White label app development: one app, many brands

What a white label app is

A white label app is a single app that is built once and then dressed up differently for each brand that uses it. The code, features and back end are shared. The name, icon, colors, logo, wording and sometimes the feature set change for each version. To the end user, each version looks like an app made just for that business.

A few typical examples:

• A marketing agency offers every restaurant client its own ordering and loyalty app, each in the restaurant’s branding.
• A gym or salon franchise gives each location an app for booking, memberships and offers, all running on one system.
• A consultant who serves clinics sells an appointment and reminders app that each clinic publishes under its own name.
• A software reseller packages a field service app that each of its customers rolls out to their own crews.

White label app development versus a white label platform

This page is about the apps your clients’ customers download and use. If what you need is a back-office system your clients log into, such as a dashboard or client portal, that is closer to white label software, which has its own page. Many projects need both, and they can share one back end.

There are a few ways to get a branded app for each client. App builder services let you create simple branded apps from templates. They are quick and affordable for basic needs like menus and news feeds, but every app looks similar, custom features are hard to add, and you depend on the builder’s plans and limits.

Rebrandable platforms that include a mobile app, such as GoHighLevel in its SaaS mode, give you a branded app as part of a wider package. The app is the same for every reseller on that platform and you control only what the settings allow.

Building a separate app for each client from scratch gives each one exactly what it wants, but you pay for the same work many times and every update has to be made in every app.

A custom white label app is built once around the job your clients need done, with a branding layer on top. New clients become a configuration task, not a new build, and an improvement made once reaches every brand.

What gets configured for each brand

• App name, icon, splash screen, colors, fonts and logo.
• Text and content, such as welcome messages, menus, services and prices.
• Which features are switched on, so a basic client and a premium client can run the same app.
• Locations, staff, opening hours and booking rules.
• Payment settings, so money goes to the right business.
• Push notification sender details and the client’s own web address for the web version.

Publishing to the App Store and Google Play

Publishing is where white label apps differ most from ordinary apps. Apple and Google generally expect a branded app to be published from the developer account of the business whose brand it carries, and Apple’s review rules discourage near-identical apps submitted in bulk from one account. In practice that means each client usually needs its own Apple Developer and Google Play developer account, and each branded app is published there.

We handle the technical side of this: building each branded version, preparing store listings and screenshots, submitting for review and shipping updates to every brand when the shared app improves. The client owns its store accounts and its listing. If a client does not want its own app in the stores, a branded web app that can be saved to the home screen is often a good alternative.

How white label app development works at Zoti

1. Map the app and the brandsWe map the screens and rules of the core app, and list everything that will change from one client or location to the next.
2. Quote and agree termsYou get a written quote, and branding and ownership terms are set out in a written agreement.
3. Design with two brandsYou click through designs shown in two different brandings, so we know the layout works for any of them.
4. Build in roundsThe shared app and your admin area are built in short rounds that you review on real devices.
5. Publish the first brandsWe set up the first clients, submit their apps to the stores and help plan the launch.
6. Add brands and improveNew clients are added through configuration, and ongoing changes reach every brand on the monthly plan.