However, when it comes to creating a mobile app, there is always a dilemma for businesses which is whether they should build native apps or cross-platform apps. Certainly, building cross-platform apps is more beneficial and cost-effective because they can function on both Android and iOS devices. Therefore, investing in a cross-platform app is a wise decision. 

Flutter framework has become a primary choice for many businesses wanting to build a cross-platform mobile application. If you want to know what is Flutter and how it is useful for developing your own mobile app, stay tuned to this Flutter app development guide for all details. 

Let’s Know a Bit About the Flutter Framework

Starting with understanding what Flutter is and why it came into being. Basically, Flutter is a feature-packed UI toolkit, which is not a framework or library that is used with other technologies, but a complete SDK (Software Development Kit). Google has created the Flutter UI framework and it’s open-source. 

An SDK is a complete package of libraries, frameworks, APIs, tools, and other components required to develop a software or application. Thus, Flutter has all the features and tools to build robust mobile apps. It can be referred to as a framework that not only provides the necessary functionalities but also a structure to build an app from scratch.   

Flutter has solved many problems for app developers faced when developing apps for multiple platforms. Thanks to the Flutter framework developers can now build apps that are supported on every platform such as Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, and macOS. A single codebase is sufficient to make a cross-platform app. 

Hence, businesses can leverage Flutter app development services to create mobile apps that are supported on both Android and iOS mobiles. While you require multiple versions of your code each for different platforms with native apps, with Flutter a single codebase will function on all platforms. 

Now you know what is Fluttter, you might be thinking what does it benefit? It is good to look at Flutter’s pros and cons before making a decision. There are many benefits of Flutter for app development and let’s see some of them here. 

What are the Benefits of Flutter Framework?

1. Rich Libraries

One of the pros of Flutter development is the availability of many feature-rich libraries. Skia is one of the excellent libraries in Flutter which is a graphics library for creating some amazing visuals. It’s a 2D graphics library that offers APIs to work with different hardware and software platforms. 

Skia redraws the UI whenever there is a change in a view. Consequently, this offers a smooth user experience and makes the UI more responsive. The library is also a graphics engine for Chrome browser and ChromeOS. 

2. Engaging UIs

Flutter app development provides ready-made widgets and other UI elements that can be directly used. Unlike other UI approaches like views, layouts, and controllers, the widget-based UI with Flutter provides an easy development process. In Flutter everything is a widget be it a button, font, or anything else. Developers can use various widgets to build complex UIs. All you need is to hire Flutter app developers to develop engaging and complex UIs. 

3. Speedy Development

Speed counts when it comes to app development and the Flutter framework nails it. Flutter offers a “hot reload” mechanism that shows the immediate effect of changes in code on the app. This feature provides many advantages, especially when it comes to developing and testing the app. Hot reload is quite beneficial in quickly and easily fixing bugs, adding features, building UIs, and experimenting. 

In order to work with hot reload, developers need to inject the files with updated code into running Dart Virtual Machine. Flutter automatically recreates the widget when the classes and functions are updated. In simple words, it is useful for faster development and testing. 

4. Cross-platform Development

Flutter is meant for cross-platform application development. So, choosing the framework allows you to make one app that functions on all types of mobile devices. So, there is no need to create separate apps for Android and iOS devices. Flutter development will make your app compatible with both Android and iOS devices. So, you can choose either Android app development services or build a cross-platform app. 

5. Compatible with Older Devices 

It is really a challenge for developers to quickly keep up with the updated versions of platforms, especially when they are pushed out to users regularly. However, Flutter application development reduces this risk by making an app compatible even with older devices. An app feels the same even if it runs on an older device. 

Are There Any Downsides with Flutter App Development?

After going through the different benefits of Flutter app development, you may wonder if there are any drawbacks to using Flutter. Don’t worry! This section is dedicated to dispelling your suspicion and highlights some of the cons of Flutter. Let’s check them out. 

1. Hefty File Size

The typical file size of a Flutter app is comparatively large because of the widgets it uses. These files take up more space and are difficult to update. A mobile app development partner can help to optimize the app and keep the size in check. 

2. Complex Updates 

Flutter module updates are required to update the requirements with a particular OS. Since modules are intertwined with an app, this needs to be recompiled or rebuilt to incorporate changes. 

