iOS and Android
Apps for both platforms, or one platform first when the budget calls for it. In New Zealand, iOS has an unusually high share, so iOS first is often the sensible start.
Choyo Labs · Mobile apps · New Zealand
Mobile app development for New Zealand businesses.
iOS and Android apps, designed and built by one team and taken all the way through App Store and Play Store review. Fixed quote, dated schedule, and you own the code.
Talk about an appThe first thing good app developers should do is check whether you need an app at all. Plenty of businesses asking for one would get more from a better website, at a fraction of the cost, and we will tell you if that is you. Our guide do I need an app or just a website? sets out the test. If an app is the right answer, we design it, build it, and stay on it through store review and the fixes after launch, the stage where many app projects stall.
What we build
App development, end to end.
The backend behind it
Accounts, data, payments, push notifications and the APIs that connect them. This is usually more than half the work in an app, and it is the part a low quote tends to leave out.
Store submission and review
App Store and Play Store listings, review guidelines, privacy declarations and the rejections that catch first-time submitters out. See what both stores actually check.
Analytics and updates
Crash reporting, usage analytics and the operating system updates that every app needs each year. More on that in what app maintenance involves after launch.
Native or cross platform
Flutter, React Native or native, chosen for the project.
For most business apps, a cross platform build is the right call: one codebase serving both iOS and Android, which keeps the cost and the maintenance closer to one app than two. Native Swift and Kotlin earn their extra cost on performance-critical work, heavy graphics, or when you need new operating system features the day they ship.
We recommend the stack in the scope, with the reasoning written down, and the question we weigh most is who will maintain the app in two years. The longer comparison is in Flutter, React Native or native.
How it runs
Four stages, and working builds early.
- Scope. What the first version must do, who it is for, and what is deliberately left out. You get a fixed quote and a dated schedule against it.
- Design. Screens and flows reviewed with you at each step, so there are no surprises once the build starts.
- Build. Short cycles with a working build on your own phone at the end of each one, so progress is something you can tap.
- Ship and support. Store submission, launch, monitoring and the fixes that follow. Our pre-launch checklist covers what has to be true first.
What it costs
App development cost, quoted per project.
Apps are quoted per project because the range is genuinely wide: a few screens with no accounts and an app with payments, offline sync and several kinds of user are an order of magnitude apart. You get one fixed figure against a written scope before work starts, not an hourly estimate.
We have written up what drives the number and the ranges New Zealand quotes typically fall into, in how much does it cost to build an app in New Zealand. The short version: the backend decides the price far more than the number of screens.
Shipped
Apps we have shipped.
App development · FAQ
Questions people ask app developers
How much does it cost to build an app in New Zealand?
It depends almost entirely on what the app has to do behind the screens: accounts, payments, offline support and integrations. We quote a fixed price per project after scoping, and our app cost guide sets out the typical ranges and what moves them.
How long does app development take?
It depends on scope, and we give you a dated schedule with the quote rather than an estimate. Store review adds time at the end, and we plan for it rather than treating launch day as the finish line.
Should we build for iOS or Android first?
If you need both, a cross platform build usually covers both for close to the cost of one. If you have to pick, iOS first is often right in New Zealand because of its high market share here, but your own customers' phones matter more than the national figure.
Do you build in Flutter?
We choose the stack per project: cross platform, such as Flutter or React Native, for most business apps, and native when the app genuinely needs it. The recommendation and the reasons for it are written into the scope.
Who owns the app and the code?
You do, once the final invoice is paid: the repository, the designs, and the developer accounts on both stores, which should be in your organisation's name from the start.
Are you app developers in Auckland?
We are a remote New Zealand studio with no office in Auckland or anywhere else. We work with businesses across the country over calls, written scopes and test builds on your own phone.
Do you also build the website that goes with it?
Yes. Most apps need a website for the store listings, support and privacy pages at the very least, and the same team builds both. See [website design in New Zealand](/web-design).
Start a project
Thinking about an app?
Tell us what you have in mind. We reply within two business days with scope, a timeline, and a fixed price.