Native iOS Development in Swift & SwiftUI

Native iOS is the right choice when you need deep Apple platform integration - ARKit, HealthKit, Core ML, CarPlay, or complex custom animations using Metal. It's also preferred when your product is iOS-only and development budget can be focused on a single platform. For most apps targeting both iOS and Android, React Native or Flutter deliver equivalent results at lower cost.

All new development is written in Swift and SwiftUI. We maintain or migrate Objective-C legacy codebases when necessary, using Swift bridging headers to interoperate. Objective-C is rarely justified for new projects today.

UIKit is the imperative framework Apple shipped in 2008 - views are configured in code or XIBs and state changes are applied manually. SwiftUI is the declarative successor introduced in 2019 - views are a function of state, and the framework handles diffing and updates. We default to SwiftUI for new apps and use UIKit where SwiftUI lacks API coverage (e.g., complex collection view layouts).

Yes. We build watchOS companion apps using WatchKit and SwiftUI, tvOS apps for Apple TV, and visionOS apps for Apple Vision Pro. Each platform has its own HIG conventions and APIs that we follow closely.

For local persistence we use Core Data (relational) or SwiftData (Swift-native, iOS 17+). For iCloud sync we use CloudKit directly or NSPersistentCloudKitContainer for automatic Core Data replication across devices. For offline-first with a custom backend we use background URLSession and a sync engine we build per project.

We follow Apple's App Store Review Guidelines from day one - privacy manifests, required reason APIs, IDFA compliance, and age rating accuracy. We perform a pre-submission checklist review and submit with a detailed reviewer note where the app has complex flows. Our approval rate on first submission is above 95%.

We write XCTest unit tests for business logic and service layers, XCUITest integration tests for critical user flows, and snapshot tests (swift-snapshot-testing) for UI regression. Tests run on GitHub Actions using a macOS runner with multiple iOS simulator versions.

Yes. We build WidgetKit home and lock-screen widgets with SwiftUI, App Clips for instant-access web-to-app flows, Share Extensions, Keyboard Extensions, and Notification Content Extensions. Each extension is a separate target we add to the project.

We typically target the last two major iOS versions (iOS 17 and 18 as of 2025), which covers over 95% of active devices per Apple's published data. Supporting older versions extends QA surface and limits use of modern APIs - we advise on the trade-off during discovery.

Yes. We perform a structured code audit covering architecture, dependency health, test coverage, and App Store compliance before taking over. We provide a written findings report and prioritized remediation plan. Swift package updates and Xcode version upgrades are handled as part of onboarding.

An iOS MVP takes 6-10 weeks. A full consumer app takes 3-6 months. Apps with complex hardware integrations, custom Core ML models, or multiple extensions take longer. Discovery and scoping are included in our kickoff process.

An iOS MVP with accounts, payments, a content layer and an admin panel is 800-1,410 hours, or $24,000-$43,000 at our rate card. Add the third-party systems you already pay for and it is 890-1,640 hours, or $27,000-$50,000. A full consumer app with chat, real-time and offline sync is 1,240-2,310 hours, or $38,000-$70,000. Because iOS is a single platform, it costs less than a build that has to ship Android too. Price your own module set at kultrix.com/cost-calculator.