3. Limited Tools

As a newer framework, Flutter is packed with limited tools and libraries that will keep growing over time. 

You can overcome many of these challenges with the right development team. Choose a mobile app development company with the right skills and experience. 

How Do Businesses Benefit From Flutter Mobile App Development?

Businesses looking for a framework to develop their mobile application can choose Flutter development for many reasons. The following are the top reasons for choosing Flutter to build mobile apps. 

1. Versatile Framework

For the comprehensiveness of the Flutter UI framework, you can use it for multiple solutions. Therefore, it is not just suitable to create cross-platform applications but also for developing an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). There are lots of features that make Flutter a good choice for developing MVPs. 

Besides MVP and mobile apps, Flutter is used to develop applications for web and desktops. Benefits such as scalability, cost-efficiency, improved performance, and compatibility with multiple platforms make Flutter a go-to choice for web application development. There are many features to develop a Flutter web application. 

Hence, businesses can deploy Flutter to build a single app that targets all platforms be it mobile, desktop, or the web. So, it’s no surprise that you can even think of Flutter Windows app development. 

2. Cost Efficient

The cost of developing native apps is quite higher because of the different codebases for various mobile platforms, Android and iOS. Luckily, Flutter mobile app development eliminates the need to create separate codes for different platforms. Therefore, the cost of developing mobile apps is comparatively lower with the Flutter framework. 

Another way Flutter saves costs is by not forcing to use other technologies for app development. Indeed, many other frameworks or libraries require other technologies to use them in development. But as an SDK, there is no need for additional technologies with this framework to create apps. In addition, the apps built with Flutter are readily functional on multiple platforms. 

3. Fast Time to Market

The advantage of using Flutter for app development is also in terms of faster delivery of the app. In comparison, Flutter will take half the time than what it would take to build the native Android and iOS applications separately. There is a simple reason for this, your app doesn’t need any platform-specific coding, and a single codebase is created for all platforms. 

Therefore, Flutter app development allows you to quickly develop and launch your mobile. In today’s neck-and-neck competition developing and launching a product faster can provide you an edge over competitors. Flutter is the right toolkit to make this happen. 

4. Full Support from Google

You can rest assured of technology as long as it is provided by a credible developer. In the case of Flutter, you can be confident, because it is backed by one of the top tech giants Google. So, you can be sure that your app will not break due to outdated software. Due to Google’s support, Flutter is constantly updated, new versions are rolled out, and bugs are fixed. 

When is Flutter a Good Choice for App Development?

So, what types of apps is Flutter suited for? When should you use it for developing apps? These are some of the questions that this sector will answer. Flutter mobile app development is suitable for a wide range of applications no matter which platform you plan to target. Let’s see the types of apps where Flutter is best suited. 

• On-Demand Sevices Apps
• Health and Fitness Apps
• Education and eLearning Apps
• Social Media and Networking Apps
• Productivity and Business Apps
• Multimedia Apps
• Entertainment Apps
• Banking and Fintech Apps

Examples of Apps Built with Flutter

• Google Ads
• Alibaba Group
• BMW
• Google Pay
• ByteDance
• eBay

Why Choose Flutter and No Other Framework?

There are lots of app development frameworks out there to choose from, then why should you choose Flutter only? There are many reasons why Flutter app development is a better choice than other frameworks available out there. Let’s check these reasons with a quick comparison of Flutter with other top frameworks. 

1. Flutter vs React Native

One of the biggest competitors of Flutter is React Native which is a pretty amazing UI toolkit for developing cross-platform apps. It’s based on JavaScript and builds apps for almost all platforms out there. 

Nevertheless, Flutter outperforms this framework in many aspects. Flutter provides you with natively-compiled apps for mobiles, desktops, and the web. That means the source code is converted to the machine. So, these apps can work at a low level. 

With Flutter’s Dart programming language, Flutter offers Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation which means the code is compiled at the time of execution. It also works on a reactive programming model. 

More on Which one to Choose Flutter or React Native?

2. Flutter vs Ionic 

Ionic is also a very good app development framework used for creating hybrid apps. It uses basic web technologies like HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to build apps. This framework provides features to develop excellent apps but lacks compared to Flutter in many ways. 

Apps built with Flutter are way more fast than Ionic because Dart code is compiled into native code. Since Ionic uses web technologies, the apps built with it fail to offer native-like performance. 

