Custom software
Mobile app development agency for iPhone, iPad and Mac
Luminous builds iPhone, iPad and Mac apps, with the backend, release process and handover planned from the start. Get a free quote today!
Discuss Your Project
Build an app when the job depends on the device: a camera, offline use, notifications, on-device processing or a tool someone opens every day. Luminous designs and develops iPhone, iPad and Mac applications, and the backend and release process behind them. As an app development agency, we work with founders and companies who want to hire app developers for one product or an ongoing roadmap.
We start with the first task the app must handle well. Once we know the device features, the users and who will maintain the code, we choose between a native Apple build and a cross-platform build.
For related work, explore LumaTake, our AI Native Video Content Studio for Mac, and Text Behind Subject, which runs its AI processing on the user's device. LumaTake and Text Behind Subject are our own products. They show the engineering, not a client's commercial result.
Check whether you need an app at all
| What your users need | What we usually recommend |
|---|---|
| Daily use, offline access, the camera, notifications or on-device processing | A native or cross-platform app, designed around the first job users open it for. |
| Occasional visits, service information, booking or checkout | A responsive website or web application. It costs less to build and needs no app store review. See our web development service. |
| Staff working on iPads or phones in the field | An internal app or a web application, depending on offline needs, device management and how often the workflow changes. |
| A web product whose customers now expect a mobile app | An app for the tasks that benefit from the device, sharing accounts and data with the existing product. |
Native Apple or cross-platform
We build native Apple apps in Swift and SwiftUI. That route suits Mac software, apps that lean on platform features such as on-device machine learning, background work, widgets or the camera, and products where the interface has to feel at home on each Apple device.
When iPhone and Android users need the same features and one team will maintain both, a cross-platform framework such as React Native can reduce duplicated work. The tradeoff is less direct access to some platform features. We weigh that against your feature list before recommending either route.
From the first task to App Store review
- Choose the first job. Agree the task the first release must complete, who uses it and what they do today.
- Prototype on a device. Test the main flow on real hardware before building the rest, so layout, speed and gestures are judged where they will be used.
- Build the app and its backend. Accounts, APIs, data storage and notifications are scoped with the app, because most apps depend on them.
- Test the difficult cases. Poor connections, interrupted sessions, older supported devices, accessibility settings and permission prompts.
- Release in stages. Beta testing through TestFlight first, then App Store review, and Google Play if Android is in scope.
- Hand over. Source code, build instructions, crash reporting and developer accounts, documented and in your organization's name.
Keep the code and the store accounts in your name
The Apple Developer Program membership and any Google Play Console account should belong to your organization, with us added as team members. That keeps the listing, reviews and app signing under your control if suppliers change.
Apple reviews every submission against its App Store Review Guidelines, including privacy disclosures, account deletion and in-app purchase rules. We plan features with those rules in mind, so review is not the first time they come up.
Connect the app to the rest of the business
An app usually reads or updates data held elsewhere: a CRM, a booking system, a payment provider or your own database. If that data layer does not exist yet, our custom software development service covers the APIs and internal tools behind it. For AI features, AI automation and workflow integration explains how we choose between on-device and server processing.
Businesses hiring an app team in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, around Broomall and Media, and studios and tech companies in Culver City have local pages that describe how we work with them.
Questions before you commission an app
Yes. Most app work is a single defined project: a first release with an agreed scope, then optional support afterwards. You own the code, the App Store account and the backend from day one.
Ask to see apps the team has shipped to the App Store, who will write the code, and whether the source code, App Store account and backend will be in your name. Check how they handle Apple's review, updates after launch and the first support period. A good team will also tell you when a web app would do the job for less.
The number of screens and user roles, the backend, integrations, supported devices and design work set the price. We define those in discovery, price the first release against them and plan later releases separately.
Timing follows the first release's scope. We run a TestFlight beta before submission and leave room for review feedback, which Apple can raise on any submission.
Yes, when Android is part of the scope. We assess a cross-platform build first for shared features, and recommend a separate native build only when the device features require one.
We review the code, dependencies, build setup and account access first. The review shows what can be kept, what needs fixing before new features and whether the store accounts are under your control.
Apple and Google release new operating system versions every year, and apps need updates to keep working well. We agree maintenance cover, crash monitoring and response times as part of the handover.
Discuss Your Project. Tell us who will use the app, the first task it must handle and the systems it needs to connect to.