Skip to content

01.05 / Build

Mobile apps.

iOS and Android apps built with Capacitor or Expo from one codebase, published to both stores, with push, deep links, automated releases and over-the-air updates from Polargate's own OTA hub.

Book a callTell us about your project
days from diagnosis to the new backend runningConcert Music Festival
4
A phone held up in a festival crowd at dusk: the festival app shows the band playing now, its stage and time, and a button to add it to your schedule.

In detail

What you should know.

A guest relaxes in a lobby armchair using her phone while other guests queue with suitcases at the reception desk behind her

For example: 4 days from diagnosis to the new backend running. Concert Music Festival

Book a callTell us about your project

What it is

Polargate builds iOS and Android apps for mid-market companies that already have a product, a website or a prototype and need it in the stores, maintained, and updatable without a review queue every time a typo has to be fixed. We use Capacitor or Expo (React Native) so one TypeScript codebase serves iOS, Android and the web, and native code is written only where it earns its place: push, deep links, secure storage, camera.

We are not the right studio for a game engine, an AR product or an app built around hardware of your own design that does not exist yet. Connecting to a standard device somebody else already manufactures, through the API, webhook or export it publishes, is a different job, and that one we do build. We are the right studio for a booking app, a guest app, a festival app, an internal field tool or a customer portal that has to live on a phone.

How we do it

Every app starts with a paid Discovery Sprint: we agree the screens, the data model, the store accounts and the release path before writing production code. Then we build in short cycles against a real backend (usually Supabase, Postgres with row level security), not mock data.

Release engineering is part of the build, not an afterthought. iOS builds run on Xcode Cloud from a git tag, Android builds and Play uploads run on GitHub Actions, and submission is automated through the App Store Connect and Play Developer APIs. Push is wired end to end (APNs directly on iOS, FCM HTTP v1 on Android) with delivery auditing and a remote kill switch per platform, because the failure we see most often is an app that has been registering zero tokens for weeks and nobody noticed.

Over-the-air updates ship through Polargate's own OTA hub (self-hosted Capgo), with channels, staged rollouts, a minimum native version gate and a kill switch. Content and bug fixes reach users in minutes, and only genuinely native changes go through review.

What you get

What you take away.

Everything is written down before we start, and everything stays in accounts your company owns.

01Deliverables

  1. 01

    iOS and Android apps from one TypeScript codebase (Capacitor or Expo), plus the web build

  2. 02

    Store submission end to end: developer accounts, signing, listings, screenshots per language and review handling

  3. 03

    Automated releases: iOS builds on Xcode Cloud from a git tag, Android builds and Play uploads on GitHub Actions, submission via the App Store Connect and Play Developer APIs

  4. 04

    Push notifications wired end to end (APNs on iOS, FCM HTTP v1 on Android) with delivery auditing and a remote kill switch per platform

  5. 05

    Over-the-air updates through Polargate's OTA hub: channels, staged rollout, minimum native version gate and rollback

  6. 06

    Deep links and universal links verified on both platforms (AASA and assetlinks)

  7. 07

    Crash reporting and analytics: Crashlytics for native crashes, Sentry for JavaScript errors, product events in your own database

  8. 08

    Handover in your name: repository, CI pipelines, signing keys and store accounts, documented

02How it runs

  1. 01 · Week 1 to 2

    Discovery Sprint

    Interviews with the people who will use the thing, an audit of the systems you already run, a data model, an architecture decision and a scope written in plain language. It ends with a fixed price and a delivery plan, and the document is yours whether or not you continue.

  2. 02 · Week 2 to 4

    Foundations

    Design direction, database schema with row level security from the first migration, environments, continuous integration and the first screens in a place you can open. Nothing is built on a platform you cannot leave: the repository, the backend and the hosting are created in your accounts.

  3. 03 · Week 4 to 8

    Build to the first shipped iteration

    Weekly deployments, a short written update with each one and a running list of decisions. The goal of this stage is a version in production with real data where someone can finish an actual task, not a demo. Scope changes are priced before they are built.

  4. 04 · Week 8 onwards

    Audit, launch and handover

    Several review passes over correctness, architecture, accessibility, performance and security, with every finding checked by a second reviewer before it counts as real. Then the launch, the handover pack and, if you want it, a move to the CARE retainer for maintenance and evolution.

For example: 62 user accounts migrated with their IDs preserved. Concert Music Festival

Book a callTell us about your project

Who it is for

We don't take every project.

We would rather tell you now than halfway through. If you recognise yourself on the left, let's talk.

