Mobile App Development in Kharkiv, Ukraine

Mobile App Development in Kharkiv — from discovery to App Store and Google Play release

A mobile app for a business in Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region is no longer a “bonus to the website” — it’s a full-fledged sales and retention channel. In a city of 240,000+ residents and a strong small-and-medium business sector — from cafés on Sumska street and Pushkinska streets to manufacturers around Lonokombinat and IT startups — a mobile product often becomes the primary interface between the business and the customer. I’m Alex Filiuk, Senior UI/UX designer and developer with 15 years of experience, designing and building mobile apps for Ukrainian and international clients. My portfolio includes 20+ mobile projects — native iOS and Android, and cross-platform in React Native and Flutter.

This page is a complete guide for a business owner or CTO in Kharkiv planning to launch a mobile app. You’ll find: how to choose between native and cross-platform, how much it costs and how long development takes, how publishing in app stores works, which integrations are usually required, how to avoid the typical mistakes of outsourcing agencies, and why it pays off to choose a designer-developer with Kharkiv context rather than a remote team that has never seen your office.

Why a mobile app is a separate product, not a “version of the website”

The most common illusion I encounter at discovery with Kharkiv businesses: “make us a mobile version of the website, but as an app.” It doesn’t work — and here’s why. The mobile user in 2026 has completely different expectations from an app than from a website:

• Launch speed. An app must open in 1–2 seconds. If it’s a WebView wrapper around a slow website — the user deletes it after the first launch.
• Offline operation. Metro, elevator, mobile internet in the regional centre or a Kharkiv region village — the app must work without network and sync when it appears.
• Push notifications. A website can’t do that. The app is the primary channel for reminders and reactivation.
• System integrations. Camera, microphone, GPS, biometrics, contacts, Apple Pay/Google Pay, Wallet, widgets, Live Activities on iOS, Android Widgets — all this is only available to a native or properly built cross-platform app.
• App Store / Google Play as an acquisition channel. Hundreds of thousands of monthly searches in the Ukrainian market — an additional traffic source that doesn’t duplicate SEO for the website but complements it.

So the right strategy for a Kharkiv business is to design the mobile experience separately, from scratch, rather than “wrapping the website in a shell”. It’s more work upfront, but the result is a real product that lives in the customer’s pocket — not a ghost icon on the smartphone home screen.

The technology stack I work with

I’m not religiously committed to a single technology — I pick the stack for the task, not the task for the stack. Main directions:

Native iOS development (Swift, SwiftUI, UIKit)

• Swift 5.9+ — main language. Modern, safe, with concise syntax.
• SwiftUI — Apple’s declarative UI framework, ideal for new products. Cleaner architecture, less code, native animation support.
• UIKit — for cases where full control is needed or iOS 13 and older support.
• StoreKit 2, CoreData, Combine, async/await, Swift Concurrency, WidgetKit, AppIntents — full modern iOS stack.

Native Android development (Kotlin, Jetpack Compose)

• Kotlin — Android’s primary language since 2019. Modern, type-safe, interoperable with Java.
• Jetpack Compose — declarative UI framework that has displaced XML layouts in new projects. Faster development, simpler state management.
• Coroutines, Flow, Hilt, Room, WorkManager, Material 3 — standard stack.
• Google Play Billing, FCM, ML Kit — for monetisation, push, AI features.

Cross-platform development (React Native, Flutter)

• React Native — JavaScript/TypeScript, shared logic for iOS and Android, access to native modules via bridge. Suitable for teams with a web stack.
• Flutter — Dart, custom renderer (Skia/Impeller), high-performance graphics, single codebase. Often the better choice for apps with complex UI.
• Expo — for fast MVPs on React Native with OTA updates.

Backend for mobile apps

• Node.js + TypeScript (Express, NestJS, Fastify) — for most business cases.
• Python (FastAPI, Django) — when ML/AI processing or complex analytics is needed.
• PHP (Laravel) — when integration with existing infrastructure is required.
• PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis — databases and caching.
• REST, GraphQL, WebSocket — API protocols.
• AWS, DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Cityhost — infrastructure with the option of storing data in Ukraine.

If your project includes not only an app but also web — we design the website and the app on a shared backend, saving 30–40% of the budget. If you need a full CRM/ERP system — the app becomes a mobile interface to it.

