Before you sign with a mobile app development company in Chennai, run eight checks on who will own the store accounts, the signing keys, and the source code. Each check costs nothing before the contract. After launch, each one of them is slow and expensive to repair. Each check below names the proof to request. Paste the list into an email to every one of the mobile app developers in Chennai on your shortlist. Account ownership comes first, and it is the hardest to fix later.
Who should own the App Store and Google Play accounts?
Your company should own both store accounts. Apple enrolls organizations as legal entities with a D-U-N-S Number, and the organization name shows as the seller name. Google Play's testing rule requires new personal accounts to run a closed test with 12 testers for 14 days. An agency-owned account puts both under the agency.
1. Store account ownership
Proof to request: Enrollment plan for both stores
A good answer looks like: Accounts open in your company name
2. Native or cross-platform
Proof to request: A written rationale per platform
A good answer looks like: Choice tied to device features you need
3. Backend API
Proof to request: API specification and hosting plan
A good answer looks like: Documented endpoints and a named host
4. Release build
Proof to request: Build and signing procedure
A good answer looks like: Signing keys held by you; procedure documented
5. App store submission
Proof to request: Submission checklist and review plan
A good answer looks like: Dates for review rounds; listing assets agreed
6. Crash reporting
Proof to request: Monitoring tool and alert owner
A good answer looks like: Named tool and a named person who reads it
7. Maintenance retainer
Proof to request: Scope of support after launch
A good answer looks like: Covers OS updates and store policy changes
8. Source code transfer
Proof to request: Transfer terms and repository access
A good answer looks like: Written assignment and a handover date
The table is the whole test in one screen.
The seller name is public. If the studio enrolls under its own company, the studio's name appears on your app's store page, and the studio holds the credentials that control the listing. Changing the owner of a live app later means a formal transfer between accounts, which needs the current holder's cooperation. For a mobile app development company in Chennai that treats the account as part of its own brand, that cooperation is a favour and not a right. Write the arrangement into the contract. Ownership is a contract term.
Two details matter for the paperwork. Apple's organization route needs a legal entity, so a trade name or a branch does not qualify. Google's 12-tester rule applies to personal accounts created after 13 November 2023. Organization accounts follow a different path, which is one more reason to enroll the company itself.
Get the enrollment plan in writing. The plan should name who creates each account, whose email address and phone number secure it, and who holds the credentials. A firm that proposes its own account "to save time" is proposing to hold your listing.
Whether to build an app at all is a separate question. The post on why a business needs a strategic mobile app covers it. The checks here assume you have decided, and that the work is mobile app development for business use.
How do you check native and cross-platform choices, backend API, and release builds?
Ask why the firm picked native or cross-platform for your app, and tie the answer to a device feature you need. Request the backend API specification and the name of the host. Then find out who holds the signing keys for the release build. Keys held by the agency can block your own updates later.
Check 2: native or cross-platform.
Native code suits an app that leans hard on device features such as the camera, background location, or Bluetooth. When the logic is shared across two stores, with platform-specific testing on each, cross-platform becomes the natural fit. Both are sound, and the better one depends on your feature list.
A good answer links the choice to your feature list. The warning sign is one approach pushed for every client, because the studio's habits then decide your architecture. A rationale written for your app is the proof to request.
Check 3: backend API
A business app usually depends on a server. The app sends a request, the backend API checks permissions and returns data, and the screen updates. So the API specification matters as much as the screens. A weak specification shows up months later as a slow screen or a missing field. Read it early.
Request the list of endpoints, the data each one returns, and the name of the hosting provider. If the host account sits in the studio's name, you face the same ownership problem as with the stores. Settle that now.
Check 4: release build.
A release build is the signed version of the app that goes to the stores. Signing keys prove that each update comes from the same publisher, so whoever holds the keys controls who can ship one.
Have the build and signing procedure written down, and have the keys generated in your company's accounts or transferred to you at handover. A studio that keeps the keys can still ship updates for you. It can also stop.
What should app store submission and crash reporting cover?
Obtain a submission checklist with review rounds and listing assets agreed. Then confirm which crash reporting tool is installed and who reads its alerts. A reviewer at either store can send a build back, so a plan for review rounds protects the launch date. Crash alerts without an owner go unread.
Check 5: app store submission.
