CitrusBits

Mobile App Strategy, Design, and Development

4.9 6 Reviews
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CitrusBits is a mobile app development agency that designs and develops impactful mobile apps and responsive mobile content for businesses of all types.

Having developed critical mobile apps for clients including Burger King, Quiksilver, Symantec, and Sotheby’s, CitrusBits is trusted by movers and shakers across all major industries. Yet, we’ve also enjoyed helping small and midsize businesses and select startups turn their mobile aspirations into juicy ROI.

We’re passionate about leveraging mobile technology – including iOS, Android, augmented/virtual reality, blockchain, and The Internet of Things (IoT) – to help businesses disrupt entire industries and reach their loftiest goals.

CitrusBits has helped hundreds of businesses build game-changing mobile apps for more than ten years. Please get in touch if you’d like to talk about your next project.

$100 - $149/hr
10 - 49
2005
Locations
United States
633 W 5th Street Los Angeles, CA 90071 United States, Los Angeles, California 91105
(925) 452-6012
United States
5994 W. Las Positas Blvd, Suite 219 Pleasanton, CA 94588 United States, San Francisco, California 94588
(925) 452-6012
United States
535 Mission St San Francisco,, San Francisco, California 94105
(925) 452-6012

Focus Areas

Service Focus

25%
25%
25%
25%
  • Mobile App Development
  • App Designing (UI/UX)
  • AR & VR Development
  • IoT Development

Client Focus

50%
40%
10%
  • Small Business
  • Medium Business
  • Large Business

Industry Focus

20%
20%
10%
10%
10%
10%
10%
10%
  • Healthcare & Medical
  • Other Industries
  • Art, Entertainment & Music

CitrusBits Executive Interview

Harry Lee
Harry Lee
CEO
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Please introduce your company and give a brief about your role within the company?
CitrusBits is firmly planted at the intersection of user-focused design, mobile app development, digital strategy, and emerging technologies. We’re passionate about leveraging mobile technology – including iOS, Android, augmented/virtual reality, artificial intelligence, blockchain and The Internet of Things (IoT) – to help businesses disrupt entire industries and reach their loftiest goals.

