An iPhone app for your SaaS product, on the backend you already run
Your product runs on the web and your customers want it on iPhone. We build a native iOS app against the API you already have, so your team keeps one backend and your customers get an app that feels like an iPhone app.
- Built against
- Your existing API
- Typical build
- 8–16 weeks
Why SaaS teams use us
01
Your product, made for the phone in people’s pockets
Your web team knows the product. An iPhone app needs people who know iOS. We build the app natively in Swift against the backend you already run, so your team keeps one source of truth and your customers get an app that behaves like the rest of their phone.
- 01
Built against your API, not a second backend
- 02
A native app, not your website in a wrapper
- 03
Sign-in that matches your web product
- 04
Delivered into your repo and your Apple account
A wrapped website tends to fail App Review under guideline 4.2, which asks apps to offer more than a repackaged website. More on that in why apps get rejected.
What goes on the phone
02
What belongs on iPhone, and what stays on the web
Usually in the iPhone app
- 01Notifications for the things that need attention now
- 02The two or three tasks people do away from a desk
- 03Recent data, readable even with a weak connection
- 04Widgets or Live Activities for status at a glance
- 05Sharing into your product from other apps
Usually stays on the web
- 01Admin settings and permissions
- 02Billing and plan management
- 03Bulk editing and large tables
- 04Reporting that needs a big screen
- 05Anything people do once a quarter
Payments
03
The question every SaaS team asks: billing
Apple’s rules depend on what you sell and to whom. Digital features unlocked inside the app need in-app purchase (guideline 3.1.1). People can use a subscription bought on your website, provided it is also offered as an in-app purchase (3.1.3(b)). Apps sold only to organisations for their staff or students can let those users in without in-app purchase (3.1.3(c)).
Rules on linking to your website for payment also differ by storefront. We go through your case in discovery, before anything is designed, and the subscription work follows from it.
How it runs
04
From your API to the App Store
- 011–2 weeks
Discovery
Which jobs belong on the phone, what the API already supports, and a written scope with a fixed quote.
- 022–4 weeks
Design
iPhone flows on Apple’s guidelines, consistent with your brand but not a copy of your web layout.
- 03Sprints
Build
Swift and SwiftUI in two-week sprints against your API, with a TestFlight build every week.
- 04Release
Launch
Submitted under your company’s Apple account, with review support and 30 days of support after.
Questions
05
What SaaS teams ask first
Not covered here? Write to hello@pull.house.
It depends on what the app does. Digital features unlocked inside the app need in-app purchase. Under guideline 3.1.3(b), people can use subscriptions bought on your website in the app, provided the same subscription is also offered as an in-app purchase. Apps sold only to organisations for their staff can follow 3.1.3(c) instead.
Contact
06
Have an iOS app to build?
Tell us what you are making. If we are not the right team for it, we will say so.