An app, when an app is genuinely the answer
Most businesses that ask for an app need a better website. This page explains how to tell the two cases apart before spending five thousand euros.
Quote Fixed, within two working days
One question decides this and it is not a technical one: do your customers come back every week? If they do, an icon on their home screen is worth real money. If they come twice a year, that icon gets deleted in March and you will have paid five thousand euros for a reminder nobody sees.
When the answer is yes, there is a second question: do you need something a browser cannot do? Reliable notifications, working with no signal, the camera, location in the background. If you need those, it is an app. If not, a PWA does ninety per cent of it for a fraction of the price and with no Apple review.
We build both from a single codebase, so the decision does not trap you: what starts as a PWA can end up in the stores without being rewritten.
What it includes
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iOS, Android and web from one base
One application compiled for all three. Maintaining three separate codebases is what turns an app into a lifetime subscription to your supplier.
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Works with no signal
Data is stored on the device and syncs when the network returns. On a round, in a warehouse or on a boat, that is not an extra.
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Push notifications
The real ones, that arrive with the app closed. With a written rule about when they are used, because the fastest route to being uninstalled is three alerts a day.
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User accounts
Sign-up, sign-in, password recovery and account deletion — the last of these mandatory in both stores once there is a sign-up.
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Store submission
Listings, screenshots, privacy policy, data questionnaire and the two or three review rounds Apple always asks for. Included, not extra.
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Three months of adjustments
Things appear after launch that nobody can see before it. They are included for three months.
How it gets built
Six to twelve weeks. Store review adds three days to two weeks, and neither of us controls that.
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We define the three things the app has to do. Three. The fourth is what doubles the price of a project.
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A working prototype in two weeks: on your own phone, in your hands, before anything is built underneath.
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Built in parts, with a test build on your phone every week through TestFlight and Play Console.
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Submission to both stores, with the listings written in three languages, and three months of adjustments afterwards.
What decides the price
An app is the most expensive thing on this list, which is why the conversation starts with whether you need one. If you do, the quote is decided by the functions — three, not seven — and by whether it has to go into the stores or a PWA will do, which costs considerably less. Fixed quote within two working days, and if a PWA solves your case we will say so rather than letting you buy the expensive one.
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How many functions, honestly
Three clear functions is a bounded project. The fourth is the one that historically doubles the quote, which is why we insist on writing them down first.
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Stores or a PWA
Publishing to the App Store and Google Play adds listings, reviews and two developer accounts a year. A PWA skips all of it.
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Whether there are user accounts
Sign-up, sign-in and account deletion — mandatory in both stores once there is a sign-up — plus the privacy work that drags in.
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Whether it must work with no signal
Storing data on the device and syncing when the network returns is real work. On a round or a boat it is not optional; elsewhere it usually is.
Who it is for
Who it is not for
- If your customers visit twice a year, the app gets uninstalled and we both know it.
- If what you want is for the website to look better on a phone, that is a responsive site and it costs ten times less.
- If nobody on your team is going to keep the app’s content current, do not build one: a stale app looks worse than no app.
And the rules it answers
Guides on this
- What a website costs in Spain
The real market brackets, what each one buys and what you pay afterwards — so you can tell whether a quote is reasonable.
- AI in a small business: what actually works
Three uses that save hours, three that do not, and why grounding is the whole difference.
- Web speed: what Google measures and what to fix
LCP, INP and CLS explained without jargon, with the five fixes that genuinely move the number.
Questions about apps
If your question isn’t here, write to us and we’ll answer it. Contact
What is the difference between an app and a PWA?
A PWA is a website that installs to the home screen and works offline. It does not go through the App Store or Google Play, it updates itself, and it costs far less. A native app can do more with the phone and appears in the stores, which for some businesses is itself the point.
What does an app cost to keep running each year?
Developer accounts are $99 a year with Apple and $25 once with Google. On top of that, two or three updates a year to keep pace with iOS and Android. We budget it at the start so it is not a surprise in month fourteen.
Is the app mine?
Yes. The code is yours, the store accounts are in your name from the start, and we hand over the signing keys. If you want to take it to another studio tomorrow, you do not need our permission.
Can Apple reject it?
They can, and it is normal on the first or second submission. The usual reasons are account deletion, the privacy policy and the data questionnaire. We prepare those before submitting, and the review rounds are included.
Could you build just the PWA and leave the stores for later?
That is exactly what we recommend in most cases. Publish the PWA, watch for six months how many people install and use it, and decide on the stores with that number in hand.
Tell us what it has to do
Tell us the three things the app would have to do and how often your customers come back. If the honest answer is that you do not need an app, you will get it.
- Or directly
- hola@appnweb.site
- Monday to Friday, 09:00 – 18:00 (CET)