Mobile App Maintenance Specialist

Q: Can you maintain an app built by another developer?

Yes. James Thornley regularly works on existing iOS and Android apps built by freelancers, agencies and in-house teams.

Q: What if the original mobile app developer has disappeared?

James can review the existing codebase, recover deployment processes where possible, stabilise the app and continue development.

Q: Can you update an old iOS app?

Yes. James can update older iOS apps, including legacy Objective-C codebases, for newer versions of iOS and App Store requirements.

Q: Can you update Android apps for new SDK requirements?

Yes. James can update Android applications to newer SDK targets and address compatibility issues for Play Store submission.

Fixing Existing iOS Apps

I help companies fix, update and maintain existing mobile applications - especially when the original developer is no longer available.

Mobile App Maintenance Fix Existing App Contact Me

About

Over 30 years of software development experience, including 15 years building, maintaining and rescuing mobile applications.

iOS, Android and Server-Side Developer

I help companies maintain, fix and modernise existing mobile applications. This includes iOS and Android apps that need updating, stabilising or taking over from previous developers.

I am particularly strong at getting into existing projects quickly, even where documentation is poor or the original developer is no longer available.

At TeamHaven and Active Trails, I developed complete applications from scratch through to live deployment. In other projects, including Miele, I was brought in to recover and maintain existing systems with minimal handover and deliver working fixes rapidly.

Nationality: British
Availability: Freelance or Fixed Price
Phone: 0777 6122578
City: Henley on Thames

Years Experience: Over 30 years
Education: Degree
Email: enquiries@thornley.info
Freelance: Available

Whether you need someone to work independently, as part of a team, or to lead and design solutions, I can help. My particular strength is taking ownership of complex software problems and delivering practical, maintainable results - especially for existing mobile apps that need rescuing, updating or ongoing support.

Mobile App Maintenance Services

I specialise in maintaining and rescuing existing mobile apps, especially where the original developer is no longer available.

Mobile App Maintenance

Ongoing support for existing iOS and Android apps, including bug fixes, compatibility updates and improvements.

Fix Existing Mobile App

Debugging crashes, performance issues, API failures and stability problems in apps built by other developers.

Developer Disappeared?

Taking over mobile app projects where the original developer or agency is no longer available.

Update Old Mobile App

Updating legacy Objective-C, Swift, Java and Kotlin apps for new iOS and Android versions.

Relevant Experience

Examples of large-scale mobile, backend and legacy systems I have built, maintained, rescued or modernised.

All
Mobile
Full Stack
Java
Excel

TeamHaven Mobile

TeamHaven

TeamHaven is used by marketing companies and supports complex, dynamically-defined forms and workflows. I wrote the entire app in both iOS and Android and have maintained it over many years.

CHEP Pallets Limited

I wrote iOS and Android apps used internationally for pallet inspection and collection workflows.

AT Creative

I wrote the original geographically aware apps for AT Creative, including multimedia and mapping functionality.

Natural Animal Feeds

I have written and supported the NAF websites since 2009, including ecommerce and multiple international sites.

Miele

I was brought in to maintain and recover an existing system used to administer engineer call-outs, with minimal handover.

Kenbuster

In the early days of congestion charging and before mobile apps, an entrepreneur came up with a satellite unit that would enable the automatic payments of the charge, I wrote the entire system

Kinetic

For Kinetic I wrote a data system allowing them to observe and analyse workers in call centers, which was central to their business

Algiz and Brightsquid

BrightSquid

For brightsquid I was emploed by Algiz, a graphic design company, to convert a document editor they had written in Python to Java. This was so it could be incorporated in Canada's primary Dentistry communication platform - Brightsquid.

IMAS Mortgage software and Finance Media Leads

Imas

Imas were financial advisors who had a tool they had built to administer mortgage applications. I was given just the source code, which I compiled and amended without any guidance

For FML I built a website which allowed their clients to sell Loans on their behalf

Pendragon Fund Management

Pendragon

At Pendragon I worked on a fund management system with another programmer.

Norwood Bluetooth Connectivity

BrightSquid

For Norwood I created a bluetooth system that connected headphones to a central system

Barclays and Exeter Airport Excel

For both these clients I created complex and connected Excel Spreadheets which used VB

The Early Years

Before the projects above, I worked in more conventional roles, mainly in banking and data-driven systems. These roles built the structured engineering, database and systems analysis background that still shapes how I work today.

Goldman Sachs

I worked at Goldman Sachs twice. The first time in the Fixed Income Front Office, supporting C++ and Sybase systems for trade entry and operations. The second time in Market Risk, taking feeds from across the bank and delivering reports on exposure to market risk.

Nomura

At Nomura I worked in Prime Brokerage, where we built a complete trade entry and reporting system in Java and HTML with a Sybase relational database.

Deutsche Bank

At Deutsche Bank I worked in Credit Risk, creating reports showing the bank's exposure to the risk of corporations going into liquidation, using C and Ingres.

Three Mobile Communications

I worked at Three during their go-live preparations in 2003, using Java, Chordiant Application Server and Oracle.

Paribas Bank

I worked at Paribas creating a system for administering bonds, written in C using Ingres.

Price Waterhouse

I was a graduate trainee at Price Waterhouse in the Financial Services Division. I worked on projects at major clients including Barclays Bank, Foreign and Colonial, United Friendly Insurance and the Bank of Bangladesh. I conducted interviews, established requirements, produced structured documentation, supported live systems, acted as a DBA and systems manager, and led a small team improving performance on a live database system.

Mobile App Maintenance FAQ

Common questions from companies needing help with an existing mobile application.

Can you maintain an app built by another developer?

Yes. I regularly work on existing iOS and Android apps built by freelancers, agencies and in-house teams.

What if the original mobile app developer has disappeared?

I can review the existing codebase, recover deployment processes where possible, stabilise the application and continue development.

Can you update an old iOS app?

Yes. I can update older iOS applications, including legacy Objective-C codebases, for newer versions of iOS and App Store requirements.

Can you update Android apps for new SDK requirements?

Yes. I can update Android applications to newer SDK targets and address compatibility issues for Play Store submission.

Can you fix an app that crashes or behaves unpredictably?

Yes. I work on debugging crash issues, performance problems, network/API failures and other stability problems in existing mobile apps.

Testimonials

These can all be found and verified on LinkedIn.

James is a great person to work with. He's always looking to come up with new solutions and has helped us in tackling very complex problems. I have worked closely with James for the last five years, and our company has worked with him for a total of 13. James has created, maintained, deployed, and continuously improved several highly complicated and dynamic iOS and Android applications for us. James is fantastic at working under pressure and has never failed to deliver a quick solution when we have needed one. James has a brilliant can-do attitude and is very self-motivated, which makes him extremely easy to work with. We've thrown a great number of weird, wacky, and tricky tasks at him over the years, and each time he has risen to the challenge and provided us with solutions that have exceeded our expectations.

Georgina Grimes

Head of Marketing & App Development at TeamHaven

I've worked on and off with James for many years. Whatever coding issue I have thrown at him he has overcome with professionalism and what appears to be consummate ease. In the old days he produced our first Symbian and Blackberry apps and since that time has played an important role in developing our iOS and Android platform, which has involved turning his hand to a wide range of multimedia applications and complex mapping. James is very reliable and a lovely person, with a very positive disposition.

Dan Boys

Founder, AT Creative

Need Help With a Mobile App?

Phone

Email Me

enquiries@thornley.info

Typical Enquiries

App crashes, legacy iOS or Android updates, App Store or Play Store issues, and projects where the original developer is no longer available.