illumik
2026 — open to new iOS workPerth · Remote · Worldwide

We build
iOS apps that
outlive a launch.

illumik is an independent iOS studio. One person, designing and building native apps end to end — the kind that feel inevitable in the hand and quietly earn their place on the home screen.

Studio
Independent · one founder
Based
Perth · Australia
Craft
Native iOS · SwiftUI
Practice
Design + engineering
Scroll
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— Capabilities

Everything an app needs, from one pair of hands.

Six things every iOS app needs — handled by the person who actually writes the code. No hand-offs, no account managers, no telephone game between design and build. You talk to the maker, start to finish.

01

Product & UX

Turning the idea into flows, screens, and an App Store story worth tapping. We start where the user is, not where the feature list is.

DiscoveryFlowsPrototypeASO
02

Interface Design

SwiftUI interfaces with real attention to type, motion, and the small things — built on Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines, not against them.

SwiftUISF SymbolsMotionHIG
03

iOS Engineering

Native Swift, written to feel instant today and to still compile in three years. Modern concurrency, tested where it counts.

SwiftSwiftUIConcurrencyTests
04

On-device Data

SwiftData and local-first storage. Your users’ data stays on their phone — synced through their own iCloud, never through a server we run.

SwiftDataLocal-firstiCloudPrivacy
05

On-device Intelligence

Apple Intelligence and on-device models, used where they genuinely help — quietly, privately, and never as a gimmick bolted on at the end.

Foundation ModelsOn-deviceVision
06

Ship & Tend

TestFlight, App Store submission, and the unglamorous updates afterwards. An app doesn’t go quiet the day the build is done.

TestFlightApp StoreUpdatesSupport
— The apps

One shipped. One in the making.

Two, for now
App · iOS01 / 02

Rufe

A calm care companion for guinea-pig households. Weight, nutrition, health and a diary — all on-device, no accounts, no tracking.

iOS · SwiftUIOn-deviceSwiftData
App · iOS · in progress02 / 02
Working title

Idea Tracker

A quiet place to catch ideas before they evaporate — and actually come back to them. In design and build now; the name may still change.

iOS · SwiftUIIn progress2026
App · iOS01 / 02

Rufe

A calm care companion for guinea-pig households. Weight, nutrition, health and a diary — all on-device, no accounts, no tracking.

iOS · SwiftUIOn-deviceSwiftData
App · iOS · in progress02 / 02
Working title

Idea Tracker

A quiet place to catch ideas before they evaporate — and actually come back to them. In design and build now; the name may still change.

iOS · SwiftUIIn progress2026
— How it works

Four acts. One maker.

I work in four named acts, not vague phases. Each one ends in something real you keep — a plan, a prototype, a TestFlight build, a shipped app — so the work compounds even if we part ways after any act.

IAct 1

Shape

We start with the idea and the person who has it. A short, focused week mapping the problem, the user, and the smallest first version actually worth building.

Deliverables
  • Problem map
  • Scope & estimate
  • First-version plan
IIAct 2

Design

SwiftUI screens and a clickable prototype, designed for how the app will feel in the hand — not just how it looks in a grid.

Deliverables
  • Design direction
  • Key flows
  • Prototype
IIIAct 3

Build

Native iOS, shipped in small slices you can hold via TestFlight. You watch it come together, so nothing is a surprise at the end.

Deliverables
  • TestFlight builds
  • Weekly check-ins
  • Source you own
IVAct 4

Ship & tend

App Store submission, launch, and the updates afterwards. The app doesn’t go quiet the day it’s approved.

Deliverables
  • App Store release
  • Post-launch fixes
  • Care plan or handover
IAct 1

Shape

We start with the idea and the person who has it. A short, focused week mapping the problem, the user, and the smallest first version actually worth building.

Deliverables
  • Problem map
  • Scope & estimate
  • First-version plan
IIAct 2

Design

SwiftUI screens and a clickable prototype, designed for how the app will feel in the hand — not just how it looks in a grid.

Deliverables
  • Design direction
  • Key flows
  • Prototype
IIIAct 3

Build

Native iOS, shipped in small slices you can hold via TestFlight. You watch it come together, so nothing is a surprise at the end.

Deliverables
  • TestFlight builds
  • Weekly check-ins
  • Source you own
IVAct 4

Ship & tend

App Store submission, launch, and the updates afterwards. The app doesn’t go quiet the day it’s approved.

Deliverables
  • App Store release
  • Post-launch fixes
  • Care plan or handover
— The studio

Behind it all, one person.

There’s no “we” here — illumik is one person. I design, build, ship and support every app myself. It’s a small way of working, chosen on purpose: nothing gets lost in a hand-off, and the person who answers your email is the one who wrote the code.

One
Founder, designer and engineer
You talk to the person writing the code — every time.
Two
Apps, shipped and in the works
Rufe today, and one more in build right now.
On-device
Local-first by default
No accounts, no tracking, no server in the middle.
Perth → ∞
Based in Australia, working anywhere
Remote, across time zones, on purpose.

I’d rather make a few apps that still feel good to use in five years than a dozen forgotten by Christmas. Small, private, and built to last — that’s the whole brief I set myself.

ik
illumik
Independent iOS studio · Perth, Australia
See Rufe
— Contact

Let’s build something that lasts.

New business
hello@illumik.com
Studio
Perth · Australia
Remote · worldwide
Time & replies
Perth · AWST (UTC+8)
Usually a reply within a day or two
Read by one person · NDA on request