What the development process looks like — from idea to release

I work via a transparent process that all my clients have gone through — from those in Kharkiv to those in Kyiv, Los Angeles or Berlin. Each stage has a fixed deliverable that you see and approve.

1. Discovery (1–2 weeks). 2–3-hour meeting (in person in Kharkiv or via Zoom) + structured questionnaire with 40+ questions. Final deliverable: a Discovery Document — business goals, target audience, key use cases, technical requirements, monetisation, MVP scope, preliminary budget and timeline.
2. UX design and prototype (2–3 weeks). Information architecture, user flows, wireframes, interactive prototype in Figma. We do UX validation on 5–7 potential users.
3. UI design (2–3 weeks). Full mobile UI: all screens, states, animations, dark theme, design system in Figma with components ready for development.
4. Backend and integrations (in parallel with frontend, 4–8 weeks). API, database, third-party integrations (payment systems, SMS providers, analytics, CRM).
5. Frontend (mobile client, 6–12 weeks). App development in 2-week sprints, with regular builds for testing through TestFlight (iOS) and Internal Testing (Android). You see progress every 2 weeks.
6. QA (in parallel and final cycle, 2–3 weeks). Testing on real devices (iPhone, Samsung, Xiaomi, Pixel — most popular models in Kharkiv), automated tests (XCTest, Espresso, Detox), backend load testing.
7. Pre-publishing (1–2 weeks). ASO (App Store Optimization), screenshots, video preview, copy, Privacy Policy, Terms, App Privacy Details, App Store Connect and Google Play Console account setup.
8. Apple and Google review (1–7 days). Submission, response to reviewer comments, fixes.
9. Release and post-release (60 days of free support). Crash-rate monitoring through Crashlytics, prompt fixes, response to store reviews.

The total cycle ranges from 8 weeks for an MVP to 6+ months for a complex product. If you have a tight deadline (e.g. release tied to a Kharkiv launch by a specific date) — at discovery we look at what can be parallelised and where scope can be cut without hurting quality.

Integrations a mobile app usually needs

A modern mobile app rarely lives in a vacuum — it’s usually integrated with 5–15 external systems. Here are the key categories I work with constantly for Kharkiv region businesses:

• Payments. LiqPay, Fondy, WayForPay, Portmone — for the Ukrainian market. Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay — for international. Instalments via Monobank/PrivatBank through banking SDKs.
• Authentication. Sign in with Apple (mandatory on iOS if other social logins are present), Google Sign-In, Facebook Login, Telegram Login, phone-number auth via SMS (TurboSMS, AlphaSMS).
• Maps and geo. Apple Maps, Google Maps, Mapbox, OpenStreetMap. Geofencing, routing, address search in Kharkiv and the region (Sumska street, Pushkinska, Myru avenue, etc.).
• CRM and ERP. KeyCRM, NetHunt, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Bitrix24, 1С, BAS — through REST/SOAP API. If you don’t have a CRM — I can build one from scratch.
• Analytics. Firebase Analytics, Amplitude, Mixpanel, Google Analytics 4, AppsFlyer, Adjust — for ad campaign attribution.
• Push. Firebase Cloud Messaging, OneSignal, Pushwoosh — with segmentation, A/B tests, deep links.
• Chat and support. Intercom, Zendesk Chat, Crisp, Telegram Bot as a support channel.
• Video and voice calls. Agora, Twilio, Daily.co — for telemedicine, education, services marketplaces.
• Email notifications. SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Brevo — for transactional and marketing emails.
• Social. Sharing to Instagram Stories, TikTok, Telegram, Viber, which are massively used in the Kharkiv region.

