We had the pleasure of working with John on magicwork. His dedication, passion for results, and ability to iterate swiftly make him an exceptional asset to any team fortunate enough to work with him.
Khrystyna Svarychevska
Most app ideas don’t fail.
They just never ship.
Hi, I’m John. I help you take your mobile app out of the idea stage and into the App Stores.
App Store Google Play
Sound familiar?
AI tools feel powerful, but overwhelming — you don't know where to start
You have app ideas, but lack the structure and architecture knowledge to build them
You need a guide, not just another tutorial that leaves you stuck
You're not behind — you just need the right path forward.
How apps actually get made
Every way to get an app built, honestly.
If you're not a developer, you've got about five options, and I've watched people take all of them.
- An agency. $30,000 to $150,000, and at the end you own something you can't change without paying them again.
- A freelancer. Finding a good one is a gamble, and even when you do, the app lives in their head — when they move on, it stops.
- No-code. Bubble, FlutterFlow, Adalo. Fast to a demo, and then you hit the ceiling — which is theirs, not yours.
- An AI app builder. The new one. It deserves its own section, just below.
- Learn to code it yourself. It can work. But it takes about a year, and most people don't have that kind of time — or access to mentorship.
Kealy Studio is the sixth option. Real code, real infrastructure, every account in your name, an AI agent doing the typing, and me making the decisions that take a year to learn — while you learn enough to maintain the app yourself, or even build the next one. What you own at the end is a standard app, not a subscription to somebody's platform.
If you came from Lovable, Bolt, Replit or Base44
Magic on day one. A nightmare by week three.
If you've built something with one of them, you know the arc. The first afternoon felt like a superpower. Then one prompt broke something three prompts back, the credits went faster than the progress, and somewhere you noticed it was a website in a phone-shaped box — nowhere near the App Store.
There's only one thing these platforms really sell: they hide the code and make the architecture decisions for you. In exchange you live inside their ecosystem and pay them forever, because ejecting is too daunting to try.
But that prototype wasn't wasted. It's the best spec you'll ever write. We'll get it standing on its own two feet first — then we'll talk about getting it on a phone.
And if you skipped the builders entirely? Good. You've saved yourself the eject.
How Kealy Studio works
The code sits on your machine, and an agent drives it.
That's the whole setup: a folder that belongs to you, with something like Claude Code — which I use all day — working inside it. Nothing hidden, nothing off-limits.
Which is where people stall. Every decision is suddenly yours — sign-in, where the data lives, how it gets onto a phone, what's in version 1 — and each one is a week of reading.
That's what Kealy Studio is: those decisions, already made. Expo and Supabase, every account in your name, the awkward parts solved once.
When you see me build an app in an afternoon on YouTube, that isn't speed. It's that I'm not deciding anything.
If Kealy Studio disappeared tomorrow, your app wouldn't notice. Every account is yours and the code is a standard Expo project any developer could pick up.
Who's behind this
Why Kealy Studio?
I'm John. You might know me from my YouTube channel, where I talk about building apps with AI.
Over a decade of software engineering, pointed at one problem: getting half-built apps finished and into the stores. I've done it enough times that the parts which cost you three days of reading cost me an hour of knowing.
I'm also not precious about your idea. My job is to diagnose it, cut it down, and get a version of it live — which usually means telling you what isn't version 1.
What people say
I got more done in 2 days using your recommended stack than the past 2 weeks playing in FlutterFlow. Thank you!
CH
Chris H.Kealy Studio Member
Thanks to Kealy Studio I launched a successful app that is about to reach thousands of users through a corporate partnership. Without John’s courses, I wouldn’t have pulled it off! I can’t recommend his program enough. I don’t even know if FlutterFlow still exists, but if it does, run! And use this instead.
Kristen EricksonThe Leah App
I was consistently impressed by John’s deep knowledge of security, app architecture, and development best practices. I learned a tremendous amount from him, and his insights often come to mind during our ongoing development.
Matthew Weiner, MD
Your approach is different. The way you teach is calm, objective, and incredibly valuable, while never feeling dry or boring. You bring clarity and calm into what often feels like complete chaos around AI.
NP
Necati P.Kealy Studio Member
I’ve worked with and alongside many developers, but John’s spirit of collaboration and eagerness to deliver high-quality stands high above anyone in my experience.
Nicholas Upton
It’s tough, but it’s completely the real deal. There are plenty of hard moments, followed by so many rewarding ones. Thank you so much, you’ve built a hell of a thing here.
AG
Alan G.Kealy Studio Member
John’s methodology has brought real precision, structure, and technical confidence to Thoughtbait. As we build business-critical apps, Kealy Studio’s approach has helped us create a clearer, more scalable development process.
AO
Antony O.Kealy Studio Member
My experience with John’s services was truly educational. His advice, especially concerning security vulnerabilities and potential issues I might encounter, truly guided me. Thank you, John!
Ufuk Dinçal
By following the lessons I went from an idea, to actually having a working mobile app with paying users in both the App Store and Play Store.
MB
Matt B.Kealy Studio Member
Two ways to get there
Work with me, or have me do it.
Either way the finish line is the same: a real listing in both stores that a stranger can find and install. The difference is who's driving.
App Assist
We ship it together.
