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notes

The Bothmade blog — notes on web and Apple development, written down as we go.

How we build,
written down.

Buyer guides, implementation notes, and honest tradeoffs from the products we're building — useful enough to earn attention, never published to fill a schedule.

Browse by goal

Topic guides

For buyers

Buying web & app development

Clear guides to costs, timelines, platforms, ownership, App Store delivery, migration, maintenance, agency risk and return on investment.

Planning

Planning & pricing software

Fixed scope, realistic budgets, delivery phases, and the questions worth answering before a build starts.

Web

Web development

Practical React, Next.js, interaction design, data, and interface engineering from the work itself.

Apple

Native Apple development

iOS, iPadOS, macOS, visionOS, SwiftUI, App Store delivery, and spatial interaction.

Quality

Accessibility & performance

Motion preferences, keyboard behaviour, native scrolling, resilient forms, and software built to last.

01

Ten quotes before we conclude anything

Every price in our catalogue is a guess by people who have not yet watched anybody decide whether to pay it. Here is what we do about that.

August 20, 2026
02

The VAT line you cross without noticing

Ninety thousand pounds on a rolling twelve months is eight good projects. Crossing it unnoticed means owing 20% on money you have already spent.

August 19, 2026
03

The greys that look fine and measure badly

On a dark interface, the difference between readable and legally inadequate is invisible to the person choosing the colour.

August 18, 2026
04

Our funnel was counting backwards

Nine boxes across the top of a dashboard, each showing the number of people who got that far and stopped — arranged to look like a funnel.

August 17, 2026
05

The quote that expires, and the page that forgot

We printed “valid for 30 days” on every quote for months while nothing whatsoever enforced it.

August 16, 2026
06

How long does a custom website or iOS app take?

Plan a realistic custom website or iOS application timeline from discovery and content through testing, review, launch and contingency.

August 15, 2026
07

Website versus web application: which one do you need?

Choose a public content-led website or a stateful web application by user jobs, identity, permissions, data, workflows and operating cost.

August 15, 2026
08

Native iOS versus React Native: which should you choose?

Compare Swift and React Native by product risk, platform depth, team shape, shared code, release operations and long-term ownership.

August 15, 2026
09

What causes App Store rejection, and what does submission cost?

Prepare account ownership, privacy, metadata, review access and testing—and understand Apple's membership fee versus the real human cost of submission.

August 15, 2026
10

What should you own after your agency finishes?

A handover checklist for domains, source, hosting, data, analytics, design files, app stores, credentials, documentation and licences.

August 15, 2026
11

How to redesign a website without losing SEO

Protect successful URLs, content, internal links, metadata, structured data and measurement through a controlled website redesign.

August 15, 2026
12

What does website maintenance actually include?

Separate monitoring, security, dependency updates, backups, content support, incident response and improvement into an accountable post-launch plan.

August 15, 2026
13

How to choose a web development agency before you pay

Evaluate an agency's discovery, team, evidence, accessibility, security, ownership, milestones, maintenance and continuity before signing.

August 15, 2026
14

How to calculate whether a custom application is financially worthwhile

Model time saved, errors avoided, retained revenue, adoption, operating cost, uncertainty and the payback threshold before building.

August 15, 2026
15

What should a professional website proposal include?

Use a decision-ready proposal to compare outcomes, scope, responsibilities, accessibility, SEO, milestones, ownership, launch and support.

August 15, 2026
16

How website payment milestones normally work

Structure deposits and staged payments around capacity, inspectable progress, acceptance, launch and recoverable client ownership.

August 15, 2026
17

Fixed price vs hourly web development

Compare fixed-price and hourly web development by scope certainty, flexibility, incentives and risk—not by which headline rate looks cheaper.

August 15, 2026
18

Website builder vs custom website

Choose between a website builder and a custom website using content, integrations, design, ownership, performance and operational complexity.

August 15, 2026
19

WordPress vs Next.js for a business website

Compare WordPress and Next.js by editing needs, integrations, performance, security, ownership and the team that will maintain the website.

August 15, 2026
20

Shopify vs custom ecommerce

Compare Shopify with custom ecommerce by checkout needs, catalogue rules, integrations, fees, ownership and the operational work behind every order.

August 15, 2026
21

When does a business need a customer portal?

Decide whether repeated, permissioned self-service justifies identity, data, support and security—or whether a simpler tool solves the problem.

August 15, 2026
22

When does a booking system become a web application?

Know when ordinary scheduling software is enough and when allocation rules, roles, fulfilment and integrations justify custom software.

