How can a freelancer take credit for a mobile app they built?
Hi Indie hackers,
I've spent the past year building a (complex) mobile app for a client and we've released it to Play Store. Currently, none of my branding is on the app. When people find the app, there is no connection to me, the Developer of the app.
As a freelancer, I want to be able to put this app in my portfolio to attract future prospects.
How do app developers usually take credit for their work? Websites usually credit the creator at the footnote at the bottom, but I don't see any such etiquette in mobile apps.
Unfortunately, it is most likely the app/software belongs to your client, not to you.
In a typical client-contractor relation, the produced IP belongs to the client. So it would be he/she who gets to decide on pretty much everything, including giving credit to developers.
Typical freelance contracts would even prohibit you from putting this app in your personal portfolio.
At the end of the day, it all comes down the contract that was in place between yourself and the client. But changes of you having any accreditation rights are slim to none imo. The best you can do is reach out the to client and discuss the matter to see if they're willing to let you claim some form of affiliation with the project. Be sure to get permission in writing though, because similar issues have let to court cases.
Also, it's actually very uncommon for contractors to get accredited for paid they did for a client. In my 20 years in the industry, I have seen this only on the rarest of occasion. In those cases, it would typically be along the lines of the contractor reducing fees, or waiving the fees completely, in order to be allowed to use the work in a portfolio or be accredited for the work. Either way, specific permission would be included in the contracts.