Mobile Development Tech Stack Selection Consulting
Stack selection is not "what's popular now"—but specific tradeoffs between development speed, performance, developer availability, and support costs three years later. Wrong choice now means rewriting in a year.
What Real Stack Selection Looks Like
Client comes with: "we need a mobile app." Behind that could be:
- iOS-only app (audience: affluent Apple users)
- Android-only app (entering markets where Android dominates)
- Both platforms with equal functionality
- App with critical native features (AR, Bluetooth LE, CarPlay/Android Auto, HealthKit)
- MVP in 2 months on minimal budget
Each scenario needs different answers.
Approach Comparison
| Approach | Dev Speed | Performance | Native UX | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swift (iOS native) | Medium | Maximum | Yes | iOS developers |
| Kotlin (Android native) | Medium | Maximum | Yes | Android developers |
| React Native | High | Good | Partial | JS/TS developers |
| Flutter | High | Very good | Custom Dart renderer | Flutter developers |
| Kotlin Multiplatform | Medium | High | Yes (native UI) | Kotlin developers |
React Native—good choice when: team has React/TypeScript experience, app is mostly informational screens and forms, MVP speed matters. Poor choice when: complex 60fps animations needed, heavy camera/Bluetooth work, or app is a game.
Flutter—good choice when: both platforms with identical design needed, custom UI doesn't match platform conventions (pointless fighting for native feel), team ready for Dart. Dart renderer on Skia/Impeller gives steady 60fps without React Native bridge overhead.
Kotlin Multiplatform—for teams with strong Android/Kotlin expertise wanting to share business logic across iOS and Android while keeping native UI on each platform. SwiftUI + KMP shared logic is a working combination in 2024–2025.
Native development—when performance is critical (games, AR, real-time video processing), or app deeply uses platform APIs: HealthKit, ARKit, CoreNFC, CarPlay on iOS; CameraX with ML Kit, Android Auto, WearOS on Android.
What We Ask Before Recommending
- What's your current team composition? Retraining a Swift developer to Flutter takes 3–6 months of velocity loss
- What's first-year functionality? If roadmap includes "AR try-on," native Swift is inevitable
- Need offline work? Room (Android) and Core Data / SwiftData (iOS) are mature; offline in React Native/Flutter adds complexity
- Target market? iOS-only means no value in cross-platform
- Support budget? Two separate native apps = two teams; Flutter/RN = one
Consulting includes: requirements analysis → tradeoff matrix → recommendation with rationale → cost and timeline estimates for each option. We don't sell "Flutter everywhere"—we choose what solves your problem.
Format: 2–4 hours interviews + 3–5 working days preparing detailed document with stack justification, approximate roadmap, team assessment, and risk analysis.