As CEO of CitrusBits, I drive strategy and execution for CitrusBits and its clients. I see every client project as an opportunity not just to deliver a great app but also to help clients implement game-changing mobile strategies. Internally, I work on nurturing the high-energy and collaborative work culture that CitrusBits is known for.
What was the idea behind starting this organization?
CitrusBits was originally founded to provide web expertise to businesses who didn’t know how to go about creating a professional web presence in the mid-2000’s. Shortly after that, smartphones became a huge thing, and we pivoted to mobile applications. We’ve now been building mobile applications for more than a decade and have successfully delivered hundreds of mobile applications for businesses ranging from startups to Fortune 500 brands.
What are your company’s business model–in-house team or third party vendors/ outsourcing?
We have an in-house team of around 70 employees worldwide. We pride ourselves on co-location of our most important dev resources, which is increasingly a rarity in the marketplace. We also have a roster of specialist consultants we work with for more niche needs.
How is your business model beneficial from a value-added perspective to the clients compared to other companies' models?
We bring world-class execution to all phases of mobile app creation: discovery/strategy, UI and UX design, and development. Unlike many other companies in the space, CitrusBits delivers predictably superior results from one engagement to the next, regardless of client size or project scope.
What industries do you generally cater to? Are your customers repetitive? If yes, what ratio of clients has been repetitive to you?
We serve many industries, though we do have a slight lean towards industries with strong representation in California: high tech, entertainment, health & fitness, food & drink, and startups, to name a few. We do have several clients who have continued to work with us on multiple engagements. Overall, about 50% of our business is from repeat customers.
Mention the objectives or the parameters critical in determining the time frame of developing a mobile app.
We look at the scope of work and evaluate, item by item, the resources required to implement each item from a design, development, and delivery standpoint. Other factors that go into determining the time frame include the work or preparation a client has done beforehand. If a client has already done significant product planning, user testing, competitor analysis, etc… we can anticipate that there will be substantially less scope creep or changes after the fact. This helps us solidify a reliable timeline for such clients.
How much effort in terms of time goes into developing the front end and back end of a mobile app?
The time investment can vary tremendously, depending on a mobile app’s complexity. We’ve done mobile apps where full design and development was completed in two months. Others can take a year or longer. In the estimation process, we strive to be as upfront with time-based expectations as possible, as this is critical to our own resource planning.
What are the key parameters to be considered before selecting the right platform for a mobile application?
Such decisions usually depend on the end user. As a business, you want to build an experience that will be engaging and valuable to as many of your target end users as possible. If your end users are predominantly on a single platform, let’s say iOS, it makes sense to prioritize development on that platform. Ultimately, you might decide to build on all (or as many as possible) platforms your target users are on.
Which platform do you suggest your clients to begin with when they approach you with an idea (Android or iOS) and why?
CitrusBits is an ideal go-to-market mobile partner and excels in building mobile apps to boost up business and bolster customer retention rate. We’ve designed user-centric Android as well as iOS apps for more than a decade. We’ve delivered more than 300 successful apps for businesses of all sizes and across all industry verticals. Regarding your question, it really does depend upon the end user preferences and device ownership, because at the end of the day, you’re building an app to address market demand.
Android or iOS, Native or Hybrid — which platform is best to use to build your app? What are your recommendations?
Currently, native apps provide better performance, scalability, and flexibility than a hybrid approach. Whether you’re talking about iOS or Android applications, apps created natively for these platforms are better positioned to make use of a device’s hardware components, execute code more efficiently (resulting in better performance), and provide vastly more options when it comes to APIs, advanced functionality, and updates. A hybrid approach isn’t as strong in these areas but can be considered for some more straightforward applications. Doing so can provide moderate cost savings as well. However, I recommend pursuing a native approach whenever possible.
What are the key factors that you consider before deciding the cost of a mobile application?
As with most vendors in our space, a project’s cost is a function of the resources we put into a project. In other words, staffing and the amount of time each team member will be spending on the project are the key factors we consider the most.
What kind of payment structure do you follow to bill your clients? Is it Pay per Feature, Fixed Cost, Pay per Milestone (could be in phases, months, versions etc.)
We have a range of payment options and payment schedules, including Pay per Feature, Fixed Cost and Pay per Milestone.
Do you take in projects which meet your basic budget requirement? If yes, what is the minimum requirement? If no, on what minimum budget you have worked for?
While we don’t strictly adhere to a minimum budget threshold, we typically advise prospective clients to budget at least $50,000 (USD) to design and develop a mobile app on a single platform (iOS or Android). Each potential project is evaluated on its merits, according to our interest in the project and the resource commitment we would be making in accepting the project.
What is the price range (min and max) of the projects that you catered to in 2018?
The approximate price range for the past year was $50k to $300k+. The range varies year to year.
Which business model do you suggest to your clients enabling them to generate revenue from mobile applications? Why?
While there is no one-size-fits-all as far as prescribing business models to clients, I generally recommend that our clients focus on providing value to their users first and foremost. This is a critical precursor to any sort of value creation on the client’s side, and as obvious as it might sound, many entrepreneurs do make the mistake of prioritizing monetization above providing value to their end users.

CitrusBits Clients & Portfolios

Key Clients

  • LoveSac
  • Alaska Commercial
  • RadiusXR
  • ERUPT
  • IrisVision
  • Burger King
  • DuPont
  • Urban Plates
  • Chemowave
  • Job Flare

Leef
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Leef
  • Leef screenshot 1
$50001 to $100000
12 weeks
Consumer Products

THE CHALLENGE

Leef is a California-based inventor and manufacturer of beautifully-designed mobile flash drives that extend the boundaries of mobile storage. Each Leef mobile flash drive has an accompanying Leef mobile app that allows users to transfer, view, edit, and share files from devices like GoPro wearable cameras and drones – directly from a smartphone.

Leef was just months away from the global launch of its new USB-C-based product when they tapped CitrusBits to build an Android version of their mobile app. The Leef team’s familiarity with CitrusBits’ body of work gave them confidence that CitrusBits would excel under the “crunch” of a fast-approaching launch date while delivering on their brand’s promise of seamless Android support and an effortless user experience.

