What is a native mobile app?

A native mobile app is downloaded from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, and runs directly on the user’s device – without the need to open it in a web browser or rely on a “wrapper.” It is usually more performant, has native mobile interactions and accesses device hardware/software. Learn more in the next section.

How is the process different from building web apps?

In essence – it isn't. You can use the same Bubble editor to build for web and mobile.

The tools for building the native mobile version of your app are built to work seamlessly with your existing Bubble projects. This means you don’t have to choose between building a web app or a native mobile app—you can add a mobile app to an existing web project and share the same database and backend workflows. Any changes made to the database by the web or mobile app will be instantly reflected across both platforms.

Since both apps exist within the same project, you manage them through the same Bubble Editor. The mobile app has its own views and workflows, similar to how web apps are managed today. While backend workflows can be shared between the web and mobile apps, you also have the flexibility to create workflows specific to one app without impacting the other.

How can I adapt my web app to mobile app?

Before you start building your mobile app, it’s important to understand the differences in the design process. Historically, Bubble apps are built for web browsers and follow design principles suited for browser-based environments. Native mobile apps, however, are built using the design principles and components native to Android and iOS operating systems.

Because of these differences, you'll want to redesign your mobile interface to take advantage of all the native mobile elements, components, gestures, interactions and more. This means that any existing pages in your web app will need to be rebuilt specifically for the mobile app. While you can copy and paste certain elements and workflows from a web page to a mobile view, we recommend taking the time to rebuild these pages. Doing so allows you to fully leverage the native performance, snappiness, and platform-specific look and feel offered by the Native Mobile App Editor. Learn more in the Building section.

How much does it cost?

Current (Private Beta) Pricing: Bubble's native mobile app builder is currently in private beta. During this phase, building, hosting, and deploying native mobile apps is free if you have a paid web app (deploying mobile apps to the app stores will require a paid web plan since mobile apps require a live backend).

Future Pricing: In the future, there will be an additional cost if you want to build a web app and mobile app in the same project. We will share more details about the different plans, and you will receive ample notice before any pricing changes take effect.

Workload Usage: Since mobile and web apps share the same backend and database, workload usage for your project will be cumulative across both platforms. This means the workload generated by your web and mobile applications is combined. In the future, additional filters in the Logs tab will be introduced to help you differentiate and track the relative workload usage and traffic from your web and mobile apps separately.