Mediahuis mobile news platform on top of CUE
Mediahuis mobile news platform on top of CUE
25+ branded news apps. 80% less time to ship a new one. One shared codebase, reaching an audience of more than 10 million readers a day, in a business where the fix that works for De Telegraaf can't be the same fix that works for Belfast Telegraph.
TL;DR
TL;DR
Mediahuis was building and maintaining a separate native app for every news brand it owns. Each new title meant duplicating engineering work, and every fix had to be repeated across a growing stack of near-identical codebases.
We designed and built mobile on top of CUE: one shared native platform for iOS and Android, on a Kotlin Multiplatform codebase, that lets each brand keep its own identity, monetisation and features.
25+ brands now run on it, across Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Luxembourg and Germany. Launching a new one dropped from months to weeks. Mediahuis's own team now owns delivery and releases; we stay on for the feature work that needs deeper platform expertise.
ABOUT CLIENT
ABOUT CLIENT
Mediahuis is one of Europe's largest media groups, publishing dozens of news titles, including De Telegraaf, Irish Independent, Belfast Telegraph, Gazet van Antwerpen, Het Belang van Limburg, De Standaard and Luxemburger Wort, across Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Luxembourg and Germany. Its titles reach more than 10 million readers every day, across print and digital.
Mediahuis is one of Europe's largest media groups, publishing dozens of news titles, including De Telegraaf, Irish Independent, Belfast Telegraph, Gazet van Antwerpen, Het Belang van Limburg, De Standaard and Luxemburger Wort, across Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Luxembourg and Germany. Its titles reach more than 10 million readers every day, across print and digital.
SERVICES
SERVICES
Digital vision & strategy
Product management
Solution & application architecture
Native mobile engineering (Kotlin Multiplatform)
Integration engineering
Testing & QA
Capability transfer & support
YEAR
YEAR
2021 – present
2021 – present
25+ brands
25+ brands
running on one shared codebase
running on one shared codebase
80%
80%
less time to launch a new brand's app, down from months to weeks
less time to launch a new brand's app, down from months to weeks
10 million+
10 million+
readers reached every day across the brands running on the platform
readers reached every day across the brands running on the platform
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November Five designed a platform that lets us move faster without losing control. Fifteen brands, one codebase - and our team now ships without them.
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Peter Soetens
Peter Soetens
CTO, Mediahuis
CTO, Mediahuis
THE CHALLENGE
THE CHALLENGE
Every new brand meant building the same app again and again and again.
Every new brand meant building the same app again and again and again.
Mediahuis's titles reach more than 10 million readers a day, and mobile is where most of that reading now happens. Each brand has its own audience, editorial identity and commercial model. De Telegraaf sells subscriptions differently than Belfast Telegraph does. Building a separate native app for every title worked when there were a handful of them. It didn't work at 15. It wasn't going to work at 20 or 30 either: every new launch meant duplicated engineering, a slower release cycle, and rising cost with no ceiling in sight. Mediahuis needed one mobile platform that could carry all of that weight without forcing every brand into the same shape.
Mediahuis's titles reach more than 10 million readers a day, and mobile is where most of that reading now happens. Each brand has its own audience, editorial identity and commercial model. De Telegraaf sells subscriptions differently than Belfast Telegraph does. Building a separate native app for every title worked when there were a handful of them. It didn't work at 15. It wasn't going to work at 20 or 30 either: every new launch meant duplicated engineering, a slower release cycle, and rising cost with no ceiling in sight. Mediahuis needed one mobile platform that could carry all of that weight without forcing every brand into the same shape.
THE SOLUTION
THE SOLUTION
One codebase. Configured by brand, not duplicated for it.
One codebase. Configured by brand, not duplicated for it.