It fits if

  • You need a website, a portal or an app that does not exist yet, or one that has run out of road
  • You want the code, the data and the hosting in accounts your company owns
  • You prefer a fixed price before work starts to an open hourly bill
  • Someone on your side can decide and give the project a few hours a week
  • You care that Google and AI assistants can read it from day one

It is not for you if

  • You are after a cheap template or a site put together over a weekend
  • You want it to live on a platform you cannot leave later
  • Nobody on your side can review screens or make decisions
  • You need people to bill hours without a clear goal

For example: 37 shows synced from the website in the 2026 season. Concert Music Festival

Book a callTell us about your project

Timing and budget

How we quote.

No price list and no hourly billing during a build. After a short call you get a written quote for your project.

Timeline
8 to 12 weeks from kick-off to a first release in both stores, in short cycles with a build you can install from week two, and TestFlight or Play internal testing from the first native build. Review times are set by Apple and Google, not by us.
Team
Our team designs and builds the app, with native modules and store assets when the project needs them, and runs the release pipeline. Pedro Ciordia, CTO, sets the architecture and reviews the code before each release. The people you talk to are the people who ship.
How the price is set
Fixed price to take a working prototype to production in both stores, closed after a Discovery Sprint. What moves it is the native surface: push, offline use, payments, deep links. Quoted privately after a call.
The stack
CapacitorExpoReactTypeScriptViteTailwind CSSshadcn/uiTanStack QuerySupabasePostgreSQLFirebaseGitHub ActionsiOSAndroidVercelSign in with AppleVitestPlaywright

For example: 30 min sync interval between WordPress and the app. Concert Music Festival

Book a callTell us about your projectAsk for your quote

Work

Where we did it.

Real projects. Open each one to see what we built and the figures we measured.

For example: 177 countries where the Android app is available. Concert Music Festival

Book a callTell us about your projectAll work

Same line

Other services in Build.

Each service has its own page with what it includes, the usual timeline and the projects where we did it.

For example: 106 unit tests running on every change. Concert Music Festival

Book a callTell us about your project

FAQ

What people ask us.

How much does it cost to turn our prototype into a real iOS and Android app?
It is a fixed price, closed after a Discovery Sprint. What moves the number is the native surface: push, offline use, in-app payments, deep links, biometric login, and how many languages your store listings need. Ongoing care is a monthly retainer quoted once the app is live. Show us the prototype on a call and you get a private quote.
How long does it take to get an app into the App Store and Google Play?
Plan for 8 to 12 weeks from kick-off to a first release in both stores. Roughly half of that is product work and half is release engineering: developer accounts, signing, push, listings and screenshots in every language you sell in. Review times are set by Apple and Google. After launch, over-the-air updates ship the same day, so the review queue stops being your bottleneck for content and fixes.
Capacitor, Expo or fully native: which one should we choose?
For most business apps, the answer is Capacitor or Expo. Both produce real native apps with native push, deep links and a store presence, from one TypeScript codebase that also runs on the web. Fully native earns its cost when the app depends on continuous camera use, complex graphics, background sensors or platform-specific hardware. We tell you which case you are in during Discovery, before anyone commits budget.
Can we update the app without waiting for Apple review every time?
Yes, for anything that lives in the JavaScript layer. Polargate ships over-the-air updates through its own OTA hub, with channels, staged rollouts, a minimum native version gate and a kill switch, so copy changes, content and most bugs reach users in minutes. Native changes, new permissions and SDK upgrades still go through store review. We test the rollback path before we need it, and we can disable OTA per platform.
Can you take over an app another agency or an AI builder already made?
Yes, and it is a large part of what we do. The usual work is an audit, then moving the backend and the store accounts into your own name, repairing the release pipeline and making content editable instead of hardcoded into the binary. We have migrated an app off a vendor-managed backend onto a client-owned one without losing users, media or history, and relaunched it in both stores.
Who owns the code and the store accounts?
You do. Apple Developer, Google Play, Firebase, the backend project and the repository are created in your company's name, or transferred to it when they already exist elsewhere. Polargate works inside your accounts, documents the signing setup and hands over the CI pipelines. If you stop working with us, the app keeps building and shipping without our involvement.

For example: 4 days from diagnosis to the new backend running. Concert Music Festival

Book a callTell us about your project

Get started

Tell us what you want to build.

Websites, apps, custom systems and AI for companies that need them in production in weeks. Fill in the form or book a 30 minute call: a senior engineer answers within 48 business hours with a first take on scope, timeline and price.

Book a 30 minute call
What do you need?
Budget
When

At least ten characters.

Answer in writing within 48 business hours. No newsletter, no automatic sequence.

Rather answer the full brief?

First step

Discovery Sprint

Two weeks to close scope, architecture and price before anything is built.

No price list. You get a private quote, in writing, after a short call.

Then, to build, always at a fixed price

Ask for your quoteHow we quote

Not ready yet?

AI-native digital studio for mid-market companies

POLARGATE, S.L. · CIF B24895005
Calle Electrónica 6, 28027 Madrid, Spain