The article
An iPhone app is not live when its code is finished. It is live when Apple's App Review lets it through, and the review looks at more than code: a privacy policy, the data every SDK inside the app collects, a working demo login, a way for people to delete their account.
Yet of the five iOS app development services pages Google showed me for this search in October 2026, four never mention the App Store. None mentions TestFlight, the privacy details Apple asks for or whose developer account the app goes out from, and one still lists iOS 8 to 12.4.1 as the versions it supports. Five pages are a small sample, so read it as a reason to ask about the last step early.
I have spent 18 years in software development, and at 26 Lines of Code we take iPhone apps the whole way: designed to Apple's guidelines, written in Swift, backed by the API and admin panel we build for them, and taken through App Review by us. Below: what the work includes, how a build reaches the App Store, what Apple will ask you for and what it costs.
iOS app development services: the short version
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Price | A first version from $5,000; your app is priced after a call, from its features, and the estimate is free |
| Language | Swift for iPhone-only apps; Flutter or React Native when Android is in the plan as well |
| Behind the app | The API, the database and the admin panel, on Django or FastAPI with PostgreSQL and Redis |
| Integrations | Stripe, Twilio, Auth0 or your own systems |
| Testing | Our QA on iPhones; you try every build on your own phone through TestFlight |
| Release | The App Store listing, App Review and every update after launch |
| Contract | 26 Lines of Code LLC, our US company in Miami; the team works from our delivery center near Kyiv |
Swift, or one app for both stores
For an iPhone-only app, Swift is usually the right call: it is Apple's own language, and new iOS features reach it first. If Android comes later, the backend and the design carry over, and the Android app can follow as a second native app in Kotlin. If you already know you need both stores, one cross-platform codebase in Flutter or React Native may serve you better: see hybrid apps. An iOS and Android app development company should tell you which of these your feature list calls for before any contract, and we do.
An app is the wrong tool when people find you once, read and call. A website that works on a phone does that job for less.
What our custom iOS app development covers
It starts from what your customers should get done on their iPhones; the screens, the data and the integrations follow from that. With us, the work includes:
- Screens designed to Apple's Human Interface Guidelines, so the app behaves the way iPhone users expect.
- Swift code, reviewed by an engineer and checked by our QA.
- The API, the database and the admin panel the app relies on.
- Integrations with Stripe, Twilio, Auth0 or the systems you already run.
- The App Store listing, App Review and every update after launch.
Each task is written down before it is built with AI tools, then reviewed by an engineer and checked by our tester before the release. Any iPhone application development company can show you screenshots; ask for the App Store links as well.
How an iPhone app reaches the App Store
Our iPhone app development services end in the store, not at the code. Every release takes the same five steps:
- Sprints. Features are built in two-week sprints and checked by our QA on iPhones.
- TestFlight. You and your testers install each build on your own phones through TestFlight, Apple's app for beta testing. Apple allows up to 100 testers from your own team and up to 10,000 outside testers; builds for outside testers pass a review by Apple first.
- The store listing: screenshots, the description and the privacy details Apple asks for.
- App Review. We submit the build and answer Apple's questions. Apple says it typically reviews at least half of all submissions within 24 hours and 90% within 48; for a critical bug fix, you can ask for an expedited review.
- Release and updates. The app goes live, and every update takes the same path. An update can go out as a phased release over seven days, to a random share of users with automatic updates turned on, and it can be paused if something looks wrong.
What Apple will ask you for: a checklist
Most of the App Store work is ours, but a few things only the app's owner can provide, and several come straight out of Apple's own rules. Whichever iOS app development firm builds your app, send this list to whoever owns it on your side:
| What Apple looks at | What to prepare | Who |
|---|---|---|
| The developer account | Apple Developer Program membership in your company's name: Apple shows it as the seller, asks for a D-U-N-S number and wants the person enrolling to be able to sign for the company; $99 a year | You |
| Your website | A public, working site on a domain that belongs to your company: Apple requires one to enroll an organization | You, or our $499 website |
| A privacy policy | A link in the store listing and inside the app | You or your counsel write it; we place it |
| Privacy details | What the app collects, including what its analytics, payment and other SDKs collect; required for every new app and every update | We draft them from the code; you confirm |
| A demo login | If the app has sign-in, a demo account for the reviewer, with the backend switched on | We prepare it |
| Account deletion | If people can create an account in the app, they must be able to delete it in the app | We build it |
| A second login option | If people sign in with Google or Facebook, Apple wants another option that shares only the name and email and lets people hide their email, such as Sign in with Apple | We build it |
| The payment path | Goods and services used outside the app, like a meal or an appointment, are paid by card or Apple Pay, through Stripe for example; paid features and content inside the app go through Apple's in-app purchase, and on the US App Store the app may also link to a purchase page on your own website | We settle it with you before the design |
None of the five pages I read names a single line of this table. The payment line deserves the most attention: it changes which screens get built and how much of each sale reaches you, so settle it before the first design, not after the first rejection.
What iOS app development costs
A first version starts at $5,000, and each iPhone app is priced after a call, from its features; the estimate is free and comes before any contract. The screens and user roles, the integrations, live features such as calls or chat, and the admin panel set the rest. Apple's $99 a year for the developer account is paid by you, to Apple.
If you already have iOS developers and need more hands, ours join your team from $35 an hour through staff augmentation. Every starting price is on our pricing page.
iPhone apps we worked on
- Mutualz shows that an iPhone app does not have to be written in Swift. It is one Flutter codebase, live on the App Store and Google Play in German and English, with ordering, a loyalty program, a social feed and an admin panel for restaurants.
- Raina Music streams music chosen by DJs to hotels and restaurants, and managers change the music in each zone from the phone. We reworked the streaming backend for many venues at once, built the Smart Mix that blends one song into the next, and connected the players, the app and the backend in real time. The hard part was keeping playback smooth as more venues joined.
- RxPhoto keeps a clinic's patient photos, forms and notes in one record; per rxphoto.com, more than 80 million before-and-after photos are stored in it. We worked on the backend, the web front end and the API behind its mobile app, including custom patient reports.
Who builds your app
We work as an iOS mobile app development company you talk to directly: you know by name the iOS developers, designers and QA engineers on your app. Around them is a company of 70+ specialists with 150+ projects since 2017 and 5.0 on Clutch from 26 verified reviews as of September 2026, none of them negative. The team works near Kyiv, usually seven hours ahead of Miami, so your morning falls inside its working day.
Everything else we build for phones is under mobile app development. If the app leans on the phone's hardware, read about native apps; once it is live, mobile app maintenance keeps it current with new iOS versions and store rules. Our iOS app development services start with the iPhone app you have in mind: on weekdays from 9 am to 6 pm Miami time we answer a new request within 30 minutes, with questions and a free rough estimate.
