Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of Flutter development is crucial for optimizing your app’s potential and accomplishing your business objectives, regardless of your level of expertise as an app owner or your level of inexperience with mobile apps.
By exploring the benefits and drawbacks of Flutter app development services, we will provide insightful information that will help you make the right decision for your next app development project.
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Flutter app development: what is it?
Google’s Flutter framework is open source and allows developers to create stunning, natively built, cross-platform applications from a single codebase. Flutter development has grown to be a strong substitute for other cross-platform frameworks such as React Native since it provides a reliable solution.
Have you ever taken a lesson in Google Classroom, made a purchase on Alibaba, or paid using Google Pay? Or maybe you use the app to control your Toyota or BMW? One thing unites them all: Flutter, a revolutionary tool for developing cross-platform mobile apps.
It’s likely that you have already seen Flutter in action, as you can see.
Flutter consists of two essential components:
- Dart, an object-oriented programming language that prioritizes the user interface (UI), powers the Flutter SDK.
- a framework that includes a number of widgets that may be altered to meet certain needs.
However, the Flutter framework is more than that:
You can rely on transparent, adaptable, and community-driven development since it is free and open source.
Rich widgets make Flutter mobile and web applications look and feel fantastic. You may utilize pre-existing UI components in accordance with existing rules, or you can develop your own unique app. Additionally, Material 3, Google’s open source design framework, is supported by Flutter. You can discover the best apps created using Flutter here.
The reactive programming approach that underpins the Flutter framework’s design enables quick modifications, API integration, and the tailored usage of native components.
Dart, the programming language used by Flutter, combines a well-known object-oriented syntax with pre-installed declarative and reactive capabilities to facilitate the creation of expressive and effective apps.
It poses a significant threat to the creation of native mobile apps. This year’s Stack Overflow Developer Survey indicates that Flutter is now more popular than even React Native, its main rival.
In 2024, will Flutter still be popular?
Building applications used to be difficult when Java/Kotlin and Objective C/Swift were the most popular languages for mobile development. The burden doubled since you had to create two different applications. In order to overcome this difficulty, a number of frameworks were developed that made it possible to use HTML and Javascript to construct hybrid (or desktop, online, and mobile) applications.
One software solution among these cross-platform toolkits has become very popular among developers, businesses, app owners, and consumers. Indeed, Flutter is its name.
Let’s examine GitHub data, which shows that Flutter has more stars than its main rival, React Native (162k vs. 116k, as of May 2024). Additionally, the gap between these outcomes widens year. The end? In 2024, Flutter is more important than ever and continues to outshine its competitors as it advances.
What makes Flutter so well-liked, then? There are more and more methods to easily construct beautiful, natively built, cross-platform mobile apps thanks to Google’s and the Flutter community’s continuous development and improvement. However, Flutter helps organizations even more than other frameworks or native solutions by:
Lowering the price of development
Lowering maintenance expenses (you may rebuild the native app in Flutter if your app requires a lot of maintenance).
providing a single codebase for a variety of platforms, including web, iOS, and Android.
Let’s take a minute to explore the amazing possibilities that Flutter provides before delving further into all of its advantages and disadvantages.
What is the purpose of Flutter?
Flutter is an effective tool for more than only creating cross-platform applications. Flutter development expands its capabilities beyond its core emphasis of creating desktop, web, and mobile apps from a single codebase.
The most significant ones have been explained to you.
Here are seven such scenarios in which Flutter shines:
Development of Cross-Platform Mobile Apps
The main reason for Flutter’s popularity is its capacity to create excellent, aesthetically pleasing, and efficient mobile apps for the iOS and Android operating systems. Developers may save costs and speed up time to market by using a single codebase to produce applications that feel and look natural across a variety of devices.
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Web apps that are single-page or multi-page
Single-page apps (SPAs) and multi-page applications (MPAs) for the web may be created using Flutter. Because of its quick and responsive user interface, it makes it possible to create dynamic and captivating online apps.
Development of Desktop Apps
The possibilities of Flutter development are expanded to desktop settings in addition to mobile and online platforms. It enables developers to create desktop programs that provide native-like experiences across several operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.
PWAs, or progressive web applications
Web apps that provide native-like experiences and can be installed on a user’s device are known as PWAs, and Flutter facilitates their creation. Developers may create PWAs with improved speed, offline support, and app-like features by using Flutter’s features.
Development of 2D Games
With the help of the community-made Flame Engine, the framework may be used to create interactive experiences and 2D games. Flutter is ideal for making casual games or incorporating gamified components into apps because of its rendering engine, Impeller, as well as its extensive collection of animation and user interface features.
