Guarana Technologies Inc

Mobile and web app development for companies and startups is the work of Guarana Technologies Inc, a Canadian agency with teams in Montreal and Toronto. The firm has been building apps since 2011 and presents itself as a partner and adviser that stays with a project from the first design session through to maintenance, upgrades and later improvements.

Native and cross-platform apps for phones

Guarana builds native apps for iOS and Android, written for each platform, and cross-platform apps that share one codebase across several systems. Its material says the company works in both styles so that a client can choose the approach that suits the budget and the audience. Alongside the phone apps, the firm builds the web applications and services that support them, such as the back-end systems and sites that sit behind a mobile product.

Apps for startups and established companies

Startups are a particular focus. Guarana works with them through design and development, helping to build a scalable application quickly and affordably, and it describes the iterations that early products usually need as part of the process. Established companies come to the firm to build a mobile presence that supports their marketing and customer loyalty, and the team advises on features and user experience with the aim of making the app worth using repeatedly.

Connected devices, sensors and wearables

The company's engineers work with hardware as well as software. The firm lists sensors, WiFi, Bluetooth, RFID and wearable devices among the technologies it connects to, and it cites experience with Apple Watch, beacons and Raspberry Pi boards. Its site presents these skills as a way to bring an Internet of Things product idea to life, with mobile apps that connect to a physical device.

Augmented reality and games

Augmented reality is another area of experience. Guarana has worked on games, simulators and other augmented reality products, which it describes as opening new possibilities for mobile development. The skills overlap with the connected device work, since many augmented reality products depend on sensors and location data.

Example projects from the firm's portfolio

The firm's portfolio includes a food-waste app that helps people buy surplus products at a lower price, a matchmaking app that shows users potential matches in their area and nearby cities, and a book club app in which subscribers receive three books of their choice each month, with a community space for discussion. These examples show the range of consumer products the team has taken from idea to launch.

Quality, research and support after launch

Guarana describes its quality standard as a combination of user experience, graphic design and sound integration and code. It says it sets aside a share of its working time, which its own material puts above 30 percent, for research into new development stacks and emerging cloud and hardware tools. The company says it stands behind its finished apps with a warranty, and it continues to support each product through maintenance, upgrades and later changes.