One of the first questions every client asks us is: "Should we build native or cross-platform?" It is a reasonable question with an unreasonable number of variables. After 15 years of iOS development and hundreds of shipped projects across our team, we have developed a framework that cuts through the noise.
The short answer: it depends. The longer answer is a decision tree we walk through with every new client.
The Decision Framework
We evaluate five factors before recommending a technology approach. No single factor determines the outcome. It is the combination that matters.
1. Hardware integration depth. If the app relies heavily on Bluetooth Low Energy, camera processing, ARKit/ARCore, or device sensors, native is almost always the right call. Cross-platform frameworks have improved significantly, but they still introduce a translation layer between your code and the hardware. For a biosignal monitoring app that reads data from a BLE wearable at 250Hz, that translation layer is a liability.
2. Performance requirements. For apps with complex animations, real-time data visualization, or heavy computation, native Swift and Kotlin give you direct access to platform-optimized APIs. A fintech app displaying real-time market data with smooth 60fps scrolling benefits from native UIKit or Jetpack Compose. A content-based app with standard list views and forms does not need that level of optimization.
3. Time to market. If the client needs to ship on both iOS and Android within a tight timeline and budget, React Native lets us share 70-85% of the codebase across platforms. For an MVP that needs to validate a market hypothesis quickly, this is a significant advantage. We can always rebuild native later once the product-market fit is confirmed.
4. Team composition and long-term maintenance. Who will maintain this app after we hand it off? If the client has an in-house iOS team but no Android expertise, it may make sense to build iOS native and use React Native for Android, or vice versa. The maintenance cost of a technology stack the internal team cannot support is often underestimated.
5. Platform-specific features. Some features are only available through native APIs. Widgets, App Clips (iOS), Instant Apps (Android), Siri Shortcuts, and deep OS integrations require native code. If these are central to the product experience, native is the path.
When We Recommend Native
- BLE or hardware-intensive apps (medical devices, IoT sensors)
- Apps requiring maximum performance (video processing, real-time data)
- Products where platform-specific UX patterns matter (financial apps, enterprise tools)
- Long-term products with dedicated platform teams
- Apps that rely on cutting-edge OS features at launch
When We Recommend React Native
- MVPs and early-stage products validating market fit
- Content-driven apps (news, e-commerce, social)
- Apps with standard UI patterns and moderate complexity
- Projects with tight budgets that need both platforms
- Teams with strong JavaScript/TypeScript talent
The Hybrid Approach
Increasingly, we build hybrid architectures. The core business logic and UI lives in React Native, while performance-critical modules are written in native Swift or Kotlin and exposed through native bridges.
The best technology choice is the one that solves today's problem without creating tomorrow's bottleneck.
For example, a workforce management app we built uses React Native for the main interface (forms, lists, navigation) but drops into native code for the offline sync engine and BLE checkpoint scanning. This gave the client the speed-to-market of cross-platform with the reliability of native where it counted.
What About Flutter?
We get asked about Flutter frequently. It is a capable framework with excellent UI performance thanks to its custom rendering engine. However, our team's deep expertise is in Swift, Kotlin, and React Native. We recommend the tools we know intimately and can support long-term. If a client comes to us with an existing Flutter codebase, we are transparent about that boundary.
The Honest Recommendation
We do not have a default technology. Every project gets an honest assessment based on its specific requirements, timeline, and budget. Sometimes that means recommending React Native when the client expected native. Sometimes it means recommending native when the client assumed cross-platform would be cheaper.
The goal is always the same: ship a reliable app that serves the business, on time and on budget, with a technology stack that the team can maintain and evolve.
If you are weighing this decision for your next project, reach out. We will walk through the framework with you and give you an honest recommendation.
Jean-François Duval
Lead iOS Developer at DEVSFLOW Technologies