Top IoT App Development Companies With Device-Level Mobile Expertise

At today’s scale, a companion app is no longer an accessory. It’s part of the connected product itself. IoT Analytics counted 18.5 billion connected IoT devices in 2024 and expects that number to reach 39 billion by 2030. That total doesn’t include smartphones, but they remain the main interface people use to pair, control, and update their devices.

Many product problems begin with this interface. A team can deliver polished screens while the BLE connection fails during setup, a firmware update stalls, or a live camera feed arrives several seconds late. Solving these issues requires engineers who can diagnose both the mobile application and the device.

This guide compares 5 top IoT app development companies, showing which teams manage the complete device-to-app stack and which specialize in mobile delivery. It also covers current market data, the mobile capabilities to evaluate, and the questions to ask before choosing a development partner.

Connected Device Trends That Shape App Development

A device’s connection type affects almost every part of its companion app. Pairing, provisioning, background communication, battery use, and firmware updates all depend on the radio technology involved. The following figures show the current market split:

• Wi-Fi represents 32% of IoT connections in 2025. IoT Analytics tracks active connected devices worldwide but excludes smartphones, laptops, and consumer tablets.
• Bluetooth accounts for 24% of connected IoT devices. Bluetooth Low Energy remains a leading choice for battery-powered products that connect to a mobile app.
• Cellular technologies make up 22% of IoT connections. This category covers technologies from 2G to 5G, including LTE-M and NB-IoT. Cellular IoT connections grew by 16% year over year in 2024.
• Mobile operators generated $18.4 billion from cellular IoT in 2024. That revenue came from 4.1 billion connections. The five largest operators managed 83% of cellular IoT connections worldwide.

IoT Analytics expected the total number of connected devices to reach 21.1 billion in 2025. This forecast is about 300 million lower than the estimate it published in September 2024, mainly because of delayed capital spending and weaker demand in China.

Top IoT App Development Companies in 2026: The List

IoT app development companies build mobile and web software that pairs, controls, monitors, and updates connected devices. This comparison covers five companies, starting with a side-by-side overview of their mobile capabilities, device connectivity experience, and delivery scope. Each vendor also has a detailed profile below.

1. SQUAD

• Core app focus: Apps for smart cameras and connected devices
• Sample project: Product validation for a battery-powered smart doorbell

Among the IoT app development companies in this comparison, SQUAD provides the broadest device-to-app delivery scope. Its teams build connected products across hardware, firmware, cloud platforms, and native mobile applications.

Mobile engineering is central to this work. SQUAD develops native iOS apps with Swift and Objective-C and Android apps with Kotlin and Java. These applications communicate directly with embedded systems over BLE, Wi-Fi, and proprietary protocols, supporting device provisioning, two-way synchronization, OTA updates, and real-time edge telemetry.

For video products, the team builds encrypted WebRTC pipelines with codec-aware rendering and adaptive buffering. Its mobile applications can also support two-way audio for video doorbells and image-rich alerts triggered by the detection of people, vehicles, animals, and packages.

Testing combines XCTest, Espresso, and Appium with an in-house mobile automation lab and CI testing on physical devices. After launch, SQUAD supports OTA workflows, Swift and Kotlin migrations, accessibility updates, and compliance with the European Accessibility Act.

The wider organization includes more than 700 engineers and 6,500 m² of testing facilities. Its track record includes 900+ projects, 70 connected devices, and 200 mobile app releases.

Key strengths: 

• Native iOS development with Swift, SwiftUI, and Objective-C
• Native Android development with Kotlin, Java, and Jetpack Compose
• Encrypted WebRTC video with H.264, H.265, and AV1 support
• BLE and Wi-Fi provisioning with certificate-based authentication
• CI pipelines using GitHub Actions, Fastlane, CircleCI, and Jenkins
• Phased App Store and Google Play releases with A/B rollouts

2. Indeema Software

• Core app focus: IoT mobile and wearables apps
• Sample project: Mobile app and cloud platform for a ventilation system maker

Indeema Software offers engineering across embedded systems, cloud platforms, and user-facing applications. Its mobile team develops native and hybrid apps, web applications, and PWAs for connected products, including hardware that clients already have in production.

The company also provides wearable app development, IoT consulting, API integration, firmware, and embedded software. This range lets Indeema work on both the device layer and the applications that monitor or control it.

Indeema Software has completed more than 120 IoT projects and operates an IoT laboratory in partnership with a national university. The company is an AWS Partner and a member of the Avnet IoT Partner Program.

Its portfolio includes an air quality monitoring app, an electric vehicle telemetry system, a video intercom, and an application for managing smart irrigation and lighting.

Key strengths: 

• Native and hybrid mobile applications for connected devices
• Wearable application development
• IoT consulting and product architecture
• Mobile app and API integration
• Firmware and embedded software engineering
• AWS Partner status for cloud IoT projects
• Avnet IoT Partner Program membership

3. Cogniteq

• Core app focus: IoT mobile apps and pet tech
• Sample project: App for smart GPS dog collars

Cogniteq is one of the more established software providers in this comparison, with custom development experience dating back to 2005. Mobile and web engineering remain central to its services, supported by IoT consulting, application development, hardware and firmware engineering, and modernization of existing connected systems.

Its mobile teams build applications that give users remote access to connected devices and ecosystems. Cogniteq works across native platforms and React Native, allowing it to support dedicated iOS and Android products as well as shared cross-platform codebases.

The company’s portfolio includes a horse monitoring app, coffee roasting applications, remote controls for household appliances, and an EV charging station app. Its cloud capabilities cover AWS IoT Core, IoT SiteWise, and IoT FleetWise, along with Azure IoT Hub, IoT Edge, and IoT Central.