August 15, 2026
23

How to write a website brief

Write a website brief that produces accurate quotes by defining the problem, audience, content, functionality, constraints, responsibilities and evidence.

August 15, 2026
24

What information should you prepare before a website redesign?

Collect business goals, audiences, analytics, URLs, content, brand assets, systems, access and decision owners before design begins.

August 15, 2026
25

How many pages does a business website need?

Plan the right number of website pages from audience questions, services, locations, proof and search intent—not an arbitrary agency package.

August 15, 2026
26

What happens during website discovery?

Understand the evidence, decisions, workshops and outputs that turn an uncertain website idea into a buildable, priced scope.

August 15, 2026
27

How to compare two web development quotations

Normalise scope, assumptions, ownership, quality evidence, milestones, recurring costs and delivery risk before comparing agency totals.

August 15, 2026
28

Why cheap template websites become expensive later

See how missing content structure, ownership, accessibility, performance and maintainability turn a low launch price into recurring cost.

August 15, 2026
29

What does a website development warranty cover?

Understand what a website warranty normally covers, what counts as a defect, what is excluded and how warranty differs from maintenance and support.

August 15, 2026
30

Questions to ask before redesigning your website

Answer these website redesign questions about evidence, audience, content, technology, SEO, ownership and success before changing the interface.

August 15, 2026
31

How do web development agencies calculate prices?

See how agencies turn scope, people, uncertainty, complexity, overhead and margin into fixed fees, day rates and ongoing website costs.

August 15, 2026
32

Freelancer vs web development agency

Choose a freelancer or web agency by project complexity, specialist coverage, continuity, communication, accountability, budget and delivery risk.

August 15, 2026
33

What is technical debt?

Understand technical debt in business terms: why shortcuts create recurring cost, how to measure the interest and when to repay, contain or accept it.

August 15, 2026
34

Should you improve or rebuild your website?

Decide whether to optimise, redesign, replatform or rebuild your website using evidence, structural constraints, migration risk, cost and expected value.

August 15, 2026
35

Prices in pounds, not converted pounds

A price that is converted when it is displayed is a price that changes on its own — including on the contract, and after the client agreed to it.

August 15, 2026
36

How much does an iOS app cost in the UK?

A practical UK iOS app budget guide covering scope, design, backend, testing, App Store delivery, maintenance and the costs buyers often miss.

August 15, 2026
37

SwiftUI versus UIKit for a new application

Choose SwiftUI, UIKit or a deliberate hybrid by deployment target, interaction needs, team experience, accessibility, testing and maintenance.

August 15, 2026
38

macOS App Store versus direct distribution

Compare Mac App Store and Developer ID distribution by discovery, sandboxing, payments, licensing, updates, review and customer control.

August 15, 2026
39

How to move from WordPress to Next.js without losing rankings

Preserve URLs, content, metadata, structured data and search visibility while rebuilding a WordPress site in Next.js.

August 15, 2026
40

Should a business build an app or a mobile website?

Compare reach, installation, native capability, repeat use, offline behaviour, cost and commercial return before choosing a product surface.

August 15, 2026
41

What technical SEO should be included in a website build?

A buyer's acceptance checklist for rendering, crawlability, metadata, redirects, structured data, performance, measurement and handover.

August 15, 2026
42

Warning signs that a web agency may disappear after payment

Protect continuity before paying: ownership, identity, access, milestones, source control, handover, support and an evidence-led exit plan.

August 15, 2026
43

Website accessibility requirements for UK businesses

A practical buyer's guide to the Equality Act, WCAG, reasonable adjustments, procurement, testing and maintaining an accessible website.

August 15, 2026
44

Core Web Vitals explained for business owners

Understand LCP, INP and CLS, the difference between field and lab data, commercial symptoms, priorities and questions for your web team.

August 15, 2026
45

A price should look decided, not computed

£7,458.75 is arithmetic. £7,460 is a number a person stood behind. The difference is at most a fiver and it changes the conversation.

August 14, 2026
46

Stripe will send that event twice

Redelivery is ordinary traffic, not an edge case — and a customer billed once and recorded twice is worse than one not recorded at all.

August 13, 2026
47

The default that was five hours wrong

A booking page that offered every prospect the wrong time for months, with nothing anywhere reporting an error.

August 12, 2026
48

A 403 is not a loading problem

Nine pages told a new colleague that a deliberate permission refusal was a temporary glitch, and offered a retry button that could never work.

August 11, 2026
49

Even our 404 page is a pun

How a branded 404 page can keep its joke, return the right HTTP status, and stay out of search results.

August 9, 2026
50

Why batch writes get wrapped in one transaction

Importing five records and record four fails — do you keep the first three, or nothing? Toggle the demo below to see both outcomes.

