For Shopify brands
Custom native iOS and Android apps for Shopify brands. Built in 4 to 6 weeks. You own the codebase.
Stop renting a templated app. Start shipping features on your roadmap, not a platform's 6 to 12 month queue.
Mobile work shipped for
Scout to Hunt
Build vs buy
Templated platform vs custom build
The same five things every Shopify brand we talk to is comparing. No vendor names. Just the structural differences.
| Templated platform | Custom build | What it means for you | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Code ownership | Platform owns the build | You own the codebase | Walk away, fork it, port it, sell it. No vendor lock. |
| Time to ship a new feature | 6 to 12 months on their roadmap | 1 to 4 weeks on yours | Ship drop-day features, not next-year features. |
| Monthly cost trajectory | Scales with MAU | Flat retainer for changes | Costs stay predictable as your store grows. |
| Iteration speed | Wait in queue with hundreds of brands | Direct line to engineering | You set the priority. Same week turnaround on small changes. |
| Brand differentiation | Templated UI, common patterns | Built around your brand and customer | Your app, not a clone of every other Shopify app. |
Code ownership
Platform owns the build
You own the codebase
Walk away, fork it, port it, sell it. No vendor lock.
Time to ship a new feature
6 to 12 months on their roadmap
1 to 4 weeks on yours
Ship drop-day features, not next-year features.
Monthly cost trajectory
Scales with MAU
Flat retainer for changes
Costs stay predictable as your store grows.
Iteration speed
Wait in queue with hundreds of brands
Direct line to engineering
You set the priority. Same week turnaround on small changes.
Brand differentiation
Templated UI, common patterns
Built around your brand and customer
Your app, not a clone of every other Shopify app.
Timeline
Four to six weeks, end to end
A typical Shopify brand goes from kickoff to App Store submission in 6 weeks. Some integrations stretch that to 8.
Week 1
Discovery and architecture
Scope review, integration map, screen inventory, and a written build plan. You sign off before code starts.
Weeks 2 to 3
Native iOS and Android scaffolding
Storefront API wiring, navigation, auth, and the core product and cart flows running on both platforms.
Weeks 4 to 5
Integrations
Push notifications, loyalty, analytics, search, reviews, and any custom logic your store depends on.
Week 6
QA and App Store submission
Full device matrix QA, release builds, store listings, screenshots, and submission to App Store and Google Play.
Caveat: 6 to 8 weeks in cases with deeper integrations, like custom checkout, headless storefronts, or loyalty platforms with strict API limits. We flag the timeline impact during discovery, before code starts.
Why custom
Three reasons brands switch off templated platforms
01
Code ownership
You walk away with the codebase. Templated app platforms lease you a build you cannot fork, cannot port, and cannot take with you if you switch vendors.
02
Your roadmap
Want push-segmented drop alerts next month? We ship it next month. Templated platforms ship for hundreds of merchants at once, so your specific feature waits in a long queue.
03
No per-MAU platform tax
Custom means a one-time build plus a flat retainer for changes. Templated platforms add a per-active-user fee on top, so your app gets more expensive as your store grows.
Proof of work
Shipped on both stores, ours from scratch
Scout to Hunt is a React Native app we built and shipped end to end on iOS and Android. Different vertical from commerce, but the engineering work is the same: native UX, offline data, third-party integrations, store submission.
Scout to Hunt
A field-grade hunting app on iOS and Android. Offline 3D maps, background GPS path logging, encrypted local storage, and stats that hold up in the field with no cell signal.
Shopify brand case studies available on request once we are under NDA.
Who builds it
Senior engineering, not a junior team
Appalytical is run by Nathan Peel. Over a decade shipping mobile apps, including the iOS team at IDEMIA (mobile identity and credentials), React Native at AirXos and GE Aerospace (drone operations), mobile engineering at Divvy (corporate expense, now BILL Spend & Expense), and 10-plus enterprise builds as a subcontracted senior engineer through Catalyte.
The last 18 months: heads-down on production AI work, LLM integrations, RAG, and agentic workflows. Same engineering bar, applied to AI features that have to make it past the demo stage.
Why Shopify, specifically? Templated app platforms were built for the lowest common denominator. After a decade of shipping native and React Native, brands that are ready to scale deserve apps built around their roadmap, not the platform's.
Get started
Get the model, plus a screen mock for your brand
Drop your email and your Shopify domain. We will send back the 3-year build vs buy model and a 5-minute Loom showing one of your screens redesigned as a native app. No call required.