Mobile apps, when you actually need one
Mobile app development builds software for phones and tablets: native for Android and iOS, or cross-platform from one codebase. MBGDesk builds both, and starts by establishing whether your requirement genuinely needs an app rather than a mobile website.
The most useful thing an app developer can tell you is when not to build one. Apps carry costs that websites do not: store review, two platforms to maintain, release cycles, and the hardest problem of all, persuading someone to install something. If your requirement is a mobile-friendly way to browse and buy, an app is usually the expensive answer to a solved problem.
Apps get commissioned for reach and deliver the opposite. Installation is a real barrier — a customer who would have tapped a link will not download an app to make one purchase. Discovery in the app stores is harder than discovery in search. And the same content published only in an app is invisible to every search engine, which quietly removes the channel that brought people in the first place.
When this work makes sense
Questions worth asking any supplier
Would a progressive web app do this? It installs from a link, needs no store approval, and is indexable.
How often will one person use it? Weekly or less, and installation is a barrier you will keep paying for.
Do you need the App Store and Play Store, or one of them? Two platforms is roughly two maintenance commitments.
Who maintains it after launch? Apps need updates for new OS versions whether or not you change anything.
What is the install plan? An app nobody downloads is the most expensive way to reach nobody.
Deliverables
A recommendation on native, cross-platform or progressive web app, with reasoning, before any build
The application for the agreed platforms
Backend API and data layer where the app needs one
Store listings prepared and submitted, including the review requirements that catch first-time publishers
Push notification setup where the product uses it
Analytics and crash reporting
A release process your team can run, and documentation for it
Built with
Process
App projects add a platform decision stage before anything is designed, and it is the stage most likely to end the project. We assess the requirement against a progressive web app first. If the web can do it, we say so, even though it is the smaller engagement. Store submission is also planned from the start rather than treated as a formality — review rejections are common and usually avoidable.
The standard nine stages — discovery, strategy, UX/UI, development, content and SEO, testing, launch, measurement, continuous improvement — apply to every project. The paragraph above is what differs for this one.
What moves the number
Pricing depends on scope, functionality, integrations and content requirements. These are the factors that change it most:
Native, cross-platform, or progressive web app
Progressive web app
Fits: Content, commerce and most business tools — installs from a link, indexable, one codebase
Limits: Limited access to some device features; no store presence
Cross-platform (React Native, Flutter)
Fits: Apps needing both stores where the interface is mostly standard
Limits: Platform-specific work still appears; some native capabilities need bridging
Native (Swift, Kotlin)
Fits: Performance-critical apps and deep hardware integration
Limits: Two codebases, two skill sets, roughly double the maintenance
Case studies
No published app case study yet. Download counts and ratings are easy to quote and hard to verify; we will publish none until there is a real project to point at.
MBGDesk operates from 4 offices — India, United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates. We hold no industry certifications and do not imply otherwise.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need an app or a website?
Usually a website, and often a progressive web app. Apps make sense when you need device capabilities the web cannot reach, or when usage is frequent enough that a home screen icon changes behaviour. For browsing and buying, a fast mobile site removes the installation barrier entirely.
What is a progressive web app?
A website that can be installed to the home screen, work offline, and send notifications on supported platforms. It needs no store approval, updates instantly, and stays indexable in search. For a large share of app requests it is the better answer.
React Native or native?
Cross-platform if the interface is mostly standard and you need both stores — one codebase, one team. Native if you are doing something performance-critical or deep in the hardware. Most business apps do not need native.
How much does an app cost?
More than clients expect, mainly because of the backend and the ongoing maintenance rather than the screens. We scope the backend explicitly during estimation, since that is where app budgets usually break.
Will it get into the App Store?
We prepare submissions against the guidelines, but approval is Apple's decision and rejections happen. The common causes — incomplete functionality, unclear data handling, missing account deletion — are avoidable, and we plan for them rather than discovering them at submission.
What ongoing costs should we expect?
Developer program fees for both stores, backend hosting, and maintenance for OS updates. Apps do not stand still: a release you never change will eventually break on a new OS version.
Services that connect to this
Talk to us about this
Tell us what you are trying to build and we will come back with scope, approach and an estimate.