| Choice | Why for Melimelo | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Flutter, for iOS and Android | A single codebase for both stores: every feature is written once, tested once, published twice. | One development and maintenance budget instead of two. |
| Python and PostgreSQL on the server | Robust, widely used building blocks to store each household’s data and share it between its members. | Code any developer can read, with no exotic technology. |
| FastEdgy, our open source foundation | The common base is not reinvented: the effort goes into the product. | A faster start, and code that stays easy to take over. |
| Docker for deployment | A server deployed the same way with every version. | A server deployable with our hosting provider or on your own infrastructure. |
| A French hosting provider | Household data is entrusted to a French hosting provider. | The same provider, or the infrastructure of your choice. |
| AI, reviewed by a senior | AI writes a large share of the code; every line is reviewed and tested by a partner. | The speed of AI, without unreviewed code in production. |
Melimelo, a case study.
Melimelo is the household organization app Krafter designed and published on iOS and Android, and runs every day. Here is how it is built, how it gets through Apple and Google review without rejections, and what that means for your app.
Built. Shipped. Kept alive.
In short
What is Melimelo?
Melimelo is a household organization mobile app, available on iOS and Android. Krafter designed, built and published it, and runs it day to day. It is written in Flutter: a single codebase for both platforms. As of October 2026, it is rated 4.7/5 on the App Store and 4.6/5 on Google Play. Over 50 versions have shipped, none rejected by Apple or Google. It accounts for most of the 25,000 people who use Krafter’s products every day.
- Technology
- Flutter, a single codebase for iOS and Android.
- Ratings
- 4.7/5 from 421 App Store ratings, 4.6/5 from 306 Google Play reviews (October 2026).
- Versions
- Over 50 published, none rejected by Apple or Google.
- Apple review
- Usually 1 to 2 days.
- Usage
- Most of the 25,000 people who use Krafter’s products every day.
- Stores
- App Store and Google Play, free to download.
The project
A consumer app, designed, shipped and run by the studio.
Households juggle a dozen tools: an app for groceries, a spreadsheet for the budget, a shared calendar. Melimelo brings everything into a single app, shared in real time by every member of the household.
It started as a tightly scoped MVP, shipped fast to real users, then grew version after version on the foundations of its first release. Krafter’s two partners design, build, publish and run it themselves.
This is not a product page. It is a field report: the technical choices, the publishing method and the groundwork that keeps an app alive. The same ones that apply to your project.
As seen on BFM Business
Fabien Maquin, Krafter’s co-founder, presented Melimelo on the set of BFM Business, the French business news channel. A consumer app also has to make its case outside the stores.
Technical choices
Melimelo’s technical choices, and why.
Melimelo rests on a few simple choices: Flutter for iOS and Android, Python and PostgreSQL on the server, FastEdgy as the open source foundation, and a French hosting provider. Few technologies, all widely used, all proven in production.
Native would have doubled the work: Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android, two test cycles, two maintenance budgets. For a consumer app with no very specific hardware need, Flutter delivers a natively compiled, smooth app with full access to the phone, for a single budget. Our Flutter agency page covers this choice and its limits.
Melimelo’s internal architecture belongs to the product and is not detailed here. What matters for a project owner is the principle: the same building blocks power our products and our clients’ apps. There is no demo stack and real stack.
Flutter or PWA
Why Melimelo goes through the stores, and Trottr doesn’t.
Melimelo targets the general public, who look for apps on the App Store and Google Play: it had to be there. Trottr, our field service software, equips technicians: a PWA installed from the browser was enough. Two products, two scoping decisions, both in production.
| Criterion | Melimelo (Flutter) | Trottr (PWA) |
|---|---|---|
| Users | Households, the general public | Field technicians at client companies, including Engie |
| Installation | App Store and Google Play | From the browser, without going through the stores |
| Technology | Flutter, one codebase for iOS and Android | Progressive web app (PWA) |
| Updates | Go through Apple and Google review, usually 1 to 2 days at Apple | Deployed on the server, with no store review |
| Model | Consumer app, free to download | Subscription, per-user licenses |
| Why this choice | Be found on the stores, installed with confidence, and notify reliably | Equip a team fast, with no store account or approval |
Your app may not need the stores. If it serves an internal team, a progressive web app costs less and deploys faster. If it targets the general public, Flutter and the stores are the way. The call is made at scoping, not after development.