$249 /month while we ship
The day you send me a store link it drops to $50 and stays there.
- ✓A weekly one-to-one call, and a plan that cuts version 1 down to something you can finish
- ✓The tooling and workflows I build my own apps with, set up on your machine
- ✓A direct line between calls, the whole course, and office hours
- ✓At month three we look at it honestly and stop if it isn't working
Talk to me first — thirty minutes tells us both whether it fits. Already sure? Start App Assist in the studio →
Month to month; you cancel it yourself, and you keep everything.
Studio Builds
I ship it for you.
from $750 fixed quote
You bring the idea. I build the app, put it in both stores, and hand it over completely.
- ✓A written spec first, then a fixed price — no hourly meter
- ✓Real infrastructure in your name: Expo, Supabase, your own accounts
- ✓Live in the App Store and Google Play, then every key handed to you
- ✓Days or weeks, not months — AI does the heavy lifting and I direct every line
Starts with a short brief and a call. $750 is where builds start, not what every build costs.
Not sure which? Book a call and I'll tell you — including when the answer is neither.
Talk to me first
Thirty minutes, and a straight answer.
Three quick questions so I know which conversation to have, then my calendar opens right here.
What would the call be about?
Loading John's calendar…
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to book a call first? +
For a Studio Build, yes — the quote comes out of the conversation, and I won't put a number on something I haven't understood.
For App Assist, no, but I'd like you to. It's a hands-on plan and a fit question, and I'd rather answer that in thirty minutes than refund it in month two. If you're already sure, the studio's pricing page has the button.
What actually happens on the call? +
Thirty minutes on Google Meet. You show me whatever you've got — a half-built app, a doc, a Lovable link, or just the idea — and I tell you what I'd do next, roughly how long it would take, and which of the two routes fits, if either does.
No slides and no pitch. If the honest answer is that you don't need me yet, that's what you'll hear, along with where to go instead.
App Assist or a Studio Build — how do I choose? +
Who's driving. On App Assist you're building and I'm beside you — a weekly call, a plan, and me unblocking the parts that would cost you weeks. On a Studio Build you hand me a spec and I hand you back an app in the stores.
If you want to understand your own app and keep shipping after I'm gone, App Assist. If you want it done and your time is worth more than the difference, a build. Not sure? That's what the call is for.
Why can't I just keep prompting Claude or Cursor? +
Because an agent is excellent at the next step and terrible at the right step. It will happily build you the thing you asked for, forever, without ever telling you that the thing is three features too big or that the architecture won't survive authentication.
I'm not replacing it. I use Claude Code all day. I'm the part that decides what to point it at.
What if my code is a mess — or it's a Lovable export? +
It usually is, and it usually matters less than people fear. Sometimes we keep it and put structure around it. Sometimes the honest answer is that a rebuild on a proper foundation is faster than untangling it — I'll tell you which, with reasons, in the first couple of weeks.
A builder export is the common case now. The prototype isn't wasted either way: it's the spec. We get it standing on its own two feet, then we get it onto a phone.
Do I need to be technical? +
For App Assist, no, but you do need to be hands-on. Most people I work with aren't developers — they're founders who got surprisingly far with AI and hit a wall.
For a Studio Build, not at all. You need to know what the app is for and who it's for. The rest is my job.
Why “from $750”? What moves the price? +
Scope. Every build is quoted against what it actually is: a two-screen utility and a marketplace with payments are not the same project, so $750 is where builds start, not what they all cost. You get one fixed number after the call, and it doesn't move unless the spec does.
Payment is normally half on accepting the quote and half on delivery, both by card. The deposit holds your place in the schedule.
Am I locked into anything? +
App Assist is month to month. You cancel it yourself from your account, it stops at the end of the month you've paid for, and there's no notice period and no call to get out of.
A Studio Build is a fixed price for a fixed scope, and when it's handed over it's handed over — the code, the accounts, the keys. Ongoing maintenance isn't in the price, and plenty of owners take it straight from there.
Either way, nothing you've got depends on me staying in the picture. Every account is in your name and the code is a standard Expo project any developer can pick up.
What if it doesn't get shipped? +
On App Assist, at month three we stop and look at it honestly. If it isn't working — wrong scope, wrong moment, wrong fit — I'll say so and we'll end it. I'd rather lose the subscription than take your money while nothing moves.
On a Studio Build, shipping is the job. If I can't finish for a reason that has nothing to do with you, your deposit comes back in full and everything built so far is yours.
What does it cost beyond what I pay you? +
A bit, and it's better you hear it now than in week six. The stores charge for the privilege of being in them: Apple is $99 a year, Google Play is $25 once, ever. On App Assist you'll also want an AI coding assistant — I use Claude Code, which is around $20 a month. Everything else runs on free tiers while your app is small, and I'll tell you before anything starts costing.
Those bills are in your name, not mine, and that's the point: the accounts are yours, the app is yours, and none of it stops working if you stop paying me.
Your app can ship. Pick how.
We build it together, or I build it for you. Either way I'll be honest with you first — including when the answer is that you don't need me.
Already sure about App Assist? Start it in the studio →
Just having a look? The free prompts are yours, no account needed — or join the studio free. Prefer to learn it all yourself, without me? The course material on its own is the cheapest way through.