Cogniteq has more than 200 developers, giving it the capacity to support mobile, cloud, firmware, and hardware work within larger connected-product programs.

Key strengths: 

• IoT mobile apps with remote access to connected devices
• Hardware and firmware development for IoT products
• AWS IoT Core, SiteWise, and FleetWise integration
• Azure IoT Hub, IoT Edge, and IoT Central integration
• Connected pet products and wearable solutions
• React Native development for iOS and Android

4. Sidekick Interactive

• Core app focus: Native apps for connected devices
• Sample project: iOS and Android apps for a hospitality brand’s first connected product

Native mobile engineering is the center of Sidekick Interactive’s offering. The company designs applications for enterprise, healthcare, and connected-device clients, using Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android. Sidekick Interactive also offers React Native and Flutter for cross-platform projects, and high-fidelity UX/UI design before development begins.

Sidekick Interactive’s connected-device work often involves Core Bluetooth and complex onboarding flows. Clients have hired the team to troubleshoot Bluetooth connectivity in native iOS and Android applications and to develop mobile software for IoT products.

One hospitality project included Bluetooth setup, Wi-Fi provisioning, account registration, and device controls within the same application. This experience makes the company relevant to products where reliable pairing and connectivity are central to the user experience.

More than 75% of Sidekick Interactive’s team consists of senior developers, giving clients direct access to experienced mobile engineers throughout development.

Key strengths: 

• Native iOS development with Swift and SwiftUI
• Native Android development with Kotlin
• Core Bluetooth device integration
• Wi-Fi provisioning and device control workflows
• React Native and Flutter development
• High-fidelity UX/UI design before engineering begins

5. Lemberg Solutions

• Core app focus: Companion apps for IoT products
• Sample project: Mobile app MVP for an AI-driven IoT product

Lemberg Solutions covers the full connected-product chain, from component selection and PCB design to firmware, cloud platforms, and mobile applications. It also offers digital product development and AI integration.

The mobile team builds iOS and Android companion apps, IoT dashboards, and backend APIs. Embedded engineers handle RTOS and embedded Linux development, device interfaces, OTA firmware updates, and graphical user interfaces. Cloud specialists connect products with AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.

In one client engagement, Lemberg Solutions provided iOS engineers to support an automotive software team. The project later expanded to include Android development, showing the company’s ability to extend mobile capacity as product requirements grow.

The company holds ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certifications for information security and quality management. It also operates an in-house R&D lab for connected-device design, prototyping, and testing.

Key strengths: 

• iOS and Android companion apps for connected devices
• RTOS and embedded Linux engineering
• OTA firmware update implementation
• PCB design and prototype enclosure development
• AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud integration
• In-house R&D facilities for product development and testing

Mobile Layer Requirements for an IoT App Partner

An IoT app can fail in ways a standard mobile app can’t. Every interaction depends on the device’s radio, firmware version, battery state, and network conditions. Evaluate potential partners in these four areas before making a decision.

Pairing and Provisioning That Work in Real Homes

Onboarding problems often generate the first support tickets. A phone may lose its BLE connection during setup, or a router may use a Wi-Fi band or configuration the app doesn’t handle correctly.

Look for a team that builds retries, fallback paths, and clear recovery steps into the provisioning flow. A few additional development days at the start can prevent significant support volume after launch.

OTA Updates Users Barely Notice

A firmware update can leave a device unusable if the phone enters sleep mode, the connection drops, or the battery runs low during transfer.

Ask how the team resumes interrupted downloads, verifies the firmware image before installation, and reports update progress to the user. Resumable update workflows cost relatively little to build compared with replacing failed devices in the field.

Live Data Without Delays

Video feeds, sensor dashboards, alerts, and two-way audio make latency immediately visible. Teams with WebRTC and adaptive buffering should be able to measure and demonstrate performance on physical devices.

Ask for actual latency results rather than general claims about real-time performance.

Testing on the Hardware You Ship

Emulators can’t reproduce radio interference, unstable home networks, battery behavior, or differences between physical phone models.

A vendor with a device lab and CI testing on real hardware can find these problems before release. Ask for a written device matrix showing which phones, operating system versions, networks, and device configurations the team will test.

Vendor Questions Worth Asking Before You Sign

A pitch deck gives you a carefully selected view of a vendor’s work. Send these three questions in writing before the first call. The answers will show how the team handles responsibility, delivery, and support when problems arise.

1. Who owns a problem that crosses the app and firmware?

Ask who will investigate a bug that sits between the mobile application and the device firmware. Confirm whether that person works directly for the vendor or for a subcontractor.

A strong answer should name the responsible role or team and explain how cross-layer issues are diagnosed. If ownership remains unclear, the same confusion is likely to appear during development.

2. Can you share a recent release log?

Request a release history with dates, version numbers, and examples of app releases that included OTA firmware updates. This gives you evidence of the vendor’s actual delivery cadence and experience coordinating app and device changes.

A team that regularly ships connected products should be able to provide a clear example without exposing confidential client information.

3. What support do you provide after launch?

IoT apps require ongoing work as Apple and Google release new operating system versions, update store policies, and introduce accessibility requirements.

Before signing, put the support scope, response times, escalation process, and named contacts into the contract. This avoids negotiating basic maintenance terms after users already have the product.

Conclusion

An IoT product succeeds or fails in the owner’s hands. Pairing, live data, and firmware updates all depend on the mobile app, but each process also crosses into device software. Without clear ownership, bugs move between two teams, releases fall behind schedule, and support queues fill even when the hardware works as designed.

Top IoT app development companies solve this problem by placing mobile engineers alongside the teams responsible for firmware and device testing. The right partner owns the complete path from the radio and embedded software to the app screen. When something fails, you have one accountable team and a coordinated release plan for the entire product.

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