As a relatively new framework, Flutter offers modern features and development practices compared to Ionic. Flutter apps offer a native-like look and feel compared to apps built on Ionic. 

3. Flutter vs Xamarin

Xamarin is created by Microsoft and it is also a popular mobile app development framework. It uses the .Net platform for developing apps. While it is a feature-packed framework to build mobile apps, it is not as good as Flutter. 

Xamarin uses two separate codebases for developing apps for Android and iOS. On the other hand, Flutter builds a single codebase that can function on every device whether iOS or Android. Flutter has a shorter learning curve while Xamarin has a steeper learning curve. 

Due to its unique widget approach, Flutter app development yields faster apps than Xamarin. The Flutter community is growing and there are tons of resources for this framework where Xamarin lags behind.  

4. Flutter vs Titanium

Appcelerator Titanium is one of the popular app development frameworks. It helps to build cross-platform apps with custom features. Just like React Native, it uses JavaScript for developing apps for Android and iOS devices. It offers many excellent features, but there are areas where it falls behind the Flutter framework. 

With its built-in rendering engine, Flutter offers smooth transitions and animations than Titanium. It also offers better performance with many in-built features. The hot reload feature of Flutter empowers developers to see the effects of their changes in code in real-time. Thus testing and development are faster with Flutter than with Titanium. 

Flutter offers more customization of UI with various widget options. It allows developers to build complex UIs with different combinations of widgets. 

How Much Does Flutter App Development Cost?

There are lots of things on which the cost of developing a Flutter app relies. So, it is not easy to answer this question until you specify your requirements. The cost can vary based on the type of app, complexity, features, third-party integration, and more. 

Typically the cost of Flutter app development can be between $20,000 – $250,000 which can rise further with the requirements and complexity. 

Should You Choose Flutter for App Development?

Flutter is undoubtedly a great framework for app development, but it may not always be the best choice. But is Flutter good for app development? It’s a question that needs to be answered to pick the best technology for developing your mobile app. Going through the pros and cons, business benefits, and comparisons with other frameworks can help you make an informed decision. 

Flutter is one of the best mobile app development frameworks today used by various businesses to create their apps. The statics by Statista is a testimony to this fact that shows it is used by 49% of developers and a very popular framework. Flutter outperforms most frameworks in terms of performance, UI customization, and development speed. 

It has amazing features like “Hot Reload” which no other framework offers. You need the right Flutter app development company like MobileCoderz that has solid experience in Flutter development. Our developers are proficient in this framework with all the ins and outs of it. We are one of the leading mobile app development companies with years of experience. 

FAQs

What is Flutter Mobile App Development?

Flutter is a popular cross-platform app development SDK which is open-source. It is used to build different types of apps with speed and quality. 

How much it costs to develop a Flutter App?

Flutter development cost varies with the complexity of your project, requirements, third-party integrations, features, and more. 

Is Flutter suitable to build startup apps?

Yes. Flutter is a versatile framework and can be used to build apps for various businesses. Startups can leverage it to develop engaging apps and save money with a cross-platform app. 

Is Flutter a UI library?

Flutter is a collection of libraries and other development tools. It is a complete UI SDK (Software Development Kit) that offers everything to build excellent apps.

The post A Complete Flutter App Development Guide: The What, Why, and When appeared first on MobileCoderz.

Flutter, Google’s officially-licensed cross-platform app development framework, was first introduced by Google in the month of May 2017. In just 4 years, Flutter for app development is now the top cross-platform tech. At present, it has more than four-quarters (43%) of all developers using it.

A Stackoverflow study also found that 68.8 percent of developers are in love with Flutter app development. Also, 10.9 percent want to change to Flutter for app development within the next couple of years.

In terms of its popularity, Flutter has already outsold React Native. There are a variety of reasons for developers to be interested in this relatively new technology. Flutter app development relies on code reuse. This means developers can make use of the same codebase for building native mobile applications for both iOS and Android. Furthermore, the possibility of using Flutter mobile development to build robust web applications provides amazing performance.

Why is Flutter so Popular?

According to Statista, Flutter is the 2nd most popular mobile platform that is used by developers across the world. It also says 39% of developers utilize Flutter for app development. Thus, this represents an increase of 9% from last year’s. What can it be that makes Flutter app development so successful?

