Mobile app development services: cross-platform and native

Centrum Komunikacji runs on one React and React Native codebase for web, iOS and Android. We build cross-platform apps like it with React Native, and native apps in Swift and Kotlin when a product works close to the operating system.

Renewable energy management app – profit and statistics dashboards on two iPhones

Cross-platform mobile app development or native: how we choose

When cross-platform fits

Most business apps are built from screens, forms, lists, payments, notifications, camera access and biometric login, and React Native covers all of them while rendering the platform's own native components. One team keeps one backlog, one set of tests and one release process for both stores, so each feature is built once. We start there unless the product gives a reason not to.

When native fits

Swift and Kotlin give direct access to the operating system and to platform-specific APIs. Native is the better choice when an app depends on OS-level behavior, background processing, specialized hardware or very demanding graphics, because a shared layer adds work in each of those cases. A product that has to look and behave differently on iOS and Android also gains from two separate apps.

Native modules inside a cross-platform app

Cross-platform apps can still contain native code. In Aasa24 the card data is encrypted and decrypted on the device in a native module, and the rest of the app stays in React Native. We plan that split at the start, so the shared layer carries the product and native modules handle the parts that need the platform.

Web, iOS and Android in one repository

Centrum Komunikacji, a sign language interpreter app for the Polish Association of the Deaf, keeps its web app, iOS app and Android app in one React and React Native (Expo) repository with shared code. The mobile app uses the platform's native encryption for end-to-end encrypted video calls, and it is published in the App Store and Google Play.

Operating system level work

Cover graphic "Build your secure mobile app with experienced development team" with a phone showing an app

RAW Cyber: secure mobile operating system

We built a secure custom mobile operating system for RAW Cyber on an Android base. It combines a custom Android OS hardened with CopperheadOS, packet inspection that detects and blocks malware, and a secure app store limited to pre-approved apps.

Successful projects

Maciej Łata

Maciej Łata

Project Manager, RAW Sp. z o.o.

RAW Cyber - Secure mobile operating system
“Even with the challenging demand, the team was able to provide designs and other OS features already. The team managed to deliver on time and they understand the specifics of the security industry.”
RAW Cyber

Cross-platform frameworks and native development compared

How the main ways of building an iOS and Android app differ, and where we use each.
ApproachLanguageHow the interface is drawnBest fitWhere we use it
React NativeJavaScript and TypeScriptThe platform's native componentsBusiness apps for both platforms, and teams that share code with a React web appOur main framework: Aasa24, AvaFin, Zeronest, Centrum Komunikacji
FlutterDartIts own rendering engine, so the interface looks the same on both platformsCustom, strongly branded interfacesWhen a client's existing stack calls for it
IonicHTML, CSS and JavaScriptA web view inside the appWeb apps that also need a presence in the storesWhen a client's existing stack calls for it
Native (Swift and Kotlin)Swift on iOS, Kotlin on AndroidEach platform's own toolkitProducts that depend on the operating systemWhen a product depends on the operating system

Recent work and how we deliver it

Mudita: Android at the AOSP level

For Mudita, our team works on Android at the AOSP level, the layer of the Android operating system itself, below the apps a user installs. Part of that work has been migrating pieces of the product to a new Android architecture.

AvaFin: React Native app for iOS and Android for a lender

Since January 2026 we have been building the mobile app of AvaFin Poland, a consumer lender. The account area shows the amount to repay and the due date, and a loan extension has its own flow in the app: the customer requests it, follows its progress and can cancel it. The app handles 18 loan states, and each one has its own view on the home screen and on the loan screen. Customers verify a bank account by logging in to their bank.

Aasa24: a lending app in React Native

Aasa24, the lending app of Aasa Polska, has been built in React Native for iOS and Android since May 2023. Customers apply for a loan in 13 steps, and more than 40 application and loan states are turned into plain messages. The first public release came less than six months after work started, and a Visa payment card with a renewable limit was added between July 2024 and January 2025.

