A custom press app for your newspaper, magazine or press office. From paywall flow and offline reading mode to AI transcription, journalist tooling and branded press release distribution, built on your own stack rather than a shared platform.
The major publishers, such as DPG Media and Mediahuis, run in-house app platforms that cost tens of millions of euros a year to maintain. For smaller publishers, trade magazines, regional newspapers and corporate press offices, that is simply not a realistic route. A shared Tinypass or Piano stack is cheaper, but leaves little room for your own UX, brand or workflow. Apple News+ and similar aggregators do scale, but they take a considerable share of subscription revenue, and you lose the direct relationship with your reader.
We build custom press apps that sit somewhere in between: less expensive than an in-house platform team, more flexible than a SaaS template. Whether it is a consumer reading app, an internal journalist tool, or a press release distribution app for your corporate communications, we work from your editorial reality, not from a feature list. The difference rarely lies in the technology and almost always in the workflow: how copy travels from the field to publication, how a breaking news push is sent without waking the entire newsroom, and what the paywall flow looks like for readers who just want one free article a month.
Press apps also differ fundamentally from other media apps. The requirements around source protection are stricter than for commercial apps. Expected uptime is higher, because if a breaking news push fails, you miss the moment. And the tension between editorial independence and commercial revenue (advertising, subscriptions, sponsored content) needs to be visible in both the UX and the data architecture. These are choices you do not leave to a generic template.
Which direction fits depends on who the end user is: the reader at home, the journalist on the move, or the PR colleague distributing press releases. In the first conversation we advise which option will deliver the most value for your situation.
The classic press app: articles, a paywall, an offline reading mode for the train, push notifications for breaking news, and an audio version of longer articles via text-to-speech. Personalisation based on reading behaviour, shareable links per article, and sync between web and app so your readers switch seamlessly between channels. For magazines we often build a variant with richer media layouts, such as embedded video, interactive graphics and full-screen photography, whereas for newspapers the focus lies on reading speed, low data consumption and a minimal UI while reading. A community layer (comments, reader responses, reader suggestions) is optional and depends on your editorial moderation capacity.
A mobile working environment for your editorial team: writing and submitting copy on location, photo and video upload with basic editing, a protected source archive, and AI transcription of interviews via Whisper or similar models. Includes encrypted communication with sources and location tagging for reportage, so the chain of custody of your material remains demonstrable. For investigative journalism we build a FOI request tracker (Wob/Woo) as standard, in which requests are followed up in a structured way, plus a minutes function that converts speech into structured text and automatically links it to the right file. The editor workflow from the app to the newsroom supports version history and review comments, so copy can move from source to publication in two steps without any manual work on desktop.
For communications departments, spokespeople and PR agencies: a platform through which press releases, press kits and quotes are distributed in a structured way to your own journalist database. Includes embargo management, multi-channel distribution and media monitoring, so you can see which outlets pick up your news. For larger organisations, we build a quote management layer: which spokesperson is authorised for which topic, which quote has already been used by which journalist, and which embargo deadline applies to which channel. This saves the communications team a great deal of manual work and prevents incidents involving news items published too early. Trade associations and press freedom organisations often use the same stack to coordinate joint statements and international press moments.
A working, production-ready press app, including everything your editorial and IT teams need to carry on with it themselves.
We work in sprints, deliver a test build every two weeks, and agree from the first conversation which components you want to manage yourselves and which you would prefer to entrust to us.
Not every publisher needs its own app, and not every app needs to be custom. Four patterns where we see custom development genuinely adds value.
You are a trade magazine, regional daily or niche publisher. A Tinypass or Piano template is too limited for your editorial workflow, while an in-house platform team would be too heavy a commitment. Custom development scales with what you actually need.
You can relieve journalists with AI transcription of interviews, automatic summaries for readers, or translation of international wire copy. Generic press platforms don't offer this, or offer it only in a very limited form. We build this on your own LLM stack.
You are a holding company with several newspapers or magazines under different brands. One codebase, multiple apps, a shared backend and subscription layer: that is exactly where custom development pays off compared with a per-title SaaS licence.
You are not a publisher but an organisation with an active press office: a company, an industry body, a press freedom organisation. Generic PR tools lack embargo workflows and your own brand identity. A dedicated distribution app makes a difference with journalists.
No pre-packaged choice, no vendor lock-in. We work with the stack that fits your existing infrastructure and editorial rhythm.