• Flutter developers have the advantage of having a single base code. They write the code once and have it run seamlessly on the two platforms, Android or iOS.
• Flutter for app development isn’t just open-source but is also created by Google. Flutter has a large user base and is simple to find solutions to your issues which helps speed up development.
• Flutter is a user of the Dart programming language that provides many advantages and is simple to master.
• One of the most significant USPs in Flutter is the hot-reload features. This allows both developers and designers to view the changes immediately at the moment they occur.
• Flutter apps provide the same performance as native apps due to the fact that Dart converts native code.

Why Should New Apps Use Flutter App Development: 10 Top Reasons to Know 

There are many advantages to using Flutter app development for both large and small-scale enterprises. It stands out as a preferred cross-platform application development framework used by a variety of application development service providers. We’ll review some of the key aspects that will allow developers to appreciate the advantages of Flutter for app development.

• Native App Performance Taken to the Next Level

 The speed of performance is crucial to providing a pleasant user experience. Flutter-built applications, as per the developers, offer numbers that are comparable to native applications. Flutter, along with other renowned cross-platform frameworks, doesn’t require any additional code representatives to connect directly with machine code. Flutter for app development avoids problems with interpretation and increasing performance.

• Open Source

Flutter allows for easy posting of problems as well as access to the documents from forums for developers. Also, it allows Flutter programmers to grow and learn from the constantly changing community of developers. It enhances the efficacy and output of the developer and leads to less time and costs for the project.

• Hot Reload: Boosts Developer Productivity

Flutter permits developers to review changes made to the app immediately and can also help them correct the changes quickly. It is not necessary to run elsewhere, you’ll be able to observe the changes when you save.

Hot Reload is a standard feature in Flutter for app development. It also facilitates better collaboration between developers and designers to improve the user experience of an app. This reduces the development time by around 30-40%. Developers can move faster as each change is being implemented immediately.

• Strong and Reliable Tech Community

 There’s a huge community of developers having to find the time to develop with Flutter mobile development. New developers won’t need to worry because they’ve made it simpler for them to master and comprehend its functions. There are over 60 videos to aid you with the toolkit for software and help you understand the procedure. With help from the Mobile App Development Company, any person can start creating an app.

• Dart Language

Flutter utilizes Dart in its object-oriented programming languages that can be used to develop apps. The main characteristics available in Dart include a comprehensive standard library garbage collection,, generics, async-awaits & robust typing. Dart is similar to Java and makes use of a number of the well-known capabilities of various languages. Its reactivity-oriented programming style allows developers to accomplish their tasks easily with Flutter for app development.

• Reduced Testing Time

Conducting regular tests on multiple systems will require checking compatibility. Flutter permits programs to run across different platforms with one codebase. All it takes is a single test of the Flutter mobile development. This saves the programmers a substantial quantity of both time and cash.

• Customized Widgets

Flutter mobile development has a wide range of widgets for developers to assist in the creation process. It makes the creation of a UI element that is basic simpler and quicker. Just create the UI element once. It will be able to adapt to various resolutions, screens, & platforms. You can also combine one widget with another to make it possible to perform various features.

• Multi-Platform Support

 When you contract an app developer for Flutter App Development, there are benefits of creating a highly customizable product. You can create apps for six different operating systems. Android, Windows, iOS, Linux, etc. are a few examples of the different operating systems supported by the well-known flutter apps. 

With recent advancements, Flutter developers are now able to develop unidirectional solutions for Android/iOS & Windows, Linux, etc. Thereby, this is transforming the field of software programming.

• Leaders Set the Example

Flutter is being used by major companies to create their mobile applications, which include Xianyu app from Alibaba. Alibaba which is based in China, Google itself set an example by transferring the Google Ads app to Flutter. Perfectly is an app for journaling and mindfulness powered by artificial intelligence that was built with Flutter. There are numerous famous apps built with Flutter for app development such as AppTree, Google Greentea, JD Finance & many others.

• Investor-Friendly

 The phrase minimum feasible product is a reference to the application’s primary capabilities and features. An MVP developed using Flutter mobile development is uniform across different programs and delivers the best user experience. This is a major draw for a number of investors, allowing them to back your business.

Final Words

Flutter is among the top cross-platform development technologies and the quality of its development is increasing each day. A lot of developers are using Flutter mobile development. It’s definitely the best choice for hybrid development. It’s possible to develop an app for each of iOS and Android at a lower cost of development.