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FullyRaw
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FullyRaw
  • FullyRaw screenshot 1
  • FullyRaw screenshot 2
$100001 to $500000
56 weeks
Travel & Lifestyle

THE CHALLENGE

Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram (‘FullyRaw Kristina’) is the most popular influencer in the raw vegan community, with millions of enthusiastic followers on social media. A vegan member of the CitrusBits team who was already a Kristina follower was fortunate enough to have a chance conversation with Kristina at a local vegan event. One discussion led to another, and CitrusBits was soon hired to bring Kristina’s innovative content and the FullyRaw lifestyle to iOS mobile devices. As the subject matter expert, Kristina would focus on providing the exceptional content for the app, while CitrusBits would create the perfect mobile experience to engage, delight and grow Kristina’s follower base.

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Harman (a Samsung company)
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Harman (a Samsung company)
  • Harman (a Samsung company) screenshot 1
  • Harman (a Samsung company) screenshot 2
$10001 to $50000
10 weeks
Enterprise

THE CHALLENGE

Harman is a Samsung company that owns and operates some of the world’s most legendary audio brands, including Harman Kardon, JBL, Infinity, and Lexicon. Within this 26,000-employee global conglomerate is the Harman Embedded Audio team, a team of the world’s best audio engineers that creates hardware and software audio solutions for consumer electronics, IoT, and other audio-enabled devices.

Harman hired CitrusBits to build an Android-based demo app for the Harman Embedded Audio Team’s new audio-enhancing software, AudioEFX. The demo app needed to showcase the substantial audio enhancements AudioEFX provide relative to normal audio. The Harman team had considered numerous other app development agencies across the US for this project, but they ultimately felt the most confident in CitrusBits’ ability to deliver a bug-free app on time, with the powerful user experience necessary to make a sales impact.

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Jobflare
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Jobflare
  • Jobflare screenshot 1
$100001 to $500000
12 weeks
Education

THE CHALLENGE

Criteria Corp is a leading provider of pre-employment tests. Founded in 2006, it has quickly developed into one of the fastest growing companies in the talent management sector. They provide their 2000+ customers with skills, personalities, and aptitudes tests for over 1,100 job profiles. Criteria wanted to create a way to help connect talented job seekers with opportunities. We helped Criteria build JobFlare to engage with job seekers using cognitive games and connect those job seekers to opportunities.

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Rawvana
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Rawvana
  • Rawvana screenshot 1
$100001 to $500000
12 weeks
Travel & Lifestyle

THE CHALLENGE

Yovana Mendoza’s bubbly laughter and charming personality have skyrocketed her to over 900k followers on Instagram in just a few years. With so many fans hungry for more of her masterful raw food creations, she came to us to update her app for iOS and Android so that it can continue to serve as the perfect recipe book for all things Rawvana. Since creating meals using only raw foods is far from mainstream, the updated product had to both inspire new users to give raw foods a try, and continue to quench her existing fanbase’s substantial appetite for all their favorite raw recipes.

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ChemoWave
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ChemoWave
  • ChemoWave screenshot 1
$100001 to $500000
12 weeks
Healthcare & Medical

THE CHALLENGE

The chemoWave app has the important task of receiving data input from chemotherapy patients, and organizing, analyzing, and displaying that information. This was achieved with beauty and clarity, giving the patient empowering insights into their health and well-being. This unique service was held to high standards, making it Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant, to protect patients’ sensitive data.

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IrisVision
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IrisVision
  • IrisVision screenshot 1
$100001 to $500000
100 weeks
Healthcare & Medical

THE CHALLENGE

IrisVision is a technology company that is bringing the miracle of clear vision back for people with vision impairments and legal blindness. By combining the most advanced mobile virtual reality (VR) technology with cutting-edge medical research, IrisVision lets people who suffer from vision impairment see their loved ones’ faces and function independently again. IrisVision was looking for a mobile application partner to create the software that powers the IrisVision device.  Based on CitrusBits’ quick grasp of the project requirements and impressive portfolio, IrisVision decided to hire CitrusBits. The challenge? To create an intuitive mobile application that allows IrisVision’s life-changing adaptive technology to be used daily by users with varying levels of technical sophistication.

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Quiksilver
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Quiksilver
  • Quiksilver screenshot 1
$100001 to $500000
30 weeks
Consumer Products

Quiksilver came to us for a way to process orders and manage inventory for their 100000+ SKUs, organized by category and season, that performed perfectly across their 940 stores all over the world. The app needed to integrate with their POS and SAP and have a beautiful and intuitive UI that their sales team could learn to use quickly and efficiently, plus provide reliable shopping cart functionality.

