DreamLabs
DreamLabs
[Who we are]
We build custom iOS and Android apps for Berkeley founders and organizations, pairing senior engineers with AI throughout design, development, and testing to ship in weeks instead of months.
★★★★★
“Other app developer quoted 10X the price to create a live testable version. DreamLabs pricing structure has meant we can quickly get the app in users hands and see what they think!”
Jenn Brooks · Founder & CEO @ Nurture
As a fractional product team, we start by defining your vision and sharpening your strategy. We don’t just say “yes,” but always ask “why?”, helping your dev budget go further and faster.
We use AI-accelerated development to help teams of all sizes launch custom, scale-ready digital products. Ship in days/weeks, not months/years.
User testing is a bonus service we offer to all clients for free. This means we learn together from real users with each release.
[What We Do]
Our development process for Berkeley clients pairs AI-assisted architecture, implementation, and testing with direct senior engineering oversight at every stage, across iOS and Android. That combination lets us deliver production-grade mobile applications on a timeline that manual, platform-by-platform development can't match. We move from requirements to a working prototype quickly, then iterate with you in short, transparent cycles rather than a single reveal months later. Continuous integration and automated testing run throughout the build, so we catch issues early, and we test on real devices for both platforms rather than treating one as secondary. Given the research and civic-minded projects that often come out of Berkeley, we're comfortable working alongside subject-matter experts who aren't primarily technical, translating their requirements into a clear build plan. AI accelerates the parts of development that benefit from it, while senior engineers stay accountable for architecture, security, and performance across the whole build, on whichever devices your users carry.
[Deliverables]
AI-accelerated, senior-engineered mobile apps for Berkeley founders and organizations, targeting iOS and Android from a single, efficient codebase where that's the right call for your product. We combine AI-assisted development with experienced human engineering to ship a scalable, secure application ready for real users on both app stores. Post-launch, we stay available for bug fixes and small iterations, since the first release is rarely the last thing your users need.
For products that need it, we build fully native iOS and Android applications and integrate with the backend systems, data tools, and third-party services your project depends on. AI-assisted development helps our engineers move quickly through platform-specific work while keeping a close eye on performance and long-term maintainability. Rate limits, error handling, and retry logic get built in from the start, since a fragile integration usually fails at the worst possible moment.
Interface and experience design grounded in how your specific users behave, whether that's students, researchers, or a general consumer base. Our designers and engineers work in tight loops, using AI to speed up iteration on layouts and flows, so you see working prototypes early on both platforms. We test the design with a handful of real users before it's locked in, catching confusing flows while they're still cheap to fix.
[FAQs]
Prototypes start at $6,000 and full MVPs at $15,000. Costs vary with scope, but our AI-enabled process typically brings projects in around $20,000 all-in, compared to the roughly $200,000 a traditional agency charges for comparable work, with delivery in about 6 weeks rather than the industry-standard 6 months. AI handles the repetitive parts of the build, which means less billable engineering time without a drop in quality.
Most custom builds take about 6 weeks with our team, versus an industry-typical 6 months, whether we're building cross-platform from one codebase or native apps for iOS and Android separately. AI-assisted scaffolding, code generation, and testing let senior engineers move through a build far faster, while still owning every line that ships. Typical projects land around $20,000, compared to roughly $200,000 at a traditional agency.
Yes. We've worked with organizations that need a technical partner but don't have one in-house, translating research or program requirements into a clear technical plan. The fractional team model works well here, since you get design, engineering, and product thinking without hiring separately for each, and AI-accelerated development keeps the timeline and budget reasonable for a mission-driven project.
AI handles a meaningful share of the scaffolding, boilerplate, and repetitive code that would otherwise consume engineering hours, but senior developers review and direct every step, verifying architecture, security, and platform-specific behavior. Automated testing runs continuously through the build. The result is fully custom, production-grade code you can extend safely, not an auto-generated app assembled without oversight.
[01] Product Strategy
We start by helping you define your long and short-term product visions. We then break down the concepts into concrete features and functions, so we can piece them back together into a prioritized roadmap.
[02] Development
With the framework pinned down, we go heads-down on execution. We leverage AI-powered tooling and a modern Flutter + Firebase stack to develop your product in record time.
[03] Polishing + Launch QA
Your finished product to ensure that each feature works seamlessly, every color is precise and all copy is ready for publication. We then manage the entire app publishing process on mobile, web or both.
