Delivery # Taking Over an App From a Previous Freelancer: Checklist Checklist for taking over an app from a previous freelancer: access, freeze, first honest release — then the hub at /legacy-software-takeover. CodeLoop Studio·August 27, 2026·Updated October 4, 2026·5 min read ![Laptop showing code during a software handover](https://www.codeloop.ba/_next/image?url=%2Fblog%2Ftake-over-legacy-project-cover.jpg&w=3840&q=75) Photo by [Pixabay](https://www.pexels.com/@pixabay) on [Pexels](https://www.pexels.com/photo/546819/) Taking over a legacy project is a freeze, a build you can run, and a first release you are willing to sign — not a six-month rewrite sold as “modernisation.” The previous vendor leaving is not a strategy. Access, environments, and who can merge are. CodeLoop Studio in Sarajevo takes over sites, mobile apps, and backends when we can own the next honest slice — Flutter, React Native, native, or Next.js already in the repo. Commercial page: [legacy software takeover](https://www.codeloop.ba/legacy-software-takeover). Broader delivery: [custom software development](https://www.codeloop.ba/custom-software-development) and [custom mobile app development](https://www.codeloop.ba/custom-mobile-app-development). Embed in your squad instead: [dedicated development team](https://www.codeloop.ba/hire-developer). Hosting is not a retainer — [maintenance notes](https://www.codeloop.ba/blog/koliko-kosta-odrzavanje-web-stranica). ## Questions UK and EU buyers ask before a takeover * **Can a Europe-facing studio take over Flutter or React Native?** Yes — audit, freeze, stabilize. Studio in Sarajevo, CET overlap. Commercial path: [legacy software takeover](https://www.codeloop.ba/legacy-software-takeover). * **Is there a code audit before a rewrite?** Always. Rewrites are the exception. Access and a build that runs come first. * **Need a seat instead of a milestone?** [Dedicated team / staff augmentation](https://www.codeloop.ba/hire-developer) embeds in your process after the same audit. ## What a takeover is, and what it is not A takeover starts with a repo that builds, credentials that are yours, and a list of what is on fire versus what is merely ugly. It is not a silent audit that becomes a cathedral. It is not a promise to “rewrite in the new stack” before anyone has shipped a patch users notice. If the product is still a brochure, we will say so and point you at [website development notes](https://www.codeloop.ba/blog/izrada-web-stranica). If nobody can log in except the old contractor, that is an [authentication](https://www.codeloop.ba/blog/app-authentication) problem first. ## What we freeze before we touch production * **You hold the accounts.** Domain, hosting, stores, GitHub. We work inside your orgs. A vendor login we cannot rotate is a lock, not a handover. * **A build that runs.** If CI is folklore, we make a green build the first milestone. [Code quality in delivery](https://www.codeloop.ba/blog/code-quality-in-delivery) is review and pipeline, not a linter brand. * **One first release.** A security patch, a form that arrives, a store listing that is true. Not a redesign of every screen because the palette is dated. * **No invented archaeology.** We will not claim we “rescued” a product we have not opened. Operational software we can point at includes [Hena Em](https://www.codeloop.ba/study-case/hena-em) — built here, not a takeover fairy tale. ## When we will decline If the only artefact is a ZIP on a USB stick and no one remembers the production host, that is a rebuild conversation, not a takeover. If you need us to impersonate the previous agency in a dispute, we will not. WordPress for a job it cannot do is [when not WordPress](https://www.codeloop.ba/blog/kada-ne-kreirati-wordpress-web-stranicu). ## Send access, not a novel Repo URL, who can deploy today, and the next release that must not slip. Reply in **24 hours** — [online estimate](https://www.codeloop.ba/online-estimate) or [contact](https://www.codeloop.ba/contact). Next: [legacy software modernisation — stabilise, refactor or rewrite](https://www.codeloop.ba/blog/legacy-software-modernisation). ## Questions about taking over an app ### Do you take over half-finished Flutter or React Native apps from a previous freelancer? Yes, when we can own the next honest slice. CodeLoop Studio in Sarajevo takes over Flutter or React Native apps already in the repo: audit, freeze, then stabilize. Rewrites are the exception. Access and a build that runs come first. ### What does a code audit before continuing development include? Access and a build that runs come first. You hold the domain, hosting, stores and GitHub accounts, and we work inside your orgs. If CI is folklore, a green build is the first milestone. We then freeze one first release — a security patch, a form that arrives, or a store listing that is true — before continuing. Rewrites are the exception. Key points * Legacy app takeover and code audit for UK / EU teams — CodeLoop Studio in Sarajevo (no London or Berlin office). * Access audit first: repo that builds, store/CI credentials you own, freeze of the next release. * Stacks we join: Flutter, React Native, native iOS/Android, Next.js — stabilize by default, rewrite only with a product reason. * Service landing: /legacy-software-takeover. Embed path: /hire-developer.