MobileCoderz is among the most reputable Flutter app development company in India. We have a dedicated group that includes Flutter developers who are committed to improving the flexibility, scalability, and robustness of mobile applications. If you’re seeking to hire a Flutter app developer or create an app, you can surely put your eyes on us.

The post Flutter App Development: 10 Reasons Why It’s Perfect for Your App appeared first on MobileCoderz.

First things first! 

Stats About the Popularity of Flutter App Development 

• According to a 2021 developer survey, Flutter has become the most popular cross-platform mobile framework.
• More than 42% of the software developers used Flutter 
• According to a Stack Overflow survey, Flutter is the third most preferred framework after .Net Core and Torch 
• According to a Google Q3 developer survey in 2021, approximately 92% of developers are satisfied working with Flutter. 

What is Flutter App Development?

Flutter app development is the process of creating native-like apps for different platforms such as mobile, web, and desktop. In this process, the Flutter app developers have to use the open-source portable UI toolkit. In fact, they can rely on a single codebase to use the Dart programming language with Material Design and Cupertino widgets. Lastly, if you hire Flutter app developers, you can expect stunning UI that appears and feels like live Native apps. 

The Responsibilities & Skillset of Flutter App Developers 

Although, you might have some specific expectations from your Flutter app developers. Still, the majority of the businesses want to hire developers with these qualities; 

Responsibilities 

• The individual should be able to write readable code with the Dart programming language 
• The individual has to build and ship robust Android and iOS apps using a single codebase 
• The developer has to brainstorm and share innovative ideas with the teams to enhance the development process 
• S/he must have proven experience in developing user-friendly applications 
• Staying up-to-date with the latest technologies is also important
• The individual has to work with the Agile methodology so improve the workflow of your entire team

Required Skills 

Hard Skills 

• The developer must have a relevant experience of 2 to 5 years with Flutter app development 
• Strong knowledge of business logic components or ScoopedModel is also necessary. 
• This expertise includes Dart programming language, backend web services, etc 
• The individual must be able to follow the complete steps of the software development cycle 
• A strong understanding of Kotlin or Swift is also necessary 
• A proficiency in Unit Testing is also preferred 

Flutter isn’t an ordinary technology that anyone can master easily. Thus, you have to be very selective while hiring flutter app developers. Ultimately, your goal is to make your app productive and responsive. 

It might get hard to hire the right talented Flutter app developers for your project. Thus, keep reading the guide, to know what additional skills you need to evaluate during the hiring process. 

Soft Skills 

# Communication 

Proper communication skills become very important in the IT and business world. In fact, candidates with better communication skills are likely to improve the pace and efficiency of the development process. If you look from a business perspective, Flutter app developers with good communication skills will also understand your business goals and work accordingly. Thus, it is an essential skill to consider when you hire Flutter app developers. 

# Coordination & Teamwork Skills 

You certainly don’t want loners and individuals with an attitude problem in your team. Thus, you must ensure that your Flutter app developers will coordinate with your entire team to ensure the best optimization of your app. 

# Creative Skills 

You need people in your flutter app developers team who can think out-of-the-box and innovatively. Thus, hiring professionals who can help you with new ideas for your project. 

# Dedication 

You should expect a team that works with dedication towards a common goal. In fact, they should have the desire to improve the user experience as much as possible. This can be ensured by overlooking their past experience, personal projects, and special certifications. 

Interview Questions to Hire Flutter App Developers

• Tell us about some of the mobile apps that you have developed in the past
• Differentiate between declarative and imperative programming 
• What are the main steps to writing a Flutter app? 
• What can be referred to as a Flutter app’s “building blocks”? 
• Differentiate between Stateful and Stateless Widgets 
• What is the Hot Reload feature in flutter? 
• Explain  Navigator in Flutter 
• What is Scaffold in Flutter? 
• Which database do you love in Flutter app development? Why? 

To learn more interview questions that you should ask while hiring mobile app developers, read our blog here. 

