Services
Mobile Application Development
iOS and Android apps that share code with your web platform — reducing build cost by 40% without sacrificing native performance.
What mobile development approach does Code and Trust use?
Code and Trust primarily uses React Native for mobile development — a cross-platform framework that shares up to 70% of code between iOS, Android, and web versions of your product. This reduces mobile build cost by 35–45% versus building separate native apps. For performance-critical features, we use native Swift/Kotlin modules to match native performance exactly.
Who hires Code and Trust for mobile development?
The most common mobile engagements are web app companies that need a mobile version for field workers, founders building mobile-first products from scratch, and healthcare organizations needing HIPAA-compliant apps. All share one characteristic: they need a production-quality result, not a prototype wrapped in WebView.
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Companies with an existing web app that need a mobile version for iOS and Android
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Founders building a mobile-first product from scratch
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Businesses needing field worker apps — inspection, delivery, service technicians
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Healthcare organizations needing HIPAA-compliant mobile tools for staff or patients
What does Code and Trust build for mobile clients?
A field inspection client needed an app for 80 field workers: offline data capture, photo upload with compression, and barcode scanning. The React Native app replaced paper forms and manual data entry. Report generation time dropped from 3 hours to 12 minutes per inspection — shipped in 14 weeks, fixed-price.
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React Native cross-platform apps (iOS + Android from one codebase)
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Native Swift modules for performance-critical features
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Offline-first architecture for field use cases (inspection, delivery, service)
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Push notifications and deep linking
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App Store and Play Store submission and review management
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Over-the-air updates via Expo EAS (no app store release required for JS changes)
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Biometric authentication integration (Face ID, Touch ID)
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Camera, GPS, Bluetooth, and hardware integration
Mobile technologies we use
React Native with Expo is our default mobile stack — the fastest path to a production-quality cross-platform app. Expo EAS enables over-the-air updates, eliminating app store review cycles for most ongoing changes. For hardware-intensive features we drop into native Swift or Kotlin modules without abandoning the cross-platform codebase.
How much does mobile app development cost?
A production-quality React Native mobile app from Code and Trust runs $60,000–$140,000 fixed-price for the MVP. Apps that share an API with an existing web product land near the low end; offline-first field apps with hardware integration trend toward the high end. Cross-platform builds save 35–45% versus separate iOS and Android native apps over the first year.
Lean MVP
$60K–$80K
Cross-platform React Native, reuses your existing web API, 8–12 weeks.
Standard
$80K–$110K
Custom UI, push notifications, App Store + Play Store launch, 12–16 weeks.
Field / Offline
$110K–$140K
Offline-first storage, conflict resolution, barcode/camera/Bluetooth, 16–24 weeks.
Native iOS, React Native, or PWA — which should you choose?
React Native is the right default for 80% of business mobile apps — one codebase ships to iOS and Android with native performance for typical UI workloads. Choose fully native (Swift/Kotlin) only when graphics, animation, or low-latency hardware demands it. Choose a PWA only when use is occasional and discovery happens through search rather than the app icon.
| Approach | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| React Native | Most business apps. iOS + Android from one codebase. | ~95% of native performance; full native only via bridge modules. |
| Native (Swift / Kotlin) | Real-time graphics, complex animations, deep OS integration. | ~2× build cost and ~2× ongoing maintenance vs cross-platform. |
| PWA | Occasional-use tools. Search-driven discovery. Low install friction. | No App Store presence, limited push, no widget/Siri/iOS background tasks. |
Deeper read on this trade-off: PWA vs. Native App — the full decision framework. Visual + UX work for any of the above lives at UI/UX design services.
Frequently asked questions
The most common questions before a mobile engagement: React Native vs. native, cost range, whether mobile can share your existing API, how long it takes, whether we handle app store submissions, HIPAA compliance, PWA vs native tradeoffs, and how updates work after launch.
Should we use React Native or native (Swift/Kotlin)?
For most business applications, React Native is the right choice — faster to build, cheaper to maintain, and good enough performance for 95% of use cases. We recommend native development only for apps with real-time graphics, complex animations, or hardware access requirements native code handles better.
How much does mobile app development cost?
A production-quality React Native MVP from Code and Trust runs $60,000–$140,000 fixed-price depending on scope. Apps sharing an API with an existing web product trend toward the low end; offline-first field apps with hardware integration trend toward the high end. Compared to separate iOS and Android native builds, cross-platform saves 35–45% on first-year build cost.
Can you add mobile to our existing web app?
Yes. If your web app uses a REST or GraphQL API, the mobile app connects to the same backend. We don't rebuild your API — we build the mobile front-end that consumes it, which is the fastest and cheapest path to mobile for most companies that already have a web product in market.
How long does mobile app development take?
MVP mobile apps run 10–16 weeks. Apps sharing an API with an existing web product are faster (8–12 weeks). Complex apps with offline sync, real-time features, or hardware integration run 16–24 weeks. Every engagement includes weekly demos so you can see and steer progress.
Do you handle App Store and Play Store submission?
Yes. We handle the full submission process: screenshots, app store listings, review management. Apple's review typically takes 1–3 days; Google's 1–7 days. App Store fees ($99/year Apple, $25 one-time Google) are paid by the client account so the app remains yours after delivery.
What about ongoing updates after launch?
React Native apps can be updated over-the-air (without an app store release) for JavaScript changes via Expo EAS. Native module changes require a full app store release. Our 90-day post-launch warranty covers bug fixes; ongoing feature work is scoped separately.
How do you handle security and HIPAA compliance in mobile apps?
For HIPAA-regulated mobile apps we ship encrypted-at-rest local storage (SQLCipher), TLS-only network traffic, biometric authentication, automatic session expiry, and audit logging that survives offline use. We document the BAA-relevant controls so your compliance officer can sign off without reverse-engineering the codebase.
Should we build a PWA instead of a native mobile app?
A Progressive Web App is the right answer when the use case is occasional and discovery happens via search — for example, a self-service portal customers visit once a quarter. Native mobile wins when users open the app daily, when push notifications drive engagement, or when offline use matters. See our deep-dive at /blog/pwa-vs-native-app for the full decision framework.
Do you offer mobile app maintenance and support?
Yes. After the 90-day post-launch warranty, we offer monthly retainers ($3,500–$12,000/mo depending on traffic and feature velocity) that cover OS upgrade compatibility, bug fixes, performance tuning, and small feature additions. Many clients also use the retainer to fund ongoing experiments and A/B tests.
Ready to scope your mobile app?
Tell us what you're building — we'll come back with a fixed-price scope and timeline in 5 business days.