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Burger King
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Burger King
  • Burger King screenshot 1
$100001 to $500000
100 weeks
Retail

THE CHALLENGE

Burger King came to CitrusBits to rebuild and expand their empire. Reviews were showing that users were not satisfied with the previous iteration of their app, which lacked the multilingual and international capabilities a true ruler should have. Maintaining stellar performance when handling a large number of users is always a challenge, and in this case our quest was even more epic because we had to conquer 30+ countries (many of which suffer from unreliable mobile data reception) and deliver the app in as many languages.

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CitrusBits Reviews

4.9 6 Reviews
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Carter Russ

Champions Round iOS Mobile App Development + Admin Portal

Rating Breakdown

  • Quality
  • Schedule & Timing
  • Communication
  • Overall Rating

Project Detail

$10001 to $50000

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Review Summary

We used CitrusBits to take our product from ideation to our version 1 build (or, in other words, the MVP to rule all MVP's). We are building a fantasy sports game so we were on a hard deadline to finish and test ahead of the NFL season. The design team had never played fantasy football in their lives, while the development team had zero knowledge of American Football at all. Both the design and development's team's dedication to our discovery process + fully understanding the nuances of both American Football and fantasy sports, on top of their other responsibilities, blew our team away. Over time, they were picking up the occasional detail that we ourselves had not fully vetted.
Additionally, their ability to design an app, adhere to a budget + deadline, and properly ensure all designs are developmentally feasible, was incredible. They communicate clearly amongst themselves and to the client, all tasks are transparent and well monitored / tracked. They're about as organized as a dev team comes. Ultimately, they have delivered an incredible product that looks absolutely stunning.
If you want to get something out the door, maybe there are other teams capable, but if you want something done right, to make a statement, to really awe users with meticulously crafted user experience, elegant user interfaces, and sleek, smooth, and seamless responsive coding and functionality, CitrusBits is the only way to go.

What service was provided as part of the project?

Mobile App Development, App Designing (UI/UX)

Bianca Bucaram

Mobile app strategy, design, and development

Rating Breakdown

  • Quality
  • Schedule & Timing
  • Communication
  • Overall Rating

Project Detail

$200000+

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Review Summary

We’ve had a wonderful experience with Citrus Bits. They have been reliable and transparent as to the delivery dates and costs. Their team was incredibly communicative and helped us to achieve and exceed our end results and goals by adding on additional management portals and assisting us with pre-launch, launch, and overall strategy as well as a few graphics. Everyone loves the look and feel of the app, and we’ve had some fantastic feedback on the challenges. I highly recommend their team for any app adventures!

What service was provided as part of the project?

Mobile App Development, App Designing (UI/UX)

What is it about the company that you appreciate the most?

I enjoyed the creativity of the company and how they truly identified with our brand. They understand the way to market each individual/company and execute all apps and development with a strategic, holistic, and in-depth understanding of your aesthetic, message, and goals. It was a pleasure working with Cyrus and Chandler on both the strategy as well as the design aesthetic. I enjoyed their adept communication and skilled design not only of the app itself but design of the programs inside the app which have distinguished us in the market.

Miles Johnson

Responsive, reliable and talented.

Rating Breakdown

  • Quality
  • Schedule & Timing
  • Communication
  • Overall Rating

Project Detail

$200000+

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Review Summary

My name is Miles Johnson and I am the President and COO of TLS Holdings, Inc. Our product is The Winning Seat ® ~ the ONE AND ONLY Mobile Live-Action Sports Sweepstakes App where users PLAY 100% FREE to WIN CA$H, PRIZES & more!

I met the CEO of CitrusBits a while ago and he had asked how our project was going. I had told him that we had been working with another provider (who claimed to be one of the biggest and baddest - turned out, they weren't). They never met a deadline, they were bad at communication, and they were getting nothing done. Enter CitrusBits. After a long discussion, discovery and some conversations with peers, we decided to transfer the project over to them. Moving over to them was one of the best business decisions I have made in the last couple years.

They completely re-developed and coded our product - a native application for iOS and Android. It was a very extensive and intricate process that included a lot of frontend and backend development as well as UX/UI. We brought them in at a very deep level, and they nailed it.

1 thing that matters most to me is the "calendar". We are given deadlines as to when the app will be released to us for testing, and they have never missed a single one. I recently told their CEO that "they are the very first company I have worked with that delivers on the date promised". Extremely rare. What we need and require of them continues to be excellent.