The checklist should cover the listing text, screenshots, privacy answers, and the number of review rounds the plan allows for. Reviewers can ask for changes, and each round adds days to the schedule. A realistic plan names a buffer.
Find out who prepares each listing asset and who answers the reviewer if the store raises a question. The answer should name a person on your side of the table, or one named in the contract.
Check 6: crash reporting.
Crash reporting tells the team when the app fails on a real device. The proof to request is the tool name, the person who reads the alerts, and the response window written into the support terms.
An app can crash for one phone model on one operating system version, and no tester will ever see it. Reports show it within hours. A studio with no tool learns about the crash from a one-star review.
What does a maintenance retainer and source code transfer include?
A maintenance retainer should cover operating system updates and store policy changes, with a response window. Source code transfer should be a signed written assignment plus a handover date. Keep both in the contract. Copyright Act 1957, section 19 requires a signed writing for an assignment, so ask for the clause before signing.
Check 7: maintenance retainer.
Phones update every year, and the stores change their rules, so an unmaintained app starts to fail on new operating system versions or drifts out of line with store policy. The retainer should say what it covers and how quickly the studio responds.
The retainer should also define what counts as a new feature, because bug fixes and new features are billed differently. Agree on the line in advance, and the argument never starts.
Check 8: source code transfer.
The transfer terms should list what you receive: the repository, build notes, backend code, and signing keys. They should also say when you receive it. Dates matter too. Under section 19, an assignment of copyright must be in writing and signed, and a missing term defaults to 5 years while a missing territory defaults to India alone.
Put the clause in front of a lawyer now, since this is general information and gives no legal advice.
A separate post on shortlisting a custom software development company covers the same clause in more depth.
What does this look like on a real build?
Burhani's loan lifecycle build pairs a borrower-facing hybrid mobile app with an administrative CRM. The two sides share records, role-based access, and notifications. That shape raises the checks above in practice: one backend API, two audiences, and one release process for the borrower app.
The Digitalizing the End-to-End Loan Lifecycle case shows where checks 3 and 4 bite. Applications, tracking, and notifications all depend on the same server, so a gap in the API specification would have stalled both the app and the administrative side. The borrower app also needs a signed release in the stores, so the signing keys decide who can ship a fix. Neither risk is exotic. Both appear in any app that serves two audiences from one server.
Where does Burhani Technologies fit among mobile app developers in Chennai?
Burhani Technologies builds mobile applications for business work that happens away from a desk. We start with discovery, then scope and quote, design, build and review, integrate and release, and support. Store accounts, signing keys, and source code ownership are set out in the engagement agreement.
→ Tell us who will use the app and what it must connect to, and book a free consultation.
FAQs on choosing a mobile app development company
How do I choose a mobile app development company in Chennai?
Work through the eight checks and request proof of each: store enrollment plan, platform rationale, API specification, signing procedure, submission checklist, crash reporting tool, maintenance scope, and transfer terms. Start with store account ownership, because a wrong answer there is the costliest to repair after launch.
Who owns the app after a company builds it?
Ownership of the code needs a signed written assignment. Section 19 of the Copyright Act 1957 sets defaults when the term or territory is missing, namely 5 years and India alone. Insist on the clause before signing, and have a lawyer review it. The store accounts are a separate matter.
Should the agency or my company hold the developer accounts?
Your company should hold them. Apple enrolls organizations as legal entities and shows the organization name as the seller name. Google Play applies a closed testing rule to new personal accounts, with 12 testers over 14 days. Accounts opened in the agency's name leave you dependent on the agency.
What is a release build?
A release build is the signed version of the app that you submit to the stores. The signing keys prove that every update comes from the same publisher. Check who holds them, because whoever holds the keys decides who can ship the next update.
What does app maintenance cover after launch?
Maintenance covers operating system updates, changes in store policy, and bug fixes. A good retainer also states a response window and separates bugs from new features. Someone owns the crash monitoring. Without those lines, an app slowly stops working on new phones, and nobody is paid to notice.
Is native or cross-platform better for my app?
Neither approach wins in general. Native suits heavy use of device features, and cross-platform suits shared logic across two stores. Tie the choice to the features your app needs, then have the studio explain the trade-offs in writing before you commit to a mobile app development company in Chennai.
Which eight proofs will you ask for first?
Apply the eight checks to every mobile app development company in Chennai you consider, and sign only with the one whose answers you can read in writing.
→ Send us the checks you want answered and get in touch.