We built CUE apps on a single Kotlin Multiplatform codebase shared across iOS and Android, then made brand identity a configuration, not a fork. Logo treatment, navigation, typography, ad formats and subscription flows all vary by title without touching the shared core. Contacto, LuxTimes, Virgule and Luxemburger Wort were the first titles to launch on it, in June 2022. Ireland's CrimeWorld later proved how far that flexibility goes: the platform can hide the Mediahuis logo entirely when a brand wants its own front door. Adding a brand went from a multi-month build to a matter of weeks, because most of what a new title needs is already there.
We built CUE apps on a single Kotlin Multiplatform codebase shared across iOS and Android, then made brand identity a configuration, not a fork. Logo treatment, navigation, typography, ad formats and subscription flows all vary by title without touching the shared core. Contacto, LuxTimes, Virgule and Luxemburger Wort were the first titles to launch on it, in June 2022. Ireland's CrimeWorld later proved how far that flexibility goes: the platform can hide the Mediahuis logo entirely when a brand wants its own front door. Adding a brand went from a multi-month build to a matter of weeks, because most of what a new title needs is already there.
SUCCESS DRIVERS
SUCCESS DRIVERS
SUCCESS DRIVER 1
SUCCESS DRIVER 1
A platform that standardises what should scale, and leaves the rest alone
A platform that standardises what should scale, and leaves the rest alone
Four Luxembourg titles launched together in June 2022 on the same core. Fifteen more followed, each with its own logo decisions, ad slots and navigation. That only works if the architecture draws a hard line between what's shared (the codebase, the release process, the core features) and what isn't (everything that makes a brand recognisably itself). Get that line wrong and you end up with 25+ different apps again, or one app that doesn't feel like anyone's.
Four Luxembourg titles launched together in June 2022 on the same core. Fifteen more followed, each with its own logo decisions, ad slots and navigation. That only works if the architecture draws a hard line between what's shared (the codebase, the release process, the core features) and what isn't (everything that makes a brand recognisably itself). Get that line wrong and you end up with 25+ different apps again, or one app that doesn't feel like anyone's.
SUCCESS DRIVER 2
SUCCESS DRIVER 2
Handover was the plan, not the exit
Handover was the plan, not the exit
From Q2 2025, Mediahuis's own app team started taking over feature delivery and releases, brand by brand. We built the platform to be handed over: documented architecture, joint code reviews, and a transition plan with a defined end date. Mediahuis now fully owns the mobile roadmap and release calendar. We keep working on the feature scopes that need deep platform expertise, on demand, without sitting between Mediahuis and their own product.
From Q2 2025, Mediahuis's own app team started taking over feature delivery and releases, brand by brand. We built the platform to be handed over: documented architecture, joint code reviews, and a transition plan with a defined end date. Mediahuis now fully owns the mobile roadmap and release calendar. We keep working on the feature scopes that need deep platform expertise, on demand, without sitting between Mediahuis and their own product.
SUCCESS DRIVER 3
SUCCESS DRIVER 3
Speed came from reuse, not shortcuts
Speed came from reuse, not shortcuts
Cutting time-to-market from months to weeks didn't come from cutting corners. It came from refusing to write brand-specific code unless a brand genuinely needed it. Three Mediahuis Noord titles, Dagblad van het Noorden, Leeuwarder Courant and Friesch Dagblad, share almost identical functional needs, so they share almost identical setup. Where brands do need to differ, like Irish Independent's advertising density or CrimeWorld's stripped-back branding, the platform flexes there and nowhere else.
Cutting time-to-market from months to weeks didn't come from cutting corners. It came from refusing to write brand-specific code unless a brand genuinely needed it. Three Mediahuis Noord titles, Dagblad van het Noorden, Leeuwarder Courant and Friesch Dagblad, share almost identical functional needs, so they share almost identical setup. Where brands do need to differ, like Irish Independent's advertising density or CrimeWorld's stripped-back branding, the platform flexes there and nowhere else.
Get in touch
When your digital product is the business, the margin for error is different. So is the team you need.
If that's where you are, let's talk.
Get in touch
When your digital product is the business, the margin for error is different. So is the team you need.
If that's where you are, let's talk.
Get in touch