Publishing
Over 50 versions published. None rejected.
Melimelo has gone through more than 50 Apple and Google reviews without a single rejection. It isn’t luck: it is four habits, applied to every version.
Compliance first
Apple and Google review rules are read before a feature is designed, not after a rejection. A sensitive point gets settled at the mockup stage.
Real devices
Every version runs on real iPhones and real Android phones, recent and older, before submission. Crashes show up there, not in a simulator.
Declared privacy
Collected data is declared precisely on each store, and the declaration follows every change. One omission is enough to block a version.
Regular releases
Frequent, focused versions rather than one big update every six months. Fewer changes per submission, fewer surprises in review.
The release cycle
Shipping an update, from mockup to store.
Every Melimelo version follows the same path. It is kept short on purpose, to ship often without taking risks in review.
01 / 05
Scope the version
before codingWhat changes, for whom, and what the stores will look at.
New data collected, a phone permission, an in-app purchase: every sensitive point is flagged before development.
Build and review
AI writes a large share of the code, a senior partner reviews and tests every line.
One Flutter codebase: the feature lands on iOS and Android at the same time.
Test on real devices
iPhones and Android phones, several screen sizes, recent and older system versions.
Denied permissions, dropped network, incoming call: the cases that break an app in production are played out before submission.
Submit and follow review
usually 1 to 2 days at AppleStore listing, release notes and privacy declarations up to date, then follow-up until approval.
Declarations are rechecked with every submission, not once and for all.
Publish and listen
after releaseStore reviews, user feedback, how the app behaves in production.
What comes out feeds the next version. The cycle starts again.
For your apps
What 50 versions teach about your app.
An App Store rejection rarely costs much in code. It costs in calendar: a delayed launch, a blocked fix, a campaign that goes out without the app. So your app’s compliance is prepared from the mockups, just like Melimelo’s.
Developer accounts are opened in your name. The store listing and privacy declarations are prepared with you, and every submission is followed through to publication. The Apple account costs $99 per year, the Google one $25 once.
Releases follow the same rhythm as Melimelo: small, regular, tested on real devices. Your app moves forward without big risky jumps.
On Melimelo, over 50 versions have gone through Apple and Google review without a single rejection. The method fits in four points: compliance first, real-device testing, up-to-date privacy declarations, regular releases.
Keeping the app alive
A published app is never finished.
Keeping Melimelo alive means following every iOS and Android release, listening to users and holding the load when everyone logs in at once. This work doesn’t show in screenshots. It shows in the ratings.
Keep up with iOS and Android
Every year, Apple and Google ship new versions of their systems and raise their requirements. Melimelo has kept up with every update: tested, adapted, republished. An app that falls behind ends up pulled from the stores.
Listen to users
Store reviews, messages and real usage shape the roadmap. The lessons were clear: a botched onboarding kills retention in the first week, and one feature too many drowns the others.
Handle load spikes
A household app gets used when families get organized, and a load spike often lands on a Sunday. The server is monitored and sized for those moments, not just for the average.
For a client app, this work has a name: maintenance. It comes in two levels. First, upkeep, which keeps the app publishable with every iOS and Android release: 8 to 12% of development per year. Then new features, on time and materials or prepaid time credit, at your roadmap’s pace.
Conviction
“On mobile, technical debt catches up with you twice as fast. A shaky architecture shows at the first crash in production. That’s why we build every app to the same standards as our own products: if it wouldn’t hold up under Melimelo and its thousands of users, we don’t ship it to a client.”
François Pluchino
Co-founder & CTO, Krafter
For your project
What Melimelo changes for your project.
