Mobile App Development

Mobile-first apps and progressive web apps on the React stack, with React Native when your app needs the App Store.

The short answer.

Most businesses should start with a progressive web app or a mobile-first web app, built on the same React stack as our website work. React Native comes in when an app needs store distribution or deeper access to the device. Either way we scope a small MVP first and build from what real users do.

What we deliver.

A working dossier of the practice, every line is a thing we ship, not a thing we slide-deck.

  • Installing is a tap in the browser rather than a trip to a store listing, and the same build serves Android and iPhone. There are no review queues or store fees sitting between you and your customers, so a fix or a new feature reaches everyone the moment it ships.

How we work.

  1. Step 01.

    Idea and scope

    We start from what someone will do with the app in their first thirty seconds and work backwards to the screens that make it possible. Anything that does not serve that first session gets parked, which is what keeps a first build small enough to finish and judge honestly.

  2. Step 02.

    PWA or React Native decision

    Which route the app takes is settled before anything is built, because it changes the estimate and the timeline. Store presence, device features such as the camera or background location, and how often you expect to ship updates are what decide it, and we write the reasoning down so the choice can be revisited.

  3. Step 03.

    MVP build

    The core flow gets built end to end first, so there is something real to open rather than a set of disconnected screens. You get a working build to use on your own phone each cycle, and what you notice while using it sets the order of the next one.

  4. Step 04.

    Testing on real devices

    Simulators hide the things that actually annoy people: a small phone, a slow connection, an older Android handset, a cutout that eats part of the header. We test on real hardware across screen sizes and confirm that taps, forms and payment steps work with one thumb rather than a mouse.

  5. Step 05.

    Launch and maintenance

    Launch is either a progressive web app that installs cleanly from your own domain, or a React Native build prepared for store review with the listing details that submission asks for. The app then stays on a maintenance plan with 24/7 monitoring, because phone operating systems change every year and an app left alone drifts out of step with new devices.

Questions, answered.

  • Should I build a progressive web app or a native app?

    For most small businesses a progressive web app is the faster and cheaper starting point: one build, no store review, and installation straight from the browser. Go native, which for us means React Native, when you need a presence in the App Store and Google Play or deeper access to the device.

  • Can a PWA send push notifications on iPhone?

    Yes, with one condition. On iPhone a progressive web app can send push notifications only after the user adds it to their home screen from Safari, so the prompt to install has to come first. On Android that requirement does not apply and notifications work from the browser.

  • Can my website become an app?

    Partly. A mobile-first site can be turned into a progressive web app that installs to the home screen, keeps working on a weak connection and sends notifications, which covers most of what people mean by the question. A listing in the App Store is a separate React Native build, not a conversion.

  • How long does it take to build an app MVP?

    An app MVP is custom application work, which runs 6 to 12 weeks. What moves it inside that window is scope and integrations: how many screens the first release needs, and whether it has to talk to payments, ordering or a calendar. Scope is fixed before the build starts.

  • Who owns the app code?

    You do. Once the engagement is paid in full, you own the source code, the design files and the content produced for the app. Nothing is locked behind a platform only we can open, and the developer accounts for the App Store and Google Play stay in your name.

  • What affects the cost of building an app?

    Four things mostly: whether it is a progressive web app or a React Native build, how many screens and features the first release carries, which outside systems it connects to such as payments or ordering, and whether it has to be published to the stores. A scoping call gets you an estimate.