They do everything we expect of them and more.

What service was provided as part of the project?

Mobile App Development, App Designing (UI/UX)

What is it about the company that you appreciate the most?

Reliability, Execution & Quality.

What was it about the company that you didn't like which they should do better?

Nothing at this time.

Eric Johns

Virtual Take-Out Trivia 2 Go Mobile App developed for iOS

Rating Breakdown

  • Quality
  • Schedule & Timing
  • Communication
  • Overall Rating

Project Detail

$50001 to $200000

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Review Summary

I'm the owner of the start up Virtual Take-Out Casual Games Inc. We hired CitrusBits for their expertise in mobile app development to program and trouble shoot our first product out of the gate, a pop culture mobile trivia game called "Virtual Take-Out Trivia 2 Go" that's now in the App Store. The app only existed as detailed storyboards along with graphic, audio, and motion sample elements but after reviewing the basic design and gameplay desired it was made clear by CitrusBits what was actually doable and how long it would take. After multiple stages of development with their highly-trained team, the app was completed in roughly six months. The workflow was very effective as they always had someone available to take a call or address any issues or concerns by email that came up, all in a timely and professional manner. The most impressive thing about them is their people. They are a cohesive team of professionals who really care and want to do the best possible job.

What service was provided as part of the project?

Mobile App Development

What is it about the company that you appreciate the most?

Professionals who care about you, your product and its outcome.

What was it about the company that you didn't like which they should do better?

As a client, you always wish things could go faster, however, the CitrusBits team worked very efficiently and pulled it all together in a more than reasonable amount of time.

Tom Perski

VR-Based Android Dev for Visual Aid Device

Rating Breakdown

  • Quality
  • Schedule & Timing
  • Communication
  • Overall Rating

Project Detail

$200000+

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Review Summary

I’m the vice president of professional and consumer outreach for IrisVision, a high-tech wearable low-vision aid that uses virtual reality (VR) technology and customized software to allow patients with conditions like macular degeneration to see clearly and live fully in all aspects of life. As the lead product evangelist for IrisVision, I work with end users and business partners to expand our customer base.

IrisVision has worked with CitrusBits since 2015 to develop, launch, and maintain the custom software that allows our low-vision users to see clearly. They continue to support new software updates as well.

CitrusBits worked closely with our founder, product team, and supporting medical institutions like Johns Hopkins University, UC Berkeley, and Stanford University to understand and implement our requirements from multiple perspectives: UX, technical, and medical. Their design and development teams used an iterative process with Agile methodology enabled us to track and guide their process of building a UX that our customers appreciate and love.

In a short time, our product has generated a lot of interest and grown a passionate customer base. We regularly receive heartwarming testimonials from our customers telling us how the product has allowed them to see their loved ones clearly again, among other things.

Additionally, our product has been tested and validated by some of the world's top vision institutes, and we've established partnerships with leading hardware manufacturers and low-vision associations. None of this would have been possible without the excellent app that CitrusBits helped us build.

We’re most impressed by CitrusBits' commitment to delivering the best possible experience for our end users. Few partners approach a project as if the product they're building will be used by people they personally know and care about, but we found this to be the case with CitrusBits.

What service was provided as part of the project?

Mobile App Development, App Designing (UI/UX), AR & VR Development

What is it about the company that you appreciate the most?

Great understanding of our needs. Ability to execute with efficiency and deliver products that exceed our expectations.

What was it about the company that you didn't like which they should do better?

I can't think of anything they need to improve.

Very reachable and affordable.

Rating Breakdown

  • Quality
  • Schedule & Timing
  • Communication
  • Overall Rating

Project Detail

$10001 to $50000
Completed

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Review Summary

The client is a creative agency that mostly makes explainer videos. The client has done a project with the help of CitrusBits which is a popular game application. CitrusBits is selected to provide mobile based game application development and design services for iOS and Android platforms.



The client is highly satisfied with the services of CitrusBits and quotes that the firm met their expectations well. The client praised them for their affordability and responsiveness. The client highly recommends them to colleagues.



 


What was the project name that you have worked with CitrusBits?

MARO- Game App

What service was provided as part of the project?

Mobile App Development

Resources

Artificial Intelligence: Interesting Stats and Facts You Need to Know
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Winning Tips for Every Step of the Mobile App Creation Journey
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