Mobile app development for UAE businesses

Do you need an app at all

UAE users are heavy phone users, and app stores are full. An app is worth building when customers come back often, when you need the phone's features such as notifications, camera or location, or when a logged-in experience is the product. For a one-off booking or a catalogue, a fast mobile website often does the job at a fraction of the cost. We tell you which side you are on before quoting.

Good fits in the UAE include loyalty and ordering apps for restaurants and retail groups, patient and client portals for clinics and service firms, property apps for tenants and owners, delivery and field-service tools, and internal apps for staff.

Choices that shape the build

See our mobile app cost guide for how scope changes price, and our UAE web app page if a browser-based tool fits better.

Arabic and right-to-left, done properly

Supporting Arabic is more than translating text. Layouts mirror: back arrows point the other way, progress bars fill from the right, and swipe gestures reverse. Mixed text such as an English brand name in an Arabic sentence, or a phone number inside a paragraph, needs care. Fonts must carry proper Arabic shapes, and text length changes buttons and labels. We build the layout to switch direction from the start, and we test on both operating systems.

We also store text in a way that lets your team edit Arabic and English without a new release.

Store rules and privacy

We handle account setup, screenshots, descriptions and review submission on both stores. Apple and Google each require a privacy declaration of what your app collects, and a link to a privacy policy. Apple's App Store Review Guidelines and Google Play policies change, so we check them against your features before submitting. Your developer accounts stay in your company's name.

• Personal data: Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 applies to personal data in the UAE, and DIFC or ADGM firms follow their own laws. Check with your lawyer what your policy and consent screens must say.
• Location and notifications: ask for permission at the moment of use, with a clear reason.
• Regulated sectors: health, finance and insurance apps may need regulator approval before launch, which we cannot arrange for you.
• Payments: card data goes straight to the gateway, not through your servers.

Release plan, price and ownership

1. Scope the first releaseThe five or six screens that prove the idea.
2. Design and prototypeA tappable prototype in both languages for your team to test.
3. Build and betaWeekly builds through TestFlight and Google Play testing.
4. Submit and launchStore listings, privacy forms and review follow-up.
5. ImproveCrash reports and usage data guide the next release.

Projects start at $1,500, and our rate is $30 an hour. A simple app is above the start price: price depends on screens, integrations, backend work, languages and design depth. We are in Pune, 1.5 hours ahead of the UAE, and share a build every week. Code and store accounts are yours. See the mobile app development page for the full method, and the UAE hub for related services.

After launch

Operating systems update every year, and a release that works today can break after an iOS or Android update. We offer a monthly care plan for updates, crash fixes and store compliance, and we give you the documentation to move it elsewhere if you prefer. Peak periods, such as Ramadan ordering or the year-end shopping festival, call for a load test and a release freeze a week before.