Software & Applications · Service 09

Apps for when a website genuinely is not enough.

Native and cross-platform apps for iOS and Android, built to share a back end with whatever you already run. Most businesses that want an app would be better served by a fast mobile website — so the first thing we do is work out honestly which one you are.

iOS & AndroidShared back end Store submission handledYou own the source
Talk about your app → Do you need one?
One build · both platforms

Before you spend anything

Do you actually need a mobile app?

Three questions. They take about twenty seconds and will save some people a great deal of money — including, occasionally, by talking them out of hiring us.

Question 1 of 3

How it gets built

Three routes to the same icon on a home screen

The right choice depends on how much the app leans on device hardware and how long you expect to maintain two codebases.

One codebase

Cross-platform

Flutter or React Native. One team, one codebase, both stores. The default for the majority of business apps, where the interface matters more than squeezing the last frame out of the hardware.

Build cost
Device access
Long-term upkeepOne codebase
Platform specific

Native

Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android. Warranted when the app depends heavily on hardware, background processing or platform features that arrive first for native — or when performance is the product.

Build cost
Device access
Long-term upkeepTwo codebases
No store

Progressive web app

A website that installs to the home screen and works offline. No store review, no store fee, updates the moment you deploy. Limited hardware access, and iOS support lags — but for many internal tools it is the honest answer.

Build cost
Device access
Long-term upkeepShared with web

What owning an app involves

The part that starts after launch

A website you can fix in ten minutes. An app you cannot. This is the ongoing commitment, stated plainly before you take it on.

Review

You do not control release day

Every update goes through store review. Usually quick, occasionally not, and a rejection can arrive over something in the description rather than the code.

Fees

Developer accounts and commission

Annual developer fees for both stores, plus commission on anything sold inside the app. This shapes whether in-app purchasing makes commercial sense at all.

Versions

Old versions live forever

Users do not all update. The back end has to keep supporting last year's app, which means API changes need to be additive rather than breaking.

Devices

Screens and OS versions multiply

Testing spans phone sizes, tablets and several OS versions. Both platforms ship major updates annually, and each one can require work you did not plan.

Permissions

Privacy disclosure is mandatory

Both stores require declarations about what data you collect and why. Getting this wrong delays release, and changing it later means resubmission.

Discovery

Nobody finds apps by accident

There is no organic search traffic equivalent to a website. Downloads come from your existing audience or paid acquisition — which is a marketing budget, not a build cost.

Questions

Mobile app development, answered

How much does it cost to build an app in Toronto?
Considerably more than a website, because you are building two front ends, a back end, and taking on an ongoing maintenance commitment. The honest first step is establishing whether an app is the right vehicle at all — the questions above exist because a good number of enquiries are better solved with a fast mobile site for a fraction of the cost.
Native or cross-platform — which should I choose?
Cross-platform for most business apps. Flutter and React Native are mature, and one codebase halves the long-term maintenance. Native earns its cost when the app depends on hardware, background processing or platform features that arrive first for native — or when performance is genuinely the product.
Can the app use our existing website's data?
Usually, yes, and it is the sensible approach. If your site already has an API, the app talks to it. If it does not, one is built — which has the useful side effect of making that data available to anything else you build later.
How long does it take to get into the app stores?
The build is the long part; submission is usually days rather than weeks once the accounts and disclosures are in order. The first submission takes longest because store accounts, certificates, privacy declarations and screenshots all have to exist. We handle that rather than handing you a checklist.
What happens when iOS or Android releases a major update?
Sometimes nothing. Sometimes a deprecated API or a new permission requirement needs work. Both platforms release annually, so an app needs a maintenance budget in the same way a vehicle needs servicing — modest most years, occasionally not.
Do you build the back end too?
Yes. Most apps need one — accounts, sync, notifications, admin. Building both sides together avoids the common failure where an app is finished but waiting on an API that was never properly specified.