system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Can I deploy a personal mobile app for free?

Hi, I've been working as a developer for 3 years now. My father has a cycle parts wholesaling business  which he manages EVERYTHING himself and I might inherit said business in the near future. 

Now, personally I don't like being in the sales part of things, but I'd be willing to do inventory and supply management, so it got me thinking that I could develop a simple inventory/supply chain management mobile app for the business.

Problem is, I have zero mobile development knowledge. I'm pretty optimistic that I can develop the app, but I'm not sure if I can deploy it on my phone (and maybe my dad's phone) for no deployment costs. Maybe I can use a spreadsheet as a database, or maybe I can invest a little bit for the database management.

I will really appreciate any feedback on this. Maybe you could also give me some business advice. Hehe.
gpt
You can do it in either iOS or Android. Both you can program for if you want a native app. You use to be able to put native apps on a small volume <10 of IOS for development without charge. Android you install via apk package. 

You can also write the SW to run within a programming environment on the phone. For example Pythonista you can write apps in and use all the features on the phone, it’s just not as clean as a native app, but it’s pretty flexible if you need access to the camera etc. 

But an easier solution would be a web based solution. As long as your not using any features like the camera on the phone. You can host the website internally from a laptop since you probably only need access while at work. No need for a hosting company. If you need access outside of work set up a vpn on the laptop.