Latvia · Agentic mobile development

Mobile App Development for Latvia's Android-Heavy Market

StatCounter puts Android at 70.16% of mobile operating system usage in Latvia in September 2026, with iOS at 29.84%. A team that designs and tests on iPhones first is checking its app against less than a third of that usage. The harder work sits below the screens: consent rules the Data State Inspectorate applies to apps as well as websites, users under 13, and accessibility law.

Curiosive works from Ankara, Türkiye, as a studio that builds with AI coding agents under senior engineer review. React Native gives one TypeScript codebase for Google Play and the App Store. Agents produce the volume: screens, navigation, validation and tests. Engineers own the parts that can hurt users, from token storage and login to the privacy declarations each store requires.

Start a partnership From $2,000 per month

24: published portfolio projects
5+: years building for production
12: countries the work runs in
100%: of code read by a senior engineer
1 day: to hear back, from the engineer

One React Native codebase for Latvia's Android and iOS users

With Android at about seven in ten of mobile usage and iOS at about three in ten, neither store build can be an afterthought, and React Native keeps both in step from one codebase. Google Play sets its own floor: since 31 August 2026, new apps and updates must target Android 16 (API level 36), and existing apps must target API level 35 to stay available to new users, with an extension to 1 November 2026 available on request. Latvian is the official EU language, so every user-facing string sits in translation files from the first screen. Our React Native work includes TrendinChat (trendin.chat), real-time trending-topic chat rooms built in two weeks, and Coffict (coffict.com), a coffee ordering and loyalty app, both for clients in Türkiye.

Section 7.1 of the Law on Information Society Services allows an app to store information on a user's device, or read it from there, only after the user consents, having first received clear and comprehensive information on the purpose. The exceptions are narrow: storage or access needed to transmit information over an electronic communications network, or needed to provide a service the user asked for. The Data State Inspectorate's 2022 cookie guidelines state that the term website also covers smartphone and tablet apps. Where a consent screen offers 'Accept', the 'Reject' option must be equally prominent: same colour, same font, same fill, no highlighting. The guidelines also say browser settings are not a valid way to obtain consent. Under Section 12 of the same law, the Consumer Rights Protection Centre and the Data State Inspectorate oversee these services within their competence.

Children, age ratings and account deletion for apps in Latvia

The GDPR sets 16 as the age from which a child's own consent makes processing lawful for online services offered directly to children, and lets Member States go lower, but not below 13. Latvia uses that floor: under Section 33 of its Personal Data Processing Law, a child's own consent is valid from 13, and for a younger child a parent or legal guardian must give it. An app that relies on consent and can be reached by younger users needs an age step and a guardian path designed before launch. The stores add their own rules. Apple's age ratings now include 13+, 16+ and 18+, with new questions developers had to answer for each app by 31 January 2026. Where an app lets users create an account, Apple requires that deletion can be started inside the app, and Google Play requires an in-app path plus a web link for requesting deletion of the account and its data.

Accessibility obligations for consumer apps in Latvia

Latvia transposed the European Accessibility Act through the Goods and Services Accessibility Law, adopted on 16 March 2023 and in force since 28 June 2025, with detailed requirements in Cabinet Regulation No. 128 of 27 February 2024. The Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC) is the competent authority for e-commerce, e-books and consumer financial services, which covers a shopping or consumer banking app. According to PTAC, microenterprises (fewer than 10 staff and turnover or balance sheet total of at most EUR 2,000,000) are exempt from the service requirements. Service contracts concluded by 27 June 2025 must be brought into compliance if they continue after 27 June 2030. The law was amended from 5 June 2026 and likumi.lv lists a further version from 1 January 2027, so we read the current text at scoping. In React Native the work is concrete: labels on every control, focus order, text scaling and contrast.

What coding agents build in a Latvian app and what engineers own

Coding agents take the repetitive work: screens, navigation, list rendering, form validation, translation files, tests and first drafts of store metadata, each from a task an engineer has scoped. Nothing merges until a senior engineer has read the diff. Engineers own the parts with consequences: token storage in the iOS Keychain and Android Keystore, auth refresh, server-side entitlement checks, offline and reconnection behaviour, and permission prompts. They also wire consent, so analytics and advertising SDKs stay uninitialised until the user has chosen on a screen where 'Reject' looks like 'Accept'. They write Apple's privacy manifest, with an approved reason for each required-reason API the code uses, and keep Google Play's Data safety form accurate and complete, including data collected or shared through third-party SDKs.

Proof

Published project examples

TrendinChat

Coffict

This is HCD

MoneyCare

Appster

Release Coach AI

AI-accelerated development

from$2,000

per month

Senior engineers building your product with AI coding agents: web, mobile, SaaS or browser extension, reviewed before anything ships.

Web, mobile, SaaS and browser extensions
AI-assisted delivery under senior engineer review
Scope and capacity agreed in writing, renews monthly

AI-accelerated development, billed monthly. We confirm scope, capacity and start date in writing before checkout.

Questions

The things people ask before starting.

Does cookie consent apply to mobile apps in Latvia?

Yes. The Data State Inspectorate's cookie guidelines state that the term website also covers smartphone and tablet apps, and Section 7.1 of the Law on Information Society Services requires consent before an app stores or reads information on the device, unless that is needed to transmit information or to provide a service the user requested. 'Reject' must be as prominent as 'Accept'.

What is the age of digital consent for apps in Latvia?

It is 13. Under Section 33 of the Personal Data Processing Law, a child's own consent to an information society service is valid from 13, and a parent or legal guardian must consent for younger children. That is lower than the GDPR default of 16, which matters when designing the sign-up flow.

Can iPhone apps in Latvia offer payment options other than Apple In-App Purchase?

Yes, under Apple's EU terms, since the country is an EU Member State. Apple says its terms effective 1 October 2026 let EU iOS apps offer alternative payment processing alongside In-App Purchase, with a 20% commission, or 10% for program participants and for subscriptions after their first year. Latvijas Banka found that 34% of the population pay by smartphone.

What does it cost to build a mobile app for users in Latvia?

Work runs as AI-accelerated development, starting from $2,000 per month, with scope agreed in writing. The written scope after a discovery call should cover accessibility work unless the microenterprise exemption applies, the guardian consent path and the store privacy declarations.

Solutions

Locations

What happens after you write to us.

01
You describe the product
One paragraph on what you are building, roughly when you need it, and who it is for. No brief, no form with fifteen fields.
02
You get a reply within a day
From the engineer who would do the work, not a sales team. If we are not the right fit we say so, and where possible we point you somewhere better.
03
You get a scoped plan
Scope, price and timeline in writing before anything is committed. You decide with the numbers in front of you.

No long contract to begin, no lock-in to our tooling, and the code is yours from the first commit.

Start a conversation

Contact

Looking for an engineering partner for the long haul?

A short note about the product, the timeline and who it is for is enough to start. You will hear back from the engineer who would do the work, not a sales team.

hello@curiosive.com See what we have shipped

Ankara / Türkiye · Working across European and US time zones

Mobile App Development for Latvia's Android-Heavy Market

One React Native codebase for Latvia's Android and iOS users

Children, age ratings and account deletion for apps in Latvia

Accessibility obligations for consumer apps in Latvia

What coding agents build in a Latvian app and what engineers own