Altova MobileTogether

What MobileTogether is

Altova MobileTogether is a low-code app development platform for building data-centric native apps from one visual design. The page positions it for developers and for "non-traditional developers" such as tech-savvy business users, and it states that no mobile development experience is required and no Java.NET or Objective-C experience is needed. The supported targets are Android, iOS (iPhone and iPad), Windows 10 and 11, and an HTML5 browser for everyone else. Altova is a software vendor with a long catalog of developer and data tools, and MobileTogether is its rapid app development product. The same domain also carries RecordsManager, a separate no-code tool for building database apps.

What you build and how

The page opens with the pitch "Build apps for all platforms in record time", and its working claim is that one design builds mobile and desktop apps, so you write once and deploy everywhere. The company says you can go "from "zero to app" in about a week" by downloading the free MobileTogether Designer, and that the result is ready in days rather than the months it attributes to other solutions. Treat the timing as the company's claim, not a measured result.

The workflow has 3 steps, and the page lays them out plainly. A developer or technical user builds and tests the app in the free, low-code MobileTogether Designer. The developer then deploys the solution to a MobileTogether Server, either on premises or in the cloud. Finally comes app store deployment: the developer compiles the code that the Designer auto-generates and submits the app to the app stores. For enterprise apps the page offers "instant deployment" instead, which skips the store submission for internal distribution.

The editor is a visual programming environment. The platform menu lists a visual programming language, modular development, an app tester, an app simulator and an app debugger, so an app can be exercised on a simulated device and debugged before it ships. App security has its own entry. The platform feature menu also lists mobile barcode scanners, QR scanning and drawing, maps and geolocation, NFC messages, and MQTT support for smart device communications. That list is the practical difference between a form app and a field app: a warehouse picker scanning barcodes, a technician logging a location, or a device exchanging messages over MQTT are all named capabilities, not custom code projects.

On data, the comparison table says "Connectivity to all major data sources" and "Power any data-centric app imaginable". The page does not itemize the sources. The altova.com homepage describes the server's job: MobileTogether Server is the back end for apps built in the Designer and "acts as a gateway between mobile users and back-end data sources and infrastructure", with high-performance data processing, cache control options and optional app security. In other words, MobileTogether apps are front ends over data that lives elsewhere, and the server sits in the middle.

The platform also has a no-code branch. The homepage says you can "choose between low code app development or no-code, AI-powered database app creation", and the product menu has a "No-Code Database Apps" entry. That is the route for the databases category: a visual, prompt-assisted way to stand up a database app without designing tables by hand. The sibling product, Altova RecordsManager, is the separate tool the homepage describes as a no-code, AI-powered database app creator for mobile and desktop.

The page describes the platform as including "everything you need to build, deploy, and update your custom branded mobile apps and internal enterprise apps." Its argument for low code is that graphical interfaces replace writing all the code by hand, which lets traditional and non-traditional developers concentrate on designing functionality visually. It also says you no longer have to wait months for an app to appear in the iOS, Android and Windows app stores, and that instant deployment is faster still for enterprise apps.

A "Build Web Apps" entry sits in the menu too, alongside the HTML5 browser target, so the same design can reach people who have not installed anything. Designer is free and Server pricing is per core, which keeps the build side open to a whole team.

What the pages say about plans and numbers

The page lists the business case in a plain table. Native apps for all platforms, one design for mobile and desktop, connectivity to major data sources, and "Unlimited developers, apps, and users", which it describes as "Affordable for firms of any size."

The costs are specific. MobileTogether Designer is "free to use by as many traditional or citizen developers as your organization requires." MobileTogether Server is priced per core, "starting at about $1000/year", and the page says it is available free for 30 days. The altova.com homepage adds that all Altova products are available for a free, fully functional, 30-day trial.

The altova.com homepage also shows a counter of "5,677,081 Users worldwide". That figure belongs to the whole Altova product range, which includes XML, data mapping and database tools, so it says little about MobileTogether adoption specifically. The pages state no compliance certification, no open-source license and no hosting region for MobileTogether, so none are claimed here. The footer offers a download, a "Buy Now" route, a server page, demos, an FAQ and a full features list for anyone who needs the details.

Who it suits and who it does not

MobileTogether suits a development team, an IT department or a consultancy that wants one design to ship as native apps on iOS, Android and Windows, with barcode, NFC, geolocation or MQTT in the mix. The free Designer means the cost is on the server side only, and the server's per-core price is a number a procurement team can read off the page. Enterprise teams who want to skip public app stores can use the instant deployment route.

It is less of a fit for a non-technical founder who wants a hosted, click-and-publish tool. The company calls this a low-code platform, and the workflow involves a server, either on premises or in the cloud, plus compiling and submitting for store release. Someone who wants a free hosted database and publishing under a single login will find more of that elsewhere. The no-code database route exists, but it is a separate product line and is not the main subject of this page.