, the most critical gap fixed, a fixed price for the next step. Credited in full.
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- 2
Secure and fix
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from $10,500
Accounts in your name, a fresh build with current tools, a store update shipped.
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from $27,800
Stalled, broken or still a prototype: hardened for real customers and made ready for the stores.
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- 3
Run it, all taken care of
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App Care
$1,400 a month
The entry point: updates, security patches, monitoring, backups, store deadlines. Releases are not included.
- The all-round package
Full Service
$2,900 a month
Everything in App Care, plus releases and fixes for all bugs. New features by change order with their own price.
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Your Technical Lead
$7,200 a month
Plus the technical decisions, made for you.
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- 4
Develop and build
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from $27,800
An idea tested with real users, in 2 to 4 weeks.
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from $83,300
The real product for iPhone and Android, when the first app has earned it.
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Several systems, your own engineering team or an investment decision? The Architecture Review costs $10,500 to $13,900. Architecture Review
Not sure where you stand? That's what the free 30-minute call is for. Book a free call
All prices are net; the tax treatment is clarified before contract.
All prices and what each step includes20+ years building software that has to work, for banks, insurers, energy companies and public authorities: payments that clear in seconds, logins that only let the right people in, systems that run around the clock.
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20+
years of software that has to work
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4
apps live in the App Store
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11
open-source tools on GitHub
- Professional:
- 20+ years in production
- Accounts in your name:
- code, stores and servers stay yours
- Cost-efficient:
- fixed price, in writing
- Modern:
- AI-accelerated delivery
- Insured:
- professional liability insurance, proof on request
No wall of client logos. These are my own products, live in the App Store, and I'd rather show you working code than a logo.
Author of the book Solopreneur, The Art of Working Alone.
I do this for my own apps
These apps are mine and live in the App Store. I hold their accounts and signing keys, ship their releases and deal with App Review myself. Download them and judge the quality.
Sommelio
Your pocket sommelier: AI wine recognition and recommendations matched to your taste.
iPhone and Android app Live
CivoCloudManager – Kubernetes
Tired of MFA codes and browser tabs just to flip one firewall rule? CivoCloudManager fixes that.
Mac app Live
Photo Speed Quiz - SnapShots
Three photos flash on screen. Five seconds. They disappear.
iPhone game Live
DokuAI
Turns a 90-second voice memo and a photo into a structured site report.
iPhone and Android app Live
You were dependent once. Not again.
Your repository, your rights
The code sits in your repository from day one; with each paid milestone, the rights to everything delivered up to that point pass to you.
Accounts in your name
Store, server, domain and payment accounts are registered to your company. I work with access you grant and can revoke at any time.
Prepared in case I drop out
There is no named stand-in. Instead, every takeover and every build comes with an emergency handbook and an exit plan. In operation both are kept current, and a handover is rehearsed once a year, so another experienced developer can take over from the documented state.
Fixed prices and insurance
Every step has a fixed price in writing; extra scope only through a change order you sign. Professional liability insurance is in place, proof on request.
What the first weeks look like
Five steps. After the free call, each one has a fixed price and a written result before the next one starts.
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01
Free call
30 minutes. You tell me what happened in plain words. You leave with a clear next step, no obligation. If you'd like, we sign an NDA first.
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02
App Check
One app checked, a traffic-light report within five business days, the most critical gap fixed straight away.
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03
Secure
Accounts, keys, servers and domains are moved into your name and documented. From here on, nothing depends on one person's login.
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04
Fix or finish
Takeover or rescue at the fixed price from the App Check, in milestones, with the latest build on your phone.
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05
Run and develop
Monthly operation: updates, monitoring, backups, store deadlines. New features when you want them. Or a clean handover to your own team.
Already have an engineering team?
Bring me in for one clearly defined job. Your team keeps the final say over its own code base.
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Architecture Review
Several systems, an app built by another team or an investment decision: an independent review with a written report and prioritized actions.
Architecture Review -
Taking over a single app
The app that runs next to your core product and nobody on the team has time for: I take it over and run it.
Take over an existing app -
Vendor review
Your customer sends a security questionnaire. Every operation plan includes a supplier pack with the answers buyers usually ask for.
Vendor security review
Straight answers
My app developer left. What do I do first?
Don't change anything in a hurry. Write down every account you know of: Apple, Google, hosting, domain, payments, email. Then book a call. In the App Check I find the rest and check who can log in where. In the takeover everything moves into your company's name, starting with the store accounts and signing keys, because without them no update can ship.
Can you take over an app someone else built?
Yes, that's the core of the work. The App Check shows what state it's in. The takeover moves the accounts into your name, produces a fresh build with current tools and ships a store update. After that I run it, or hand it to your team with documentation.
We built our app with AI. Can it go to production?
Often parts of it can. A prototype proves the idea; for paying customers it usually lacks access rules, backups, logging and a clean path into the stores. I check what holds up and fix the rest at a fixed price. I use AI every day myself: it makes building cheaper; it doesn't make accountability cheaper. I review every line that ships.
Apple rejected our app. Can you get it approved?
Nobody but Apple can promise approval. I read the rejection, check the app against the guideline it cites, fix what's needed and prepare the resubmission with a clear note to App Review. If the app is a wrapped website, I tell you honestly what it takes to turn it into a real app.
What does the App Check cost, and what do I get?
$2,000, or $1,100 for the first five clients (until 31 December 2026 at the latest), credited in full if you order the next step within 60 days. One app checked, a traffic-light report within five business days, the most critical gap fixed, and a fixed price for the takeover or rescue in two variants.
You're one person. What if you drop out?
Code, accounts and documentation sit with you from day one. There is no named stand-in; instead, every takeover and every build comes with an emergency handbook and an exit plan. In operation both are kept current and a handover is rehearsed once a year, so another experienced developer can take over from the documented state. In operation, work on critical outages starts within 4 hours on business days, on everything else within one business day.
Talk to the architect who'll be accountable for your app
Free, no obligation, NDA beforehand on request: in 30 minutes we look at what happened, who holds which account and what it takes to get your app running smoothly with you covered. You leave with a clear next step.