Jotit
A mature Android product, rebuilt natively for iPad on a tight deadline.
About
Most school software makes students bend around it. Jotit's Android app had been built the other way - shaped around how students actually work, writing by hand, annotating, sorting material as they go. The team had put years into that product, and it showed in the traction they'd built.
The problem was that school districts were going iPad-first, fast, and Jotit didn't have an iPad app. Every district that made the switch was a deal Jotit couldn't chase. They needed iOS, and they needed it soon.
That's when they called Applift. They already knew what they needed: someone to help make the architectural calls right, early, and under a tight deadline. The kind of decisions you don't want to revisit two years later.
The most important thing for me was that the architectural decisions would be right from day one, so this investment would stay with us for years.
The Process
- 1
Strategic alignment
Jotit came in with a strong Android product and a clear reason to be on iPad. The first weeks were about turning that reason into a technical plan: what to build, how to build it, and which shortcuts weren't worth taking.
- 2
Native foundation
This was the phase where the architectural calls got locked in - the ones that would be painful to walk back later. The work moved slower here on purpose, because getting it right mattered more than getting it out.
- 3
Product execution and iteration
With the foundation in place, the pace picked up. Product and engineering conversations happened in the same room, tradeoffs got worked out on the spot, and the app started to feel less like a build and more like a real product.
- 4
Launch-ready platform
Jotit had a native iPad app ready to ship and an iOS codebase they could keep investing in. Hitting the deadline didn't mean treating the code as disposable.
The Outcome
For Jotit, this wasn't a side bet. iPad had already become the default in a lot of their market, and without an iOS app they were quietly losing accounts they'd otherwise have won. The launch closed that gap, and it closed it without the usual tradeoffs of a rushed port.
Past the app itself, Jotit came out of the project with a second platform in the field and an iOS codebase worth investing in further. The thing that started as an urgent deadline is now part of what they're building on.
We launched a product that is stunning - it's beautiful, and I'm proud of it. When I walk into a meeting with a client, I put the iPad product first. A product that took us three years to build on Android - you helped us bring to iOS in about six months, and today it's what I present to potential customers. That says everything.
Let's bring your idea to life.
From architecture to App Store delivery, Applift turns ideas into shipped products.