Although Flutter does not yet support 3D, this will change shortly as Flutter engine components such as the Flutter GPU are being created.
MVP Development and Prototyping
Flutter is a great option for prototype and Minimum Viable Product (MVP) development because of its quick development cycle, hot reload capability, and highly configurable widgets. It enables developers to gather early customer input, verify concepts, and test and iterate ideas fast. To put it simply, you can provide your software to people more quickly.
Embedded Systems and IoT
Additionally, Flutter may be used to create user interfaces for embedded systems and Internet of Things devices. It is adaptable for developing interfaces for wearables, smart gadgets, home automation systems, and other connected devices because to its cross-platform compatibility.
Check out the Flutter Gallery app, which showcases some of Flutter’s features, widgets, and vignettes, if you’d want to see some applications created with the framework.
Which applications are made with Flutter? Examples from real life
Flutter is used by several large firms to develop their products. These consist of, for instance:
- Google Pay and Ads
- Google Earth
- Alibaba
- Consider
- The New York Times crossword problem
- Motors on eBay
- BMW
- The Hamilton Musical
- Additional Flutter applications are available on the official Flutter website.
Flutter is also well-liked by scale-ups because to its open source nature, quick development cycle, and affordability. These businesses often place a high value on resource efficiency, cross-platform compatibility, and speed to market—all of which Flutter can provide.
Here are some instances of scale-ups that have effectively used Flutter to create their applications:
Reflectly: An AI-driven software for mental health that promotes mindfulness and enhances mental wellness. Reflectly, which was developed using Flutter, provides a smooth and eye-catching user experience.
Small companies may manage many social media accounts in one location using Hookle, a social media management software. Their cross-platform application, which gives customers effective social media management skills, was developed using Flutter.
Motion: A supply chain platform powered by technology that assists companies in streamlining their procurement and inventory management procedures. In order to provide their consumers a smooth and simple experience, they decided to utilize Flutter to develop their mobile application.
One of the biggest fintech firms in Latin America, Nubank, is a Brazilian neobank that used Flutter to develop a single mobile banking app for its clients. The app offers a range of financial services with a uniform and fluid user experience.
Invoice Ninja: A platform for small company invoicing and payments. Invoice Ninja created a cross-platform application using Flutter that lets users easily handle invoices, monitor payments, and simplify their financial procedures.
Benefits of developing Flutter applications
After discussing the foundations of Flutter technology, it is important to point out its advantages and disadvantages so that you may decide on your software development project with knowledge.
The following are the main benefits from the standpoint of an app owner:
- The creation of mobile apps is accelerated using Flutter.
- It lowers the cost of developing apps.
- Cross-platform mobile apps developed using Flutter perform better than those created with other cross-platform frameworks.
- The architecture of Flutter provides unmatched UI possibilities for Flutter development.
One codebase across several platforms
Create your app once, then use it everywhere. Developers can write code once and have it run on several platforms, such as desktop, web, iOS, and Android, thanks to Flutter’s programming language Dart.
As a result, you can contact your clients anywhere you need to. And there you are, avoiding the need to develop distinct codebases for several platforms, therefore saving time and effort.
Performance at the native level
High performance is the goal of Flutter’s architecture. To guarantee fluid, responsive app performance, it makes use of the compiled programming language Dart and incorporates a powerful rendering engine called Impeller.
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Hot reload functionality for quicker app development
Hot reload is one of Flutter’s key characteristics that sets it apart from competing technologies. a feature that significantly accelerates the creation of apps. How?
Changes to the code may be done and instantly shown in the app with a hot reload! It often just takes a few milliseconds.
With this method, your testers and designers may collaborate with Flutter developers on the user interface, making minor adjustments (such as “Put it 2 pixels right” or “Make the animation faster”) and monitoring the results instantly.
There are many code changes that can be hot reloaded rapidly, albeit not all of them can (see the list of current Hot Reload Limitations).
It’s also important to know that Google developers created the hot reload capability in order to be more productive. These days, it is one of the features that leading app development businesses like about Flutter.
Reduced development expenses
Because Flutter is cross-platform, developing apps using it is less expensive. Flutter eliminates the need for separate development teams and saves time and effort by allowing developers to build and maintain a single codebase for both the iOS and Android platforms.
Businesses can reach a larger audience without having to pay for the creation and upkeep of two distinct native applications thanks to this unified strategy, which also speeds up the development process and reduces maintenance costs.
A quicker time to market
Because your development team can create code just once and have it run on various platforms, Flutter can help you improve time to market. This also removes the need for distinct codebases.
Additionally, real-time code updates are made possible by Flutter’s hot reload functionality, which speeds up app refining and iterations.
