Android app studio · Cookstown

Android apps built from the origin outward.

Kernel is a small Android studio. We start with the smallest true version of your product — the kernel — and grow the app outward from there, one honest release at a time.

7 engineersEst. 2021Kotlin only
Fig. 01 · Kernel method
REV 24.03
Origin → Release
Kernel
Ship

Everything the app does traces back to one small, verifiable core.

Apps
31
Kotlin
100%
Reply
24h
Services

Six ways we build Android apps.

Everything we do results in a working Android APK, in your GitHub org, with a clean release pipeline attached.

◆ 01 · Full build

Concept to Play Store.

Native Android app built from the kernel outward. Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, MVVM, Room, Retrofit. Six to sixteen weeks depending on shape.

From £42k · 6–16 wk
◆ 02 · Feature sprint

A single feature, done right.

Four-week sprint bolted onto your existing Android codebase. We merge clean, hand back tests, and leave your engineers unblocked.

£18k · 4 wk fixed
◆ 03 · Platform audit

A written map of what's true.

Two-week deep read of your Android codebase. Report covers architecture, crash rate, build times, release pipeline, next quarter's priorities.

£6.5k · 2 wk
◆ 04 · Rescue & rewrite

Get the app back on the rails.

The previous team left. The app is unreleased or badly leaking. We stabilise it, ship a version to the Play Store, and set the ground for a rewrite.

From £24k · Scoped case-by-case
◆ 05 · Play Store launch

Actual submission and staged rollout.

You have an APK; we do the rest. Store listing, screenshots, feature video, staged rollout, first-week review response process.

£4.5k · 2 wk
◆ 06 · Retainer

A long-term engineering shape.

Monthly capacity across your Android portfolio, used flexibly by the product team. Weekly async check-ins, quarterly strategy call.

From £8k / month · 3-month min
Programme

Four phases from kernel to store.

Every full build follows the same shape. We publish the shape so you can measure us against it.

01

Load — find the kernel.

Two weeks. Discovery workshop, product surface map, technical shape doc, fixed scope for the build. You walk away with a written plan even if you don't hire us.

◆ 2 weeks · £6k · Refunded against the build if you continue
02

Build — grow it outward.

Four to twelve weeks of engineering. Weekly demo Fridays with actual APK. A private Slack channel that we watch during working hours.

◆ 4–12 weeks · Weekly demos · Fixed price
03

Ship — onto the Play Store.

Two weeks of launch: store listing, screenshots, feature graphic, staged rollout, review response setup, first-week monitoring in a shared dashboard.

◆ 2 weeks · Play submission included
04

Hand off — leave it clean.

Handbook, architecture diagrams, walkthrough with your team, 30-day post-ship support included. After that, retainer if you want us, quiet exit if you don't.

◆ 1 week · 30-day support included
Work

Apps live on the Play Store.

Each of these is running today; each client is a reachable phone call away.

Full build · Fintech · 2026

Halvor Trust — member app.

Native Android app for a trust company's private-client portal. Portfolio view, document vault, biometric auth, offline-first read. 14-week build, live on Play, adopted by 78% of eligible members in the first quarter.

14wk
Build
78%
Adoption
4.7★
Play
Rescue & rewrite · Grocery · 2025

Mira Grocer — on-shift picker.

Inherited a picker app crashing on the shop floor. Rewrote the offline-sync core in Kotlin, cut crash rate 91%, cut sync time from 42s to under 4s. Now used across 190 stores.

190
Stores
-91%
Crashes
4.6★
Play
Full build · Media · 2025

Otis Radio — listener app.

Kernel-out build for a small radio broadcaster. Live streaming, on-demand catch-up, background listen with lock-screen controls. Shipped in 11 weeks and hit 24k monthly listeners inside six months.

11wk
Build
24k
MAU
4.8★
Play
Retainer · Health · Ongoing

Nadia Care — carer app.

Ongoing retainer covering a domiciliary care visit-management app used by 1,400 carers. Monthly capacity of 80 engineer-hours, biweekly demo, quarterly strategy call.

1.4k
Carers
18mo
Retainer
80hr
/ month
31
Apps shipped
100%
Kotlin native
27
Live on Play
24h
First reply
Voices

What the clients say.

"Kernel found the true smallest version of our idea inside a two-week Load. We were about to build twice as much app as we needed. They saved us four months."
HT
Elin Halvor
Head of Digital · Halvor Trust
"They inherited a mess and did not once make us feel bad about it. Ninety-one percent crash reduction in six weeks, and then a clean pipeline we now run ourselves."
MG
Roshan Mehta
CTO · Mira Grocer
"The Friday demo shipped an actual working APK every single week. First time in ten years I've had that from any external team."
OR
Aoife Reynolds
Founder · Otis Radio

Have an Android app to ship?

Send us the shape of the thing. Reply from a human inside 24 hours, phase-1 proposal inside a week.