Mobile app development
A mobile app development company for iOS and Android apps
We build iOS and Android apps, natively or with Flutter or React Native, together with the backend and admin panel behind them. The app store accounts, code and data stay in your company's name.
In short: Coded Idea is a mobile app development company. We build iOS and Android apps, natively or with Flutter or React Native, plus the backend and admin panel that run them. You get a fixed quote after a 20-minute call, and the store accounts, code and data stay in your company's name.
This page covers the choices that shape an app project: whether you need an app at all, which technology to use, what drives cost, what the app stores require and charge, and what keeps an app working after launch. Store rules below were checked on the official pages in September 2026.
Do you need an app, or a web app?
Ask this first, because it can save the store accounts, review cycles and a second codebase. A web app that works well on a phone is often enough for customers who log in now and then. Our web development page covers that route.
A mobile app earns its place when you need one or more of these:
- offline use, such as drivers or field staff with patchy signal
- the camera, barcode scanning, GPS or Bluetooth
- push notifications people actually act on
- a presence in the App Store and Google Play, where customers search
We build both, so we have no reason to push you towards an app you don't need.
Native, Flutter or React Native
For iOS and Android app development there are three mainstream routes. We build with all of them and recommend one in the quote, with the reason written down.
| Native (Swift, Kotlin) | Flutter | React Native | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Codebases | Two: one for iOS, one for Android | One, in Dart | One, in JavaScript or TypeScript |
| Interface | Each platform's own components | Flutter draws its own, identical on both | Each platform's own components |
| New OS features | Available on day one | Through plugins, sometimes later | Through libraries, sometimes later |
| Best for | Heavy device use, demanding graphics, long background tasks | Custom-designed business and consumer apps | Teams with a React website who want to share code and skills |
| Watch out for | Roughly double the build and maintenance | Plugin quality varies; check the ones you need | Library upgrades need care between versions |
For most business apps, cross-platform app development with Flutter or React Native is the sensible default. Native wins when the app lives or dies on a device feature.
What drives app development cost
Every project starts with a 20-minute call and a fit check where we list the screens, users and systems involved. The quote that follows is fixed, so the full cost is known before work starts. These are the items that move it most:
| Cost driver | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Screens and user roles | Each role (customer, driver, admin) adds screens, permissions and testing |
| Backend and admin panel | Most apps need a server, a database and a web panel for your team to manage content and users |
| Integrations | Accounting, CRM, courier or payment APIs each need mapping, error handling and testing |
| Offline use | Storing data on the phone and syncing it later, including conflicts, is one of the biggest single items |
| Payments | Digital content usually goes through the stores' own billing; physical goods use a card provider instead |
| Device features | Camera, scanning, maps and Bluetooth need testing on real devices, not just simulators |
| Platforms and screen sizes | Phones only, or tablets too; iOS only, Android only, or both |
App store accounts, fees and requirements
These are the official figures at the time of writing. Open both accounts in your company's name.
| Apple App Store | Google Play | |
|---|---|---|
| Developer account | US$99 a year; organisations need a D-U-N-S Number | US$25 one-off registration fee |
| Before first release | App Review for every submission | New personal accounts must run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days |
| Review speed | Apple says 90% of submissions are reviewed in under 24 hours on average | Apps are reviewed before release; plan a buffer |
| Build requirement | Built with Xcode 26 and the iOS 26 SDK since 28 April 2026 | New apps and updates must target Android 16 (API level 36) from 31 August 2026 |
| Commission on digital sales | 15% in the Small Business Program, for up to US$1 million in proceeds a year | Varies by region and programme; changed in the EEA, UK and US in 2026 |
Review and approval realities
Most rejections we plan around come from a handful of Apple's App Review Guidelines:
- Demo account (2.1): if the app has a login, reviewers need working test credentials and a live backend.
- Account deletion (5.1.1(v)): if people can create an account in the app, they must be able to delete it there too.
- Physical goods (3.1.3(e)): products or services used outside the app must be paid for with a method other than in-app purchase, such as Apple Pay or a card.
- Minimum functionality (4.2): an app that is only a website in a wrapper is likely to be rejected.
Both stores also ask for privacy details: what data the app collects and why. We prepare those answers with you, because they have to match what the app and its third-party libraries actually do.
After launch: an app is never finished
Apple and Google ship a major operating system every year, and both keep raising the minimum build versions shown in the table above. An app that nobody touches soon can't ship even an urgent fix until it's rebuilt with the current tools. Budget each year for testing on the new OS release, library and SDK updates, crash monitoring, backend hosting and your Apple developer renewal.
We train your team, stay close through the first weeks of real use and keep supporting the app after launch. New features are scoped and quoted before we build them.
Who you work with
Coded Idea was founded in 2020 and has delivered more than 500 projects. Our development team is in India and works with clients in other time zones over video calls and shared test builds you install on your own phone. The system we can show you running live is a trade portal covering sales and warehousing; for that trade we also build a sales rep ordering app on top of it.
Apps often sit alongside other work. The backend may belong to a larger system, covered on our custom software development page, and repeated admin such as reading orders or sending reminders can be handed to an AI agent.
Tell us what you want built
Bring a sketch, a list of screens or an app you'd like yours to work like. We'll tell you honestly whether an app is the right answer, and if it is, you'll get a fixed quote. Prefer to write it down? Use the Get a price form.