For startups
Mobile Apps
A mobile product has to earn its place on a phone: a task people repeat, an account that stays signed in, and an API that tells the truth. Vortex Digital helps startups choose a mobile path and build the application that path implies.
- iOS
- Android
- Cross-platform
- API-backed
What we build
The choice of native or cross-platform follows the product. This page describes the kinds of applications that choice can produce. It does not claim store releases.
iOS and Android applications
Native builds when the product depends on platform behavior, performance, or a store-specific release process.
Cross-platform applications
One shared client when the product is mostly the same on both platforms and the team wants a single codebase.
Account-backed mobile clients
Sign-in, session refresh, and the same permissions the rest of the product already uses.
Apps that talk to an API
The phone is a client. Business rules stay on the server unless there is a clear reason to do otherwise.
Challenges we address
Mobile work fails in predictable ways. Naming them early is more useful than promising a store feature.
01
Two platforms, two definitions of the app
iOS and Android drift when nobody writes down the shared behavior. We keep one description of the tasks, then implement it per platform.
02
The client outruns the API
Screens that assume data the backend does not have yet create a demo that cannot ship. The contract comes first.
03
Device differences show up late
A layout that works on one phone fails on another size, a notch, or a slow network. Testing has to include those cases.
04
Store release is treated as an afternoon
Signing, listings, and review are their own work. We plan them only when a store release is actually in scope. Nothing here is a claim that an app is already listed.
Our technical approach
We pick the platform strategy from constraints, then design the client, the API boundary, and the checks on real device classes.
01
Planning
Decide native or cross-platform from the product, the devices, and what has to ship first.
02
Mobile interface
Flows for thumbs, interruption, and the few tasks the app exists to complete.
03
Integration
Authentication, API calls, and device capabilities such as camera, files, or notifications only when the product uses them.
04
Testing
Pass the critical paths on more than one screen size and on a slow connection, not only on the newest phone.
05
Handover
Document how a build is produced. Store submission steps are included only if that release is in the agreement.
Service capabilities
Platform strategy
A written reason for native, cross-platform, or a split. The decision is revisited if the constraints change, not defended out of habit.
Mobile UI and interaction
Screens designed for the task and the device, with states for loading, empty data, and errors.
Authentication
Sign-in that survives an app restart, with a clear sign-out and a path when the session expires.
API integration
A client that follows the backend contract, including pagination, validation errors, and offline behavior only if the product needs it.
Notifications and device features
Push notifications, camera, location, or files when they serve a named task. They are not added as a checklist.
Screen-size testing
Checks across the device classes in scope, so a layout bug is found before a user finds it.
Typical deliverables
These are examples of what a proposal can include. Scope decides which ones you receive. None of them is an automatic part of every inquiry.
- A platform recommendation and the reasons for it
- The mobile application for the agreed platforms
- API and account integration in scope
- Test notes for the device classes that were checked
- Build instructions, plus store-release notes only when a store release is in scope
Technologies and tools
Names below come from the working catalog in the site configuration. A project may use some of them, or a different set, once the product is known. Listing a tool is not a certification, a vendor partnership, or a promise that every engagement includes it.
Mobile
- Flutter
- React Native
- Swift
- Kotlin
Backend
- Node.js
- Python
- Go
Questions founders ask
Do you publish apps to the App Store or Google Play?
A store release can be part of a proposal. This website does not claim that any app has already been published, and a store's review process is outside our control.
Should we start native or cross-platform?
It depends on shared UI, device APIs, team skills, and how different the two platforms need to be. We make that call in planning and write the reason down.
Can the app use our existing API?
Yes, if the API already supports the mobile tasks, or if changing it is in scope. We read the contract before designing screens that the server cannot feed.
How do you handle push notifications?
Only when a workflow needs them. Setup includes the platform services, permission prompts, and what happens when a user declines. It is not assumed for every app.
What is tested?
The critical flows on the screen sizes and platforms in the agreement, including poor network conditions when that matters. A test pass is not a promise of zero defects.
Related services
UI/UX Design
Product design for software: journeys, prototypes, and interfaces engineering can build without guessing.
View serviceBackend & APIs
APIs, data models, and integrations that keep the product's rules in one place.
View serviceQA & Testing
Functional, regression, and API checks so a release has a record of what was actually validated.
View service