How we shipped a native-feeling iPhone app in half a day
After shipping our Android app in half a day using TWA, we had one question:
Can we do the same for iOS?
Apple doesn’t support TWA.
But we knew one thing for sure — we already had a great web app.
So instead of rebuilding Hischool from scratch, we looked for the fastest, smartest path to iOS.
Searching for the iOS equivalent of TWA
The goal was simple:
- Real app
- Installable
- Fullscreen
- Native feel
- Fast
- Minimal extra work
The answer was clear: Swift + WebView.
We built a lightweight iOS app in Swift that runs Hischool inside a secure WebView — just like TWA, but for iOS.
Half a day later… it was alive
We started testing on the iPhone Simulator.
It already felt good:
- Smooth scrolling
- Fast load
- Clean UI
- App-like experience
But simulators can lie.
So we installed it on a real iPhone using development mode.
And that’s when it hit us:
👉 Touching it felt completely different from clicking.
It felt like a real app.
Not a website.
Not a shortcut.
A real Hischool app in your hand.
Fixing real-world issues (fast)
Once installed, a few issues showed up:
- Safe area padding
- Keyboard behavior
- Status bar overlaps
- Navigation edge cases
But here’s the magic:
Because everything runs on our web app, fixing and testing was incredibly fast.
Fix → reload → test → done.
Within hours, the experience became solid.
What makes the iOS app special
Just like Android, the iOS app runs our PWA inside a wrapper:
Instant updates
No waiting for App Store updates to fix bugs.
Full feature parity
Everything on web works on iOS.
Native feel
Swipe, scroll, tap — it feels right.
Touch beats click. Every time.
One platform, one experience
Web, Android, iOS, Desktop — all behave the same.
One platform, everywhere
With iOS added, Hischool now runs on:
- Web (PWA)
- Android (TWA)
- iOS (Swift + WebView)
- Desktop (Electron)
All powered by the same core.
That’s the power of web-first architecture.
What’s next for iOS
Now that the foundation is done, we’re working on:
- Push notifications
- Better keyboard handling
- Offline improvements
- Deeper system integration
- Performance tuning
And just like Android, improvements ship to iOS fast — because the core stays the same.
Build once.
Ship everywhere.
Feel native everywhere.