Your app benefits from everything Melimelo has taught us: the same stack, the same publishing method, the same two-level maintenance, by the same two partners. And the prices are public.
| Offer | Price excl. VAT | Timing or pace |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile MVP (Flutter, iOS and Android) | €6,000 to €25,000 | 4 to 8 weeks of development, 8 to 12 weeks to the stores |
| Complete mobile app | €25,000 to €60,000 | 3 to 5 months |
| Offline or geolocation app | €30,000 to €70,000 | 4 to 6 months |
| Built-in payment | +€2,000 to €5,000 one-off, +€4,000 to €10,000 for subscriptions | Depends on the project |
| Scoping, if the need has to be shaped | +€3,000 to €6,000 | Before development |
| Upkeep | 8 to 12% of development per year | Every year |
| New features | €700 to €1,100 per day, or time credit | At your roadmap’s pace |
| Store accounts | $99 per year at Apple, $25 once at Google | In your name |
The MVP starts at €6,000 excl. VAT when you know exactly what you want: processes, business rules and screens already defined. The price goes up if we need to shape the thinking with you or integrate payments. That floor comes from three things: the FastEdgy open source foundation, two senior partners who lean on AI and review every line, and no sales layer between you and the code.
At the end of the project, everything is put in your name: Git repository, store and cloud accounts, access. Only the open source stack stays under its own license. To place your project, the budget simulator gives your range in 8 questions, and our mobile development page details the full offer.
Next steps
The Melimelo method, for your app.
Mobile development
#1Custom iOS and Android apps, from MVP to complete app, published in your name on the stores.
ExploreFlutter agency
#2One codebase for iOS and Android: why it is our default choice, and when it isn’t.
ExploreBudget simulator
#3Your price range in 8 questions, based on the studio’s public price grid.
ExploreDiscuss your project
#4A 30-minute call with a founder, to see whether your app fits in an MVP.
ExploreFAQ
An app to publish on the stores? Melimelo’s method, applied to your project. A first 30-minute call, no strings attached.
Discuss my projectMelimelo, in questions.
Yes. Melimelo is written in Flutter, the Google framework that produces the iOS app and the Android app from a single codebase. On the server side: Python and PostgreSQL, deployed with Docker on FastEdgy, Krafter’s open source foundation, with a French hosting provider. Flutter has been in production at Krafter since 2024.
Krafter, a studio founded in 2021 in Morancé, near Lyon, France. Its two partners, Fabien Maquin (CEO) and François Pluchino (CTO), design, build and run it themselves. AI writes a large share of the code, and every line is reviewed and tested by one of them. The same team works on client apps.
For Melimelo, Apple review usually takes 1 to 2 days. Google Play has its own check, to be planned for the same way. This delay comes on top of development and real-device testing: it is built into every release schedule, so an urgent fix never gets stuck.
No. Over 50 versions of Melimelo have been published on the App Store and Google Play, and none was rejected. That comes down to four habits: review rules read before designing, testing on real devices, privacy declarations kept up to date, and regular releases rather than big risky updates.
Melimelo accounts for most of the 25,000 people who use Krafter’s products every day. As of October 2026, it is rated 4.7/5 on the App Store, from 421 ratings, and 4.6/5 on Google Play, from 306 reviews. These ratings are public and can be checked on each store.
Because a consumer app is searched for and installed on the App Store and Google Play, and has to send reliable notifications. A PWA installs from the browser, without the stores. Krafter made that second choice for Trottr, its field service software installed on technicians’ phones. Both models run in production at the studio.
Yes. Krafter applies the method that runs Melimelo to its clients’ apps: Flutter for iOS and Android, publication followed through to the stores, maintenance over time. One key difference: at the end of the project, the Git repository, store and cloud accounts and all access are put in your name. Only the open source stack stays under its own license.
Melimelo’s production costs are confidential, but Krafter’s public price grid gives the benchmarks. A Flutter mobile MVP costs €6,000 to €25,000 excl. VAT, with 8 to 12 weeks to the stores. A complete app runs from €25,000 to €60,000 excl. VAT, over 3 to 5 months. The simulator gives your range in 8 questions.
Two levels. Upkeep follows every iOS and Android release and keeps the app publishable: 8 to 12% of the development cost per year. Then come new features, at your roadmap’s pace: time and materials at €700 to €1,100 excl. VAT per day, or with prepaid time credit.
An Apple developer account costs $99 per year, a Google one $25 once. At Krafter, these accounts are opened in your name: you keep ownership of your presence on the stores. Store listings, submission and review follow-up are part of the project.
Your app, built like the ones → we run
A 30-minute call with a founder. Answer within 24/48h. Pitch deck optional.