Hot reload is a developing feature, it should be noted. This implies that, like with previous frameworks, every app update will still need to be reviewed in the Google or Apple stores.
The following phases will go more quickly because of Flutter’s features, which allow you to make changes at the application architectural level more quickly.
Gorgeous designs
These days, Flutter is essentially associated with an exceptional user interface. Here’s why.
Flutter widgets to facilitate quick UI development
Developers may construct aesthetically pleasing and highly adaptable user interfaces using Flutter’s extensive collection of pre-designed UI (user interface) components, known as widgets. Fast rendering and fluid animations are made possible by Flutter’s reactive architecture, which makes for a great user experience.
This gives you greater flexibility over how your mobile app looks and feels on both the iOS and Android platforms, allowing you to create your own widgets or modify pre-made ones.
Additionally, Flutter always aims for 60 frames per second by default (or 120 frames per second on compatible devices). Thus, one of Flutter’s fundamental presumptions is a seamless user interface update.
A collection of Flutter’s views and widgets, including Material Design and Cupertino widgets, is available here.
All platforms use the same business logic and app user interface.
Furthermore, you can easily synchronize updates across all platforms using Flutter’s unified approach to UI and business logic, doing away with the need for distinct development cycles and guaranteeing seamless integration.
Additionally, since Flutter may operate on devices that fulfill the framework’s minimal system requirements, it is designed to be compatible with a variety of devices, even older ones. It is compatible with almost all smartphones on the market and enables smooth app deployment by supporting operating systems as ancient as iOS 12 and Android 4.4.
An active community and an open source framework
Because Flutter is open source, developers may alter and expand it to suit their own requirements because the framework’s source code is publicly accessible.
Furthermore, the vibrant Flutter community offers a helpful setting where developers can work together, exchange ideas, and promote the development and enhancement of the framework.
Openness and community interaction encourage creativity, speed up development, and continually improve Flutter’s capabilities.
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Expanding ecosystem
For developers and app owners, Flutter’s expanding ecosystem is a huge benefit.
The ecosystem around the framework is growing quickly as Flutter’s popularity keeps rising. The growing amount of packages, libraries, and tools available for Flutter app development is indicative of this expansion.
These resources enable developers to take use of pre-existing solutions and speed up development by covering a variety of features including networking, database connectivity, state management, and more.
Flutter offers developers a wide range of choices to increase productivity, expand app functionality, and build reliable, feature-rich apps thanks to its vibrant ecosystem.
Drawbacks of developing Flutter apps
We won’t tell you that Flutter is without its drawbacks, even if it offers numerous benefits from the standpoint of an app owner. Here are some things to think about.
Size of a Flutter application
Some consumers, particularly those with devices with limited storage capacity, may be concerned about the bigger download sizes of Flutter applications. Compared to smaller native programs, it could result in longer download times and more disk space.
With the Flutter Engine and other project requirements, Flutter adds a little overhead that typically consists of a few more megabytes. However, this expense remains constant as the application grows in size.
However, with smart optimization approaches, the effect of bigger app files may be lessened. For example, the tree-shaking process that Flutter by default employs looks for unnecessary code in the application and eliminates it during construction. Apps that can download more Dart code and assets at runtime may also be created using Flutter. This enables applications to download features and assets as needed by the user and install with a lower APK size. Each bundle of Dart libraries and assets that may be downloaded separately is referred to as “deferred components.”
Restricted collection of libraries and tools
Platform channels make it simple to incorporate Flutter into any native API. Therefore, our options are not restricted; but, integrating with a library or service that does not support Flutter will simply take more effort.
Additionally, this issue is addressed by Flutter’s growing community and ongoing development, so many developers may not find it to be a major concern.
Taking up Darts
Compared to other popular programming languages, Dart, the language used in Flutter, may have a lower adoption rate, however it is already somewhat lower than it was a few years ago.
Does working with Flutter appeal to developers?
Because of its many benefits and outstanding features, Flutter is frequently used by developers. The development experience is greatly improved by the quick development cycle and the practical hot reload feature.
Developers may save time and work by creating cross-platform apps using Flutter utilizing a single codebase. Rapid prototype and iteration are made easier by the framework’s expressive and user-friendly UI structure, which is enhanced with an extensive library of pre-built widgets.
Additionally, the robust and encouraging Flutter developer community promotes a friendly and cooperative atmosphere by providing useful tools, packages, and ongoing enhancements.
Because of its capabilities and advantages for the app development process, Flutter has an overall very positive reputation among developers.
Does app development work well with Flutter?
If not by questioning people who regularly create Flutter applications, how can you more accurately assess if Flutter is a suitable match for app development.