Zeronest: React Native apps for homeowners and installers

For Zeronest we built a homeowner app and an installer app in React Native next to the web platform, and installers see alerts and installation statuses on their phones.

How we work

Every mobile project runs in Scrum sprints, and each sprint ends with a demo of working software.
Let's discuss your fit

Describe your idea and get a free consultation

Tell us what you're building and we'll walk you through the team, timeline, and approach that fit your project.

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Releases and changes on a live cross-platform app

Regular releases

Aasa24 ships a new version every 3-4 weeks on average.

Code review

Every pull request on Aasa24 goes through code review before it is merged.

Changes without a store release

Aasa's team changes the loan calculator, documents and messages in an admin panel, without a release in the app stores.

What drives the cost of a cross-platform app

Scope and screens

Every screen, flow and user role adds design, development and testing, and regulated flows such as identity checks and signed agreements add more of each.

Integrations

Payment gateways, bank account checks, identity verification providers and your core systems each need integration work and testing.

Native modules

Encryption of data on the device may need native modules next to the shared code, and that adds platform-specific work.

Backend and web

A backend, an admin panel for your team and a web version are separate parts of the product, and we estimate them together with the app.

Why build with us: what we deliver in a mobile project

From design to release in the App Store and Google Play, for React Native and native apps.

Cross-platform apps (React Native)

We build the app interface in React Native and connect it to your backend and to outside services.

Native apps (Swift and Kotlin)

Separate iOS and Android apps in Swift and Kotlin for products that work close to the operating system.

Usability tested with real users

For Centrum Komunikacji we tested with Deaf and blind users, and checked every screen with VoiceOver and TalkBack.

Team
40+ FTE

Dev capacity

Projects
160+

Projects released and solutions delivered

Raised by clients
$30M+

Raised by start-ups we have worked with

Industries
15+

Industries

FAQ for founders

Answers about cross-platform development, cost and timelines.

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Tell us what you are building and we will reply with the next steps.

Let's book a meeting
  • It means building one mobile codebase that runs on both iOS and Android, instead of two separate native apps. A feature is written once, tested once and released on both platforms, and the app still uses each platform's native interface components.

  • Choose cross-platform for most business apps that have to reach both platforms on a limited budget. Choose native for products that depend on the operating system itself, such as apps that need specialized hardware or low-level system access.

  • Yes. Aasa24 is a lending app built in React Native for a lender supervised by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). Screens with sensitive data stay out of analytics tools and session recordings, and the app has been through external penetration tests.

  • Before the project starts, a free discovery workshop gives you an MVP scope, a roadmap and an estimate of cost, timeline and team. It is also where we decide between cross-platform and native for your product.

  • The whole app: UX/UI design, React Native development for iOS and Android, native modules where the platform needs them, integrations, release in the App Store and Google Play, and maintenance afterwards. For Aasa24 we also build the backend.

  • A typical project takes 4-7 months: roughly 1 month to organize the team, 1-2 months for product and design workshops, and 2-4 months for product development and testing. For your specific timeline, send us an estimation inquiry and our team will follow up with a concrete answer.

  • The scope depends on the screens and flows, the integrations, any native modules and the backend. Basic discovery is free, and after it we estimate the cost, timeline and team within 48 hours. Contact us with what you are building.

  • Our documented mobile app development process starts with workshops and runs in sprints through UI/UX design, wireframes, a prototype, development, testing and deployment to support.

  • On Centrum Komunikacji we maintain the app after launch, and QA checks every change the client requests before it is closed.

  • Yes. Our default contract assigns all intellectual property (code, designs and documentation) to you, and you can review the terms before the project begins.

  • No one can guarantee that. What we can do is check your idea against Apple's and Google Play's requirements up front, and run every app through testing and usability review before submission.

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Filip Szamborski

Filip Szamborski

Co-founder & CEO

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