Common mistakes by mobile app clients — and how to avoid them

Over 15 years in product development I’ve seen dozens of cases where a business in Kharkiv or other Ukrainian cities invested in a mobile app and got a result that didn’t meet expectations. The most common reasons:

• “Make us a clone of …”. The client comes with a ready reference (“we want it like Glovo / Uklon / Rozetka”). The problem: you’re not Glovo. You have a different budget, audience, economics. Cloning top apps is a guaranteed failure. Better to build a small but high-quality product for your segment.
• Cutting corners on discovery. “We discussed everything in the meeting, let’s go straight to code.” Without discovery, the war of changes begins: “we forgot to mention”, “we need to add this”, “let’s redo it”. Discovery is 5–10% of the budget that saves 30–50% in rework.
• Ignoring ASO and publishing. The app is built, but the stores are empty: 1 screenshot, a 3-line description, no keywords. Result: 2 downloads a month. ASO is a separate discipline that has to be done as carefully as SEO for the website.
• No analytics from day one. “We’ll add analytics later, let’s launch first.” “Later” never comes — and you don’t understand what users do in the app, why they leave, what works.
• One project — two contractors. One does design, another development. At every joint there are conflicts, mismatches, 20–30% time loss. So I try to take the full cycle: design and development under one roof.
• Relaxing after release. “Well, the app is in the stores — done.” Actually, the most important work starts after release: conversion optimisation, response to crash-rate, regular updates, marketing. An app without support dies in 6 months.

Pricing and engagement models

Mobile app development is an investment that must pay back. Before naming numbers, I always ask the client to do the economics: if the app brings 50 new clients per month with an average ticket of 1,500 UAH, payback may come in 6–12 months. If those numbers don’t add up — maybe a mobile app is not the priority right now, and it’s worth investing in a website and Google Ads.

Approximate ranges (exact numbers are in the “Pricing” block):

• MVP package. One platform (iOS or Android), 6–10 screens, basic auth, simple backend, publishing in one store. Suitable for hypothesis testing before scaling.
• Standard package. iOS + Android, 15–25 screens, push, payments, integrations with 3–5 external services, full ASO, publishing in both stores. The most popular choice for Kharkiv businesses.
• Premium / complex product. Real-time features, video calls, geo logic, in-app purchases, multiple user roles, admin panel, complex analytics. For ambitious startups and mid-market businesses with national/international expansion plans.

Possible engagement models: Fixed Price (fixed cost after discovery), Time & Material (hourly billing for projects with variable scope), Retainer (monthly support after release).

What you receive after release

• A published app in the App Store and/or Google Play, with a ready listing (ASO, screenshots, copy).
• The full code in a Git repository (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket), under your credentials, with full ownership rights.
• Backend deployed on your hosting (AWS, DigitalOcean, or Ukrainian Cityhost — your choice).
• Admin panel for managing content, users, push campaigns.
• Technical documentation — API reference, architecture, deployment guide.
• Analytics set up from day one (Firebase + Amplitude or Mixpanel).
• 60 days of free support after release — critical bugs, minor fixes, monitoring.
• Optional retainer contract for ongoing support and growth (new features, updates, marketing campaigns).

My other services for businesses in Kharkiv

A mobile app is part of a product ecosystem. If you’re planning a serious launch, it’s worth looking holistically:

• Mobile app design — UI/UX separately, without development (if you already have a tech team).
• Web design — website in unified style with the app.
• Web development — landing pages, corporate websites, e-commerce.
• CRM/ERP/SaaS development — internal systems and SaaS products.
• E-commerce — online stores with the mobile app as a complement.
• Branding and logo design — for new products and rebranding.
• UX audit of an existing app, if you need fine-tuning rather than a full rebuild.
• Product strategy — before writing code, understand exactly what you’re building.
• Business consulting — positioning, unit economics, monetisation.

Mobile app development in other Ukrainian cities

I work not only with Kharkiv region businesses. If you have offices in several Ukrainian cities or plans for regional expansion — we build a product that scales. Among other locations:

• Kyiv — national brands, fintech, IT startups.
• Lviv — IT service companies, gastronomy and tourism brands.
• Odesa — retail, e-commerce, tourism apps.
• Dnipro — B2B, manufacturing, logistics.
• Kharkiv — IT, engineering, education platforms.

The full list is on the “Service Areas” page. Also see the project portfolio, where real mobile cases from various industries are presented.

Ready to discuss your mobile app?

If you have an idea or already have an MVP that needs improvement — fill in the contact form or write to email/Telegram. The first discovery consultation is free, up to 60 minutes. We’ll go through: what product you want to build, who needs it, what alternatives exist, how much it will roughly cost, and how soon it’s realistic to ship in App Store and Google Play.

I’m ready to build for your business in Kharkiv a mobile app that will live in the customer’s pocket — not among ghost icons. A product that works for your sales, retention and differentiation from competitors every single day.