August 2, 2026
51

Tell us what's actually wrong

Most quote forms ask what package you want. We'd rather start from the actual problem — pick one below and see what it's really costing you.

July 26, 2026
52

We deleted the empty box

Why we removed empty image placeholders instead of replacing missing project screenshots with stock photography.

July 19, 2026
53

An accessible mobile menu: focus, scroll lock, and Escape

The three things a mobile nav overlay has to get right that most tutorials skip. Tap the icon below, then try pressing Escape.

July 12, 2026
54

Our pricing calculator won't sell you something broken

How quote dependencies stop buyers selecting an incomplete build, with a live pricing demo.

July 5, 2026
55

Type anything — a kinetic type playground

The cursor-reactive variable-weight effect from our web hero, except this time you pick the word. Go ahead, type something.

June 28, 2026
56

Actually respecting prefers-reduced-motion

How to respect prefers-reduced-motion across a full animation system, with a live comparison.

June 21, 2026
57

We don't disappear after launch

The most common complaint about studios isn't the work — it's what happens the week after you pay the final invoice. Here's what stays true here.

June 14, 2026
58

A CSS 3D scene that tilts toward your cursor

Create pointer-driven CSS 3D parallax with rotateX, rotateY, and translateZ—no animation library required.

June 7, 2026
59

The scroll-zoom "flying through text" effect

How Apple-style product pages make giant words fly toward you with three transforms and one shared scroll timeline. Try the demo.

May 31, 2026
60

Type that reaches toward your cursor

Create cursor-reactive variable-font text by changing weight and colour with pointer proximity.

May 24, 2026
61

Recreating the iOS app-launch animation, on the web

Build an iOS-style app-launch transition on the web using measured rectangles and AnimatePresence.

May 17, 2026
62

How much does a business website cost in the UK?

A transparent UK website budget guide covering scope, design, content, integrations, VAT, maintenance and the reasons two quotes can differ.

May 10, 2026
63

A two-axis stagger animation, explained

How to stagger a grid of items by both column and position with one small formula — the technique behind the tech-stack chips on our service pages.

May 3, 2026
64

How our web and app development process actually works

A practical look at discovery, design, build, and launch, with an interactive project-timeline demo.

April 26, 2026
65

Why we don't use smooth-scroll libraries

Scroll hijacking is the reason your arrow keys and Page Down "randomly stop working" on some sites. Feel the difference between the two below.

April 19, 2026
66

A splash screen that only shows up once

How to show a website intro animation once per session, with a replayable React demo.

April 12, 2026
67

The seam follows you everywhere

The hero has a draggable seam. The footer has a splitting wordmark. It turns out there's a third one, quietly running on every single page.

April 5, 2026
68

The details nobody asks for

Three small effects—a number odometer, scroll bar, and reading-line focus—explained with live demos.

March 29, 2026
69

A cursor with a half-second memory

The dot and the ring that follow your pointer around the site aren't the same speed on purpose. Move your mouse in the box below.

March 22, 2026
70

A wordmark that plays along

Every letter of our logo secretly knows which half of the name it belongs to. Hover one below and watch it switch sides.

March 15, 2026
71

The seam is the whole idea

The draggable line down the middle of our homepage isn't decoration — it's the entire pitch, made touchable. Drag it below.

March 8, 2026
72

Four worlds, one scrollbar

How the homepage presents Web, iOS, macOS, and Vision Pro as physical sheets stacking on top of each other — try it below.

March 1, 2026
73

Vision Pro isn't a stretched iPad

Windows, volumes, and immersive spaces aren't three sizes of the same screen — they're three different design problems.

February 22, 2026
74

Text that develops like film

The scroll-scrubbed paragraph on our homepage, and why it's driven by scroll position instead of time.

February 15, 2026
75

A button that leans toward you

Making every call-to-action on the site pull toward the cursor, without touching anyone on a touchscreen.

February 8, 2026
76

Why our contact form doesn't have a CAPTCHA

The honeypot field we actually ship instead — invisible to you, irresistible to a bot.

February 1, 2026
77

Built to last

Why we default to boring, well-worn tools instead of whatever launched on Twitter last week — and the one time we don't.

January 25, 2026
78

There's no account manager

Why every message you send reaches whoever is actually writing the code — and what that means when something goes wrong.

January 18, 2026
79

Fixed scope, fixed price

Why we quote a number before we write a line of code, and what has to be true for that to work.

January 11, 2026
80

One team, every surface

Why the same hands write the website and the iOS app, and what that actually costs us.

January 4, 2026