Why Choose Flutter for Cross-Platform Apps?

Staying flexible and responsive is essential for thriving in the tech industry. We know this firsthand; businesses need development solutions that adapt quickly, scale efficiently, and deliver seamless performance across multiple platforms. That’s where cross-platform development makes a real impact.

With a single, streamlined solution, cross-platform development helps you reach users across Android, iOS, web, and more. It reduces development time, optimizes resources, and ensures a consistent experience on all devices.

Among the tools available, Flutter stands out as a flexible and highly efficient framework. Created by Google, this open-source cross-platform development framework enables developers to create large-scale and high-performing mobile, web, and desktop applications from one shared codebase.

To do so, it uses the Dart programming language (also developed by Google), which provides a reactive programming model that facilitates the development of high-quality, visually rich applications while compiling native code. This makes its apps run smoothly and quickly, even on older devices.

Thanks to its growing popularity, Flutter is quickly becoming the go-to solution for cross-platform mobile development.

Introduction to mobile development

The mobile app industry has grown rapidly in recent years, with the number of apps available in stores increasing exponentially.

According to a recent report, in Q1 of 2023, mobile devices (excluding tablets) accounted for nearly 58% of global web traffic. Moreover, by 2024, experts anticipate that mobile commerce (mCommerce) sales will reach $534.18 billion, accounting for nearly 40% of total eCommerce sales. This growth is largely driven by the widespread use of tablets and smartphones.

This highlights the increasing reliance on smartphones for a wide range of daily activities, from communication to shopping and entertainment, as users shift more of their time online to mobile platforms.

As users spend more time on their phones, new products and services continue to emerge, adapting to evolving needs. It’s been a while since smartphones’ capabilities go beyond just making phone calls and sending text messages: they are essentially handheld computers that can perform a wide variety of tasks. They offer users a versatile and convenient way to stay connected, informed, and entertained, supporting everything from