For most press apps we recommend React Native, given the large pool of front-end talent and its smooth integration with existing web codebases. Flutter is a serious alternative if you want highly graphical UX or a high density of animation. We only build native iOS and Android separately where there is a specific reason to do so, as duplicate maintenance is rarely worth it.
Strapi, Directus, Sanity or Contentful for those starting from scratch. For publishers with existing editorial systems, such as Naviga, Atex, WordPress with the WP REST API or Drupal, we build an API layer that keeps your current CMS in charge. We don't force a migration if your editors are happy with the tools they already use.
Firebase Cloud Messaging is the most common choice, while OneSignal is an alternative with better segmentation tools out of the box. For breaking news pushes, we build an editorial approval workflow so that only authorised editors can send a push, ensuring no junior accidentally wakes three million devices.
For in-app search we work with Algolia, Typesense or Meilisearch, depending on budget and privacy requirements. For audio versions of articles we integrate ElevenLabs or Anthropic-based TTS. For journalist transcription, Whisper is the standard, optionally in an on-device variant so that audio never leaves the device.
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Reader data (reading behaviour, subscription status, payment history) falls under the GDPR. We minimise what is collected, arrange explicit consent for analytics and advertising, and sign data processing agreements with every party that sees data. Cookie and consent flows follow the TTDSG and the Dutch Cookie Act. By default we use privacy-friendly analytics rather than Google Analytics, so that a refusal of tracking consent doesn't mean you are flying blind on your own app statistics.
The EMFA, adopted in 2024, sets requirements for transparency of ownership structures, editorial independence and the protection of journalistic sources. For the press app this means, among other things: ownership information visible in the app, a clear separation between editorial and commercial content, and demonstrable procedures for source protection. We advise where EMFA requirements affect product decisions.
For journalist apps we build end-to-end encrypted communication with sources (Signal protocol or equivalent), so that even Appfront as the builder has no access to the content. Source databases are set up zero-knowledge where possible, and metadata minimisation is the default: no IP logs, and no retention of connection metadata for longer than operationally necessary.
The Digital Services Act applies to the large publishing platforms and carries separate reporting requirements around content moderation and advertising transparency. The AI Act requires transparent labelling of AI-generated or AI-edited content, and we build those labels in so that editorial teams don't have to check them by hand. For user-generated content (comments, reader photos), we handle Creative Commons licences or explicit rights agreements through the submission flow.
The European Accessibility Act has applied since June 2025 to commercial services aimed at consumers, and press apps fall under it. We build in WCAG 2.2 AA from the very first sprint, not as a final patch. That means readable text sizes, sufficient contrast, screen-reader-compatible navigation, and an audio version of articles that works without an external TTS service. Public broadcasters (broadcasting corporations, government frameworks) often have stricter requirements, which we include in the scope separately.
We map out who the end user is: reader, journalist, or spokesperson. Which flows the app needs to support, which existing systems are already running (CMS, subscription platform, ad server), and which compliance areas apply: GDPR, EMFA, source protection, DSA, EAA. See also our page on app development for our broader approach.
Interviews with 3 to 5 end users (subscribers, journalists, or spokespeople, depending on the type of app). After that, decisions on content architecture: does your existing editorial CMS remain the lead system, or do you integrate a new headless CMS at the same time? The outcome is a workable scope plus the first screen flow.
A working build every two weeks on TestFlight and in internal Android tracks. We start with the riskiest parts: the paywall flow with Apple and Google review, offline sync, and the first integration with your CMS. Secondary features such as comments, personalisation and TTS audio come after that.
Apple and Google have strict rules on paywalled content, child protection and in-app purchases. We handle the store submission ourselves, deal with review questions, and test with a limited group of subscribers via TestFlight and Play Closed Testing before going public.
A phased release to your subscriber base, monitoring of crash-free sessions and the subscription funnel, and ongoing management for OS updates, security patches and new features. An app is not a project that ends; it is a product that keeps running. From the start we agree how new features are prioritised: a fixed sprint capacity per quarter, or pay-as-you-go on request. For larger further developments, such as a second title, a new subscription model or an ad server integration, we handle them as a defined mini-project with its own scope and planning, so the live app stays stable while the new work is developed in a feature branch.
What editors-in-chief, publishers and communications heads usually want to know before we start.
A free, no-obligation half-hour introductory call. We listen to your editorial reality, think along on paywall strategy, AI tooling or distribution flow, and give direction that's genuinely useful. No sales pitch. For related apps, we've also described engagement options under building a B2C app.
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