Building an app for residents to communicate

What this is Livii Connect is a resident-first digital noticeboard for apartment buildings. Unlike existing building management platforms (e.g. Onsite, or in-house apps built by strata/building managers), Livii Connect is owned and posted to by the strata committee and residents themselves, not the managing agent. The goal is a simple, low-friction community feed plus direct messaging — not a full property-management suite. We want this built as a mobile app for iOS and Android, not a website. Current status A front-end prototype (React, web-based) already exists, covering the Feed and Messages screens with full visual design (colours, type, layout) finalised. It runs entirely in the browser with no backend — nothing is saved between sessions, and it is not currently in a mobile app format. Attached/linked file: App.jsx — use this as the visual and functional reference for layout, colours, typography, and interaction behaviour (feed, likes, comments, messaging). It does not need to be reused as code line-for-line — we're open to it being rebuilt natively as long as the look, feel and functionality match. What we need built A live mobile app (iOS + Android) based on the attached prototype, with: User accounts Sign up / log in, tied to a resident's unit number and building Basic roles: Resident, Strata Committee member (committee members can pin posts / post as "the committee") Password reset Feed (persisted) Create posts with text and photo upload (from camera or gallery) Like and comment on posts, saved permanently Pinned posts for committee announcements Basic moderation: ability to delete/report a post or comment Push notifications for new posts, likes, and comments (at least for committee/pinned posts) Direct messaging One-to-one chat between residents Message history saved and loads on login Read/unread status Push notifications for new messages Building setup (admin-lite) Ability to onboard a new building (name, unit list) — doesn't need to be fancy, just needs to let us pilot with our own building first Simple way for the committee to invite residents (e.g. invite link or code) App store presence Published to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store under our account App icon and store listing assets (can be simple; open to developer's input or a separate designer) Basic legal/compliance pages Privacy policy and terms of use, accessible in-app (template is fine to start; we'll have this checked separately) Explicitly out of scope for v1 Payments/maintenance requests/visitor management (may come later, not needed now) Advertising/monetisation features (may come later) A separate desktop/web version (may come later, not required for launch) Suggested approach Open to the developer's recommendation, but our preference is: A cross-platform framework (e.g. React Native or Flutter) so one codebase covers both iOS and Android, rather than building two separate native apps — faster and cheaper to build and maintain A backend-as-a-service platform (e.g. Supabase or Firebase) to avoid building a custom server from scratch, and to get push notifications and file storage largely "out of the box" Our domain www.livvi.io can be used for a simple marketing/landing page pointing to the app store downloads (not required for the app itself, but useful — happy to discuss) Deliverables Published, working app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store Source code handed over (we own it outright) Our own Apple Developer and Google Play developer accounts set up (or transferred to us) — we should own these accounts, not the developer Brief written instructions for how to add/manage buildings, moderate content, and push app updates in future Basic landing page copy/setup pointing to app store links (optional, discuss with developer)