The first question on any mobile app project in Moldova is not technical: do you need an app, or a website that works well on a phone?
Most of the time the answer is the second, and an honest supplier says so before writing a quote.
When an app genuinely justifies itself
Internal use. Couriers confirming deliveries, reps taking orders at the client, a warehouse scanning codes, technicians filling in job sheets in the field. Here the app pays for itself in time saved, not in user numbers.
Functions a browser does badly. Continuous barcode scanning, working offline with later synchronisation, notifications that reliably arrive, constant access to the camera or GPS.
A service that already exists and has returning users. An app adds value to an existing relationship; it does not create one.
When it does not
As a shop window. A product catalogue inside an app someone has to download is worse than the same catalogue on the web. The install barrier is enormous for a market this size.
To "be on phones too". The real cost of an app is not development, it is upkeep: two stores, two sets of rules that change annually, mandatory SDK updates.
For an audience you do not have yet. An app does not bring users. It keeps the ones you already have.
What is specific here
Internal distribution, without the stores. For internal apps, App Store and Google Play publication can be avoided, which removes their approval process and their rules.
In-app payments. If you sell digital content, the stores take a commission. If you sell physical goods or services, payment can go through your usual processor.
Two languages. Romanian and Russian, as on the web.
Working without signal. Outside the cities, connectivity is not guaranteed. A field app has to work offline and synchronise afterwards.
What we build
A native or cross-platform app, depending on what it has to do. Offline working with synchronisation, if it is a field app. Notifications. A link to the systems you already have — stock, orders, invoicing. Store publication or internal distribution, as appropriate. The developer accounts stay in your company's name.
What that means at handover is written out point by point.
Questions
What does a mobile app cost?
More than a website with the same functions, because there are two platforms and a publication process. That is why the first question is whether you need one.
iOS and Android, or just one?
It depends who uses it. For internal use, the platform your staff already carry is often enough. For the public, both.
How long does store publication take?
Days for Google Play, less predictable for the App Store. A first publication also requires developer accounts in your company's name, with its documents.
Can we start with a website and add the app later?
That is usually the right order. The website proves whether people come back; the app only makes sense once you know they do.