As mobile app development evolves to drive greater customer experience, Flutter is definitely the future.
Author
Maitreyee Mahadik and Ashmika Gujarathi work as Mobile Application Developer at GlobalStep India (Pune) and Develop Mobile Applications on Android and iOS Platforms.
The Flutter framework is a set of tools that allows the creation of a single app suitable for iOS and Android. It is a portable UI toolkit that can be used for application development, not just for mobile, but also for web and desktop, like Windows, MacOS, and Linux, from a single code base operating with Dart programming language. It was originally launched in the year 2018 by Google. With Flutter, you can write high-quality apps with high performance that look like native iOS and Android apps. Flutter developers can create stunning UI that gives the application a great look and makes it user-friendly.
Digital Transformation with Flutter
In today’s world, where mobile plays a vital role in every person’s life, the technologies used for mobile app development are critical to enabling the appropriate feedback against a user’s action taken on the app interface. This greatly affects the experience of the user and determines the engagement assessment – being positive or negative!
So, what were the significant challenges for organizations to move from native development to cross-platform development?
Generally, mobile application development uses their native languages, which are expensive and time-consuming for organizations. Also, for frequent updates, it is not feasible for the developers to update the platform-specific code. Flutter resolves all those problems and brings a massive change in the mobile technology spectrum.
Advantages of Flutter against Native Technology
Code Maintenance:
Native Applications are the most time-consuming; it requires some effort to maintain two codebases, and developers need to update each codebase to identify any bugs. In addition, the maintenance cost rises in lockstep with the number of supported OS devices. The Flutter app is much easier since there is just a single codebase for two applications; simple code helps developers quickly detect issues, support third-party libraries, and source external tools. Besides, Flutter’s Hot Reload feature allows for resolving application problems immediately.
Speed of Development:
In Native Applications, developers must write two codes for Android and iOS. Both codes use different languages due to other OS, which takes more time to develop. Because of this, the native technologies follow the “write twice, run twice” principle. Flutter uses the “write once, run anywhere” philosophy, which allows developers to write code once and execute it on two separate platforms.
Reduced Costs:
Due to faster development time, development time reduces substantially. Flutter Application mainly uses one language, which supports both platforms, iOS, and Android. It takes less time to develop both applications and reduces the cost.
Application Performance:
In 2017, when Google launched Flutter, it had some problems with performance and low FPS. Because of the technology growth, these problems have been updated and fixed, and today Flutter provides the same performance as native apps. As for memory usage, native apps show the most efficient memory consumption. Flutter needs more memory expenses than native.
Features and Integrations:
In Native technologies, integration ability through their frameworks and programming Languages rely heavily on the software design pattern and the application performance. Programming languages such as Kotlin and Java for Android make end-to-end integration possible using the default runtime classes or IntelliJ Environment. All the frameworks compatible with the Swift programming language and are best for developing iOS apps provide enhanced safety and quick integration capabilities. Integrating new third-party libraries and plugin features in Flutter is not that difficult. However, it might be challenging for developers unfamiliar with Dart’s functionality. Developers must utilize different add-on plugins, such as Cocoa Pods, Android Archive (AAR), and more, to reach users on multiple Android and iOS devices.
The rise of Flutter
The graph shows how “Flutter” has become the most adopted trend in the application development industry because it has been used widely by developers and not because Google created it. React Native and Xamarin took complete control over the industry in the past few years, but due to its drawbacks (UI and user experience same as Native, high-cost maintenance), it had to see a downfall. From 2018-2020 the usage of flutter technology became familiar, which shot its graph from 30% to 42%.
To conclude, Flutter application development is inexpensive and less time-consuming. A single code base and different run-on platforms (Android, iOS, and Web) can be complied. Flutter is the perfect platform to develop MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
As Flutter is extremely feature rich and capable of providing an excellent user experience, small and mid-size businesses stand to benefit from it being an open-source cost-friendly technology for Digital Transformation in app development.
The GlobalStep Solution
At GlobalStep, we believe in developing applications with the latest technology and training employees and certification. We are up to accepting various challenges and deliver projects with our best team.
Flutter, as technology, needs a deep understanding and learning to become an expert in the mobile domain. We will assess your app development project requirements and align it to your organizational goals to gauge Flutter app development advantages and setbacks. Our skilled team of developers are capable of handling your Flutter projects while ensuring timely delivery and exceptional support.
Click here to know more about us, or reach out to us for a quick discussion.
