One codebase and offline-first: the early engineering decisions
Two decisions made in the first half of 2024 shaped everything since: one shared codebase for the web and the apps, and a phone that keeps working when the signal drops.
Part 8 of 39 of Building TradeYoke, the story of how the platform was built, from January 2024 to today. Previous: Why we published our terms and privacy notice from the start. Next: July 2024: customers and jobs working end to end for window cleaning. See every part on the build timeline.
Quick answer
Quick answer: Two early engineering decisions shaped TradeYoke: build the screens once in a shared codebase that runs on the web and in the apps, and treat the phone as the source of truth while you work, so changes queue up and sync when the signal returns. The installed apps (in pilot) carry offline support, and since November 2026 the web app keeps working with no signal after one visit too.
Key takeaways
- The screens live in one shared codebase; the web app and the apps are thin shells around it.
- While you work, the phone holds the data and changes queue up to sync later.
- Platform differences (camera, GPS) go behind an interface, never into the shared screens.
- The Android, iPhone and Windows apps are in pilot and not yet in the app stores.
Two decisions, made early
Most of an engineering team's important decisions are made in the first months, when they are cheap to make and expensive to reverse. By the middle of 2024 we had made two that everything since has relied on.
Decision 1: build the screens once
A trade business uses a mix of devices: a laptop in the office, a phone in the van, perhaps a tablet. The easy way to support that is to build separate products and try to keep them in step. They never stay in step. So we decided that every screen would live in one shared codebase, and that the web app and the apps would be thin shells around it. A feature built once appears wherever that codebase runs. We wrote more about this in One app, four platforms.
Decision 2: the phone is the source of truth while you work
A window cleaner will lose signal in a cul-de-sac, behind a hill or in a basement. An app that needs a connection to draw a screen is an app that fails at the worst moment. So the design assumption is that the device holds what it needs, changes are recorded as small repeatable operations, and they are sent when a connection returns. If two people have changed the same thing, neither change is silently thrown away. Why offline-first matters goes into the reasoning.
What this cost
Both decisions slow you down at the start. Shared screens mean a missing piece on one platform is a gap to close, not a place to add a special case. Offline-first means thinking about conflicts before you have any. We think that was the right trade, and it is why later features, from invoices to maps, did not need rewriting for the phone.
The honest status today
The web app is available now. The Android, iPhone and Windows apps are in pilot and not yet in the app stores; if you would like early access, email hello@tradeyoke.net. Since November 2026 the web app also keeps working with no signal after one visit.
Questions people ask
Does TradeYoke work offline?
The installed apps for Android, iPhone and Windows, which are in pilot, are designed to keep your round on the device and sync when you are back in signal. Since November 2026 the web app also keeps working with no signal after one visit.
Is TradeYoke one product or several?
One. The screens are built once in a shared codebase, so a feature works the same wherever that code runs.
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