Outcome: fewer "where is it?" questions
Real-time agenda edits reach every device in seconds, so a room change at 8am does not become fifty help-desk conversations.
Event Technology
Event apps attendees actually open
Native iOS and Android apps plus a web app, sharing one agenda, one attendee record and one admin console. Configured on Eventify in days, or built custom for your product.
- Swift and Kotlin, not wrappers
- Offline agenda and scanning
- Published under your brand
Who this is for
When a PDF agenda is no longer enough
An event app earns its place when attendees need to find people, change plans mid-day and ask questions in sessions. It also has to push a room change to everyone. If that describes your event, read on.
Outcome: measurable engagement
Every session favourite, poll answer, meeting request and booth visit is logged against the attendee record, so sponsors see numbers, not anecdotes.
Outcome: one brand, every touchpoint
Registration emails, badge, app and web agenda all carry your identity. Attendees never see ours unless you want them to.
What we deliver
Features that ship in the first release
Personalised agenda
Tracks, favourites, RSVP with capacity, reminders, calendar export and a "my day" view that updates live.
Networking and meetings
Attendee search, meeting requests, QR business-card exchange and AI matchmaking suggestions.
Live Q&A and polls
Moderated questions, up-votes, polls with on-screen results and session surveys. Benchmarked under load because lag here gets noticed first.
Exhibitors, sponsors and maps
Directories with tiers, booth deep links, interactive floor plans and sponsor placements the analytics can attribute.
Push and in-app messaging
Targeted by track, ticket type or group; scheduled or instant; scoped per tenant and event so nothing leaks between clients.
Offline mode
Agenda, attendee list and QR scanning keep working when hall Wi-Fi dies. Changes queue and reconcile on reconnect.
Architecture
Three clients, one API, no stale agendas
The admin console is where organisers configure everything: branding, agenda, speakers, exhibitors, push campaigns. It writes to a tenant-scoped API backed by PostgreSQL for records and Redis for the real-time layer.
Native apps and the web app read the same API. During an event window the API fans agenda changes out over WebSockets, so a moved session shows on every phone within seconds. Devices keep a local cache for the hall with no signal and replay queued actions when it returns.
Push goes out through the Apple and Google services, with device tokens scoped to tenant and event. A server-side guard rejects any send that is not scoped, which is how a white-label platform avoids embarrassing cross-client notifications.
Decide
Native, cross-platform or web?
The honest answer depends on what attendees do with the app. This is the table we use in scoping calls.
| Criteria | Native (Swift / Kotlin) | Cross-platform (React Native) | Web app / PWA |
|---|---|---|---|
| QR scanning speed and reliability | Best | Good | Browser-dependent |
| Push notifications | Full | Full | Limited on iOS |
| Offline mode | Full | Full | Partial |
| App store presence under your brand | Yes | Yes | No |
| Store review before launch | Days, planned in | Days, planned in | None |
| Relative build cost (custom) | Highest | Medium | Lowest |
| Best for | Flagship and recurring events, resold platforms | Mid-size products with one team | One-off events, agendas and maps only |
Eventify ships native apps and a web app together, so most organisers do not have to choose.
Process
From content model to store approval
Scope
Audiences, features, integrations and the content model: tracks, session types, attendee groups, sponsor tiers.
Design
Brand application, navigation and the three screens that matter most: my agenda, people and the session view.
Build
Configuration or custom development in sprints, with a test build on your phones from the second week.
Submit
Store listings under your accounts, review handling and a release at least two weeks before registration emails go out.
Run
Content loading support, push campaigns, on-call engineering during the event and a usage report afterwards.
What goes wrong when done badly
Store review rejected a week before the event. Agenda edits that need an app update. Push sent to the wrong audience. Scanners that confirm with the server before the UI responds, so queues stall when the network does. We have hit every one of these on Eventify and designed them out.
Related
Build the rest of the stack
Registration & ticketing
Where the attendee record the app depends on is created.
ExploreCheck-in & badges
The scanner inside the app and the printers it talks to.
ExploreAI for mobile apps
On-device and API-based AI features for native apps.
ExploreEventify case study
Check-in under load, multi-tenant push and real-time agendas.
ReadNeed something beyond events? See custom software development and the events & exhibitions industry page.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to launch an event app?
A branded Eventify app can be configured in one to two weeks, plus app store review. Custom modules on top take four to ten weeks. A ground-up native app with its own backend is a three to six month project.
Native, cross-platform or web: which should we choose?
If attendees scan QR codes, need push notifications and will use the app in halls with poor Wi-Fi, go native. If the app is mostly an agenda and a map for a one-off event, a web app is cheaper. It also needs no store review. The comparison table on this page lists the trade-offs.
Does the app work without internet?
Yes. The agenda, attendee list, maps and your personal schedule are cached on the device. Check-ins, notes and messages queue locally and sync when the connection returns, with idempotency keys so nothing is counted twice.
Can we publish under our own app store accounts?
Yes, and we recommend it. The app appears under your developer name on the App Store and Google Play, with your icon, screenshots and listing. We handle the submission and the review back-and-forth. See the white-label platform page.
One app per event or one app for all our events?
Both are supported. A container app lists all your events and lets attendees switch; a dedicated app is better for a flagship event with its own brand. Many organisers run a container app and publish a dedicated one for the flagship.