Most bad app hires are the result of a good hire against the wrong specification. Before you talk to anyone, four decisions determine who you should be looking for, and making them afterwards means recruiting for a role you then discover you did not need.
One platform or two, native or cross platform, and when a Flutter developer hire answers both
These two questions decide the talent market you are hiring from and the rates in it. One platform first is almost always right for a new product, because you learn what people actually use before paying twice to build it. Cross platform is a sound default when you genuinely need both and the interface is mostly standard, and the wrong default when heavy platform integration or demanding graphics are central. Decide deliberately rather than letting the first candidate decide for you.
Who owns the backend, and who owns release
An app is the visible part of a system that usually includes an API, authentication, push infrastructure and analytics. If you are hiring one person, be explicit about whether they own the backend too, because app specialists and backend engineers are different hires and assuming one covers both is a common and expensive scoping error. Separately, name who owns store submission and responds to review feedback, since a rejection answered late costs days.
What to test once the scope is settled
Ask for an app they shipped and maintained, not just launched, and ask what broke after release and how they found out. Ask how they stage a rollout and what makes them halt one. Ask what they profile first when an app feels slow. Apple's App Store Review Guidelines are worth asking about directly, since account deletion, permission justification and subscription disclosure are the recurring rejection causes and familiarity with them is worth real money.
Accounts and ownership, set up on day one
The store developer accounts and signing material belong in your name with the developer granted access. This takes minutes at the start and is close to unrecoverable later. Require an express written assignment of copyright as well, because under 17 USC 101 only employee work within the scope of employment is automatically a work made for hire and commissioned software is not among the categories that can qualify by agreement.
Questions people ask about hire app developer
What should we decide before hiring an app developer?
One platform or two, native or cross platform, who owns the backend, and who owns store submission and review response. Making these afterwards means recruiting for a role you then discover you did not need.
Can one app developer do the backend too?
Sometimes, for a simple product, but app specialists and backend engineers are genuinely different hires. Assuming one covers both is among the most common scoping errors, and it surfaces halfway through when the API turns out to be the hard part.
What is the best interview question for an app developer?
Ask about an app they maintained rather than launched: what broke after release, how they found out, and what they changed. Shipping once is common; operating an app over time is the skill that protects you.