Have you heard about Google’s recently acquired software development kit? Yes, we are talking about Flutter which has already made waves in the mobile development market. For those who are looking for a cross-platform solution, a Flutter app is the best option. Whether you know it or not, you have probably already used Flutter applications which include Alibaba and Google Ads.
For the past few years, Flutter was only available in the beta version. The release of the latest version has generated buzz among developers. Programmers and developers have chosen it as one of the transformative technologies, but is Flutter better than Ionic and React Native? Why have developers shifted their focus to Flutter?
The major purpose of developing Flutter was to create apps not only for Android and iOS but also for Google Fuchsia. Flutter is a free, open-source framework that relies on the C++ rendering engine.
Here are some of the reasons why the developer community prefers Flutter for mobile app development.
The Pros
- One Codebase for Developing Flutter Apps Faster
As one of the cross-platform solutions, Flutter allows for Android and iOS app development with one codebase, making it a time-saving option for developers. Instead of developing different codes for two platforms, programmers save time with one usable codebase for building mobile apps.
- Flutter App – A perfect Solution for MVP Architecture
The best app developers try to deliver the final product quickly. This is why they develop Flutter mobile apps, which look like native platforms on iOS and Android devices. One can easily make out the design of MVP.
- Ready-made Widgets for Any Interface
Widgets are stylistic (color and font) and structural components (menu and buttons) with inherent properties. The best widgets are customizable and reflect a natural look on mobile devices of any screen size. Flutter provides a lot of widgets that are easily customizable. Most of the other app development frameworks have separate view controllers and layouts.
Also, Flutter’s widgets are a consistent object model. The Flutter documentation notes that every widget is a perfect declaration of your app’s UI. Due to this declarative nature, Flutter mobile app layout fits all screen dimensions. It is also easier to make animations.
- Dart Object-Oriented Programming Language Minimizes Coding Efforts
In the app development field, engineers need to choose compilations, provided by programming languages. AOT compilations facilitate the faster running of programs. Another compilation, Just-in-Time, also makes the development cycle faster. Flutter has the benefits of both these compilations.
Additionally, there is no need for javascript Bridge for better performance. Users can smoothly operate their apps on a device, as Dart has directly compiled native code. Dart’s capabilities are not limited to mobile app development, they can also be used to build web apps.
Thanks to Dart Observatory and Dart Analyzer, debugging becomes easier for Flutter app development. There are Flutter-compatible IDEs for this debugging. Because Flutter does not rely on web view, developers can debug their apps in their browser.
Flutter, being a fully equipped SDK, provides an automated app testing toolset, helping developers run unit tests, integration tests, and widget tests.
- Advanced User Interface
Flutter uses Skia, the internal graphics engine, for every part of the app interface. This perfectly optimized software enables Flutter to work differently. There are interface UI elements recreated by the Flutter team, but you can also create your own components.
A Flutter app development company can easily choose aesthetic custom UI components that work for both iOS and Android.
- Hot Reload for Easier Updates
Hot Reload is one of the in-built features of Flutter’s architecture, eliminating the need for dealing with plugins. Hot Reload helps in seeing real-time updates. In some cases, developer can encounter errors while testing a program. Your Flutter app developer can instantly solve them without the need to restart everything.
With standard programming methods, programmers take a longer time for deployment. Hot Reload is effective for the increasing productivity of programmers.
- Internationalization of Apps
Google always favors the diversity-inclusivity trend and enables you to make an app easily accessible to different types of users. When you have taken your business to a global level, your app needs to be available in a range of languages for your target users. To do this, you’ll need to code for localized app content which is called the process of internationalization.
Dart intl is a package found in Flutter widgets to simplify the internationalization process. It works with different languages, dates, currencies, and units of measure.
The Cons
- Platform-oriented Look
To follow Material Design for Android apps and Apple Design System for iOS apps, it is best to create two different apps.
Flutter gives you an opportunity of rendering different elements on the chosen platforms. It is useful while displaying Alerts, looking like a native component. However, it can significantly increase the time in the development process.
- Libraries with Limitations
Flutter offers useful libraries, but it is a new framework that does not come with every functionality. In contrast, native apps have Twilio, Stripe, and streaming services for native SDKs. Flutter developers need to create those libraries from scratch.
Still, there is a ray of hope for Flutter enthusiasts. The official free resource package is getting better, offering an increasing number of tools.
- Bigger Sized Files
Mobile users have loads of apps on their devices and they may have limited storage space for your app. If your app is taking up too much their mobile storage, they might uninstall it. To minimize the app size, programmers remove animations, compress images, and reduce libraries.
- Problems for iOS Platforms
As Flutter is a Google-developed framework, developers are concerned about its use for iOS devices. Undoubtedly, Android app development is faster with Flutter. The question is, does it work just as well for Apple users? While introducing Release Preview 2, the Flutter team mentioned the potential of Cupertino widgets with the refinement of iOS Flutter settings.
Although there are a few cons to using Flutter, Google has paved the way for cross-platform app development in the future. Flutter has already bridged the gap between Android and iOS app development. In addition, it concentrates on intricate visuals, native performance, and reduced time for building apps, which is why it is quickly becoming a developer favorite.