The Engagement Models to Hire Flutter App Developers 

1. Outsourcing 
2. Freelancing 
3. Full-Time Engagement Model 

Before we describe each individual model to hire Flutter app developers, you must know about the core factors required for all the models; 

• Management 
• Cost 
• Control 
• Collaboration 
• Consistency 
• Expertise 

Let’s learn about each engagement model 

1: The Outsourcing Model 

When you don’t have any prior experience in mobile app development, it is recommended to hire a Flutter app development company. In fact, they have an extensive pool of talent, which you can utilize in your project. Furthermore, outsourcing Flutter app developers is a very cost-effective approach to developing high-quality Flutter apps. Thus, hiring MobileCoderz for Flutter app development could be a great idea to ensure a streamlined development process. 

2: The Freelancing Model

Freelancing is perhaps the quickest way to get flutter app developers on board for your project. However, it has some significant demerits which might make you rethink your idea. For example, it is very hard to evaluate the consistency of freelance Flutter app developers. Plus, it might not be possible to manage or control them directly since they are not directly associated with your business. 

3: The Full-Time Engagement Model 

This model is widely used by top enterprises working with Flutter app developers for long-term projects. Therefore, the businesses have to add their professionals to their payrolls after rigorously screening them. Ultimately, it is easier to control and manage these professionals since they are directly associated with the organization. 

Levels of Flutter App Developers You Might Need 

1: Junior Flutter Developers 

Junior Flutter app developers are aspiring professionals, and are just beginning their careers in this field. Thus, they might not have extensive experience and background with Flutter app development. However, they must have experience with the Dart programming language. Accordingly, they usually have less than one year of experience, but they might be capable of bringing innovative ideas to the table.

When you hire junior Flutter app developers, your expectations must not be excessively low or high. In fact, they might not have extensive knowledge about the framework and their development pace can be a little slower. However, with proper training and guidance, you can make them familiar with your organization’s development goals with ease. 

2: Mid-Level Flutter Developers 

If you are looking to hire proficient Flutter app developers, then hiring developers from the mid-level category could be a great choice. However, these developers must have a relevant working experience of at least 2 years with the Flutter framework. They must have a clear understanding of the evolution of Flutter, programming part, business logic, and bug fixing. Then, the mid-level Flutter app developers should be capable enough to work on their own without any guidance from your side. However, they might require some assistance in understanding some complex processes, but that also comes under exceptional cases. 

3: Senior Flutter Developers 

The senior Flutter app developers are the absolute veterans of Flutter, they have been working on the framework since its inception (2018). Thus, these developers must have the potential to guide an entire team of Flutter app developers with ease. In fact, businesses often consider hiring senior flutter developers from a prominent Flutter app development company. 

Investing in a Flutter App Development is Worthy or Not?

Well, of course, Flutter by Google, is the most advanced mobile technology available presently. There are hundreds of reasons why professionals believe that Flutter could be the king of top mobile apps in 2022. Plus, Google’s backing makes it a strong contender to become a leader to rule mobile app development frameworks in future. Furthermore, Flutter offers unquestionable advantages such as speedier development and substantial cost savings. Thus, these benefits can transform your life by allowing you to use your funds wisely and making your app-to-market time faster. Ultimately, for efficient cost savings, you must hire Flutter app developers from India only. 

Why Collaborate with MobileCoderz to Hire Flutter App Developers? 

It’s obvious that hiring freelancers and in-house teams require a rigorous hiring process that needs a lot of resources. Plus, sometimes, you don’t have enough time which leads to the selection of unworthy candidates. Thus, you should collaborate with a leading mobile app development company to gain access to highly skilled and certified Flutter app developers. Over the years, we have become the best Flutter app development company with the most experienced developers who have cleared a rigorous selection to join our team. Thus, hire top Flutter app developers from MobileCoderz, because what you get is a talented stream to fulfil your purpose.

The post A Complete Guide to Hire Flutter App Developers in 2023 appeared first on MobileCoderz.

React Native took a different approach with its existing React.js library that provided a solution to create UI using the Native UI blocks offered by its host operating system. The highly performant React.js library renders a compelling view on the device. All of your Javascript codes are injected in a Javascript Engine during the run time. It uses a layout engine YOGA to position the UI.

After going through the above overview, it seems pretty relevant to know why there is a need for a new framework like Flutter?

The performance of React Native is good, but it could have been a lot better as it has been realized by the Facebook team here. Flutter was released by Google in 2017and it is used as an open-source SDK for creating superior-quality apps for Android and iOS using a single codebase.

