iOS app development with Swift
Native when native earns it: hardware, platform features, App Store craft.
We build native iOS applications in Swift with SwiftUI. Apps that use the camera pipeline, Bluetooth peripherals, HealthKit, widgets or background processing in earnest, and apps whose whole value is that they feel unmistakably like iOS. Submission and maintenance are part of the engagement, including the SDK requirement change that lands every September.
When is a native iOS app the right decision?
Swift is Apple's language for iOS, iPadOS, watchOS and macOS, and SwiftUI is the declarative framework its interfaces are written in. Going native means one platform's code, one platform's polish, and same-day access to everything Apple ships.
That last point is the honest reason to pay for it. Cross-platform frameworks reach new platform features through plugins, weeks or months behind. If the product depends on the camera pipeline, Bluetooth peripherals, HealthKit, App Clips, widgets, Live Activities, background processing or a real Apple Watch companion, native removes an entire category of workaround from the estimate.
The second reason is feel, and it is harder to put in a spreadsheet. A well-built SwiftUI app inherits gestures, transitions, accessibility behaviour and system controls for free. Dynamic type, VoiceOver, dark mode and reduced motion work because you used the platform rather than in spite of it. On a consumer product competing on craft, that shows up in the reviews within a fortnight of launch.
Swift's strict concurrency checking is a quieter argument. It turns a class of race condition into a compile error instead of an intermittent crash that only reproduces on a colleague's phone. On any app doing background work, that is a real reliability gain. We build against the current iOS SDK and support the two previous major versions, which covers effectively every device in daily use.
And we will tell you when native is not worth it. If it is the same product on both stores with no deep hardware requirement, Flutter or React Native delivers it for less. We would rather lose the extra hours than sell you two codebases you did not need.
What we build for iOS
Consumer iPhone apps
Products where interface quality and store reviews decide the outcome, built in SwiftUI and to the platform's own conventions.
Explore →Hardware and sensor apps
Camera pipelines, Bluetooth peripherals, NFC, location tracking and background work that has to keep running once the app is out of sight.
Enterprise and internal iPad apps
Field, retail and clinical tools distributed through managed enrolment, never touching the public App Store or its review queue.
Widgets, Live Activities and watchOS
The part of your product that belongs on a lock screen or a wrist rather than three taps into a tab bar.
Native modules for cross-platform apps
Swift behind a Flutter or React Native interface where one feature genuinely needs the platform underneath.
App Store submission and updates
Review preparation, privacy declarations, staged rollouts, crash triage and the annual SDK requirement change.
Explore →Our iOS stack, by layer
Native iOS compared with the alternatives
Swift vs Flutter or React Native
Cross-platform buys both stores for roughly the cost of one codebase, and for most business apps that is simply the better economics. Native pays off when the app needs a platform feature on launch day, needs every frame it can get, or competes on interface craft against well-funded rivals. When a project sits on the line we quote both and let the numbers argue.
SwiftUI vs UIKit
SwiftUI for anything new. Less code, accessibility largely for free, and it is where Apple's effort goes. UIKit is still the answer for very complex custom controls and for the app you already have, and the two live in one project without drama, so there is no reason to rewrite a working screen.
A native app vs a good mobile website
If people would open it once a month, a fast mobile site beats an app they have to install, update and eventually delete. Build the app when you need offline data, notifications, hardware access or a home-screen presence customers look for. We have talked clients out of apps and improved their mobile site instead, which is cheaper for them and duller for us.
iOS development, answered
Should we build native iOS or cross-platform?
Native if the product depends on platform features, raw performance or interface craft. Cross-platform if it is the same product on both stores with ordinary requirements. Roughly two thirds of the apps we get asked about are better served by Flutter, and we say so before sending a quote rather than after.
How much does an iOS app cost?
A focused native first release usually runs $20,000 to $45,000 for iOS alone, depending on hardware work and screen count. Building both platforms natively is close to double that, which is the number worth holding against a cross-platform build before you commit.
Which iOS versions do you support?
The current release and the two before it, which covers effectively every device still in use. Going further back is possible but usually costs more in workarounds than the extra audience is worth. We put the device numbers from your analytics on the table before deciding.
Do you handle App Store submission and rejections?
Yes. Listing, screenshots and privacy declarations prepared, submitted under your developer account, and review responses written by us. Most rejections come down to privacy declarations, account deletion or sign-in options, so we design for those three before the first submission rather than after the first refusal.
Can you take over an existing iOS app?
Yes. The audit covers Swift and SDK versions, dependency state, crash-free rate, test coverage and whether the architecture allows change without regressions. You get a written plan and an order of work before anyone commits to your repository.
Can we hire an iOS developer from you?
Yes. Native iOS and Android engineers are $25/hour or $3,200/month with a 15-day trial. The native bench is small, so tell us your start date early.
Planning an iOS app?
Tell us what it has to do with the hardware. We will tell you whether that needs Swift or whether Flutter would have done the job for less.