Like React Native, Flutter uses reactive-style views. However, while RN transpires to native widgets, Flutter compiles all the way to native code. Flutter controls each pixel on the screen, that avoids performance problems caused by the need for a JavaScript bridge.

Stackoverflow Trends

Github Stars

• React Native (79,963)
• Flutter (72,530)

Flutter shares a lot of similarities with React Native but there are some contrasting differences also. Let us go through the similarities first.

Similarities (React Native Vs Flutter)

1.  Native UI Experience

React Native uses basic UI blocks of each OS to create the Android / iOS UI, whereas Flutter has predefined Material and Cupertino ( iOS style ) widgets to create beautiful UI on both platforms.

2.  Declarative UI

React Native & Flutter both use declarative UI instead of using imperative UI. They both build the user interface to reflect the current state of your app. Here we define how our UI will look like for a different state meanwhile the framework continues to redraw the UI on any state changes. This will make UI code more readable and maintainable.

3.  Compositional Pattern

React Native & Flutter both allow reuse of components ( or Widgets, as they are called in Flutter ) that use composition i.e. the combination of different UI blocks to create the UI. Also, both share similarities in the type of components ( or Widgets ), i.e. stateful and stateless.

4.  Stateful Hot Reload

React Native & Flutter both allow faster application development using a Stateful Hot Reload, which enables users to quickly see changes in a matter of seconds while updating the codes.

This feature alone makes React Native & Flutter way ahead of native app development in terms of development time.

• React Native Hot Reload
• Flutter Hot Reload

Differences 

1.  Language

React Native uses JavaScript, which is an easy to learn language that allows existing web developers to use their JavaScript knowledge to develop mobile apps and that’s the primary reason behind the popularity of React Native.

Flutter uses Dart, a language similar to many modern object-oriented languages. Dart is a beautiful and powerful language which is the reason behind flutter’s high performance.

2.  Community Support

React Native has very large community support and is increasing day by day. Also with the usage of npm packages, it has a large number of packages that can be used while development.

Flutter, on the other hand, is trying to play catchup but its popularity is increasing rapidly.

3.  UI Development

React Native uses JSX that allows us to write HTML like UI syntax inside our Javascript code, what JSX does is allow users to create easy to maintain UI, and it also provides a separation between UI and Business Logic.

Flutter on the other hand by default uses no JSX ( or DSX which is being discussed in their Github issues ), it uses nesting of multiple widgets calls to create UI due to which large UI will look cluttered and for Javascript developers, it might look like an infamous ‘callback hell’.

Even if the proper widget composition is followed, we can create UI’s using fewer lines of code and avoiding cluttered code.

Though I feel if Flutter provides a two-way UI development paradigm using something similar to JSX, it will cause a lot of React Native devs using their existing knowledge to quickly start developing apps in Flutter.

4.  Code Comparison

A comparison without actually looking at the basic hello world in both the technologies will be incomplete. So, let’s take a look at the code of React Native and Flutter respectively:

// React Native

import React, { Component } from 'react';

import { StyleSheet, Text, View } from 'react-native';

export default class App extends Component {

  render() {

    return (

      <View style={styles.container}>

        <Text>Hello world!</Text>

      </View>

    );

  }

}


const styles = StyleSheet.create({

  container: {

    flex: 1,

    backgroundColor: '#fff',

    alignItems: 'center',

    justifyContent: 'center'

  }

});


// Flutter

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

void main() {

  runApp(

    Center(

      child: Text(

        'Hello, world!',

        textDirection: TextDirection.ltr,

      ),

    ),

  );

}

Conclusion

It is a no brainer that cross-platform app development will have an uphill ride in the upcoming years with both tech giants Facebook and Google as both of them are continuously improving their cross-platform tools. However, right now it is hard to pick a winner at this point, with an upcoming React Native Rewrite of its internal architecture to fix the performance issue in React Native.

Flutter has been exceptional so far, and this ongoing competition will be helpful in the app development field.

React Native is a more mature framework with a bigger community. This being said, while Flutter is still young, there is a lot of positive feedback coming from developers. Google seems set on pushing its framework, and it’s gaining popularity as a result. I would, however, suggest keeping an eye on both frameworks as they will be the future of mobile app development, reducing the use of Native Platform Specific code only for very special cases that result in reducing the time to market a mobile app.

The post React Native Vs Flutter: Which One is Dominating in 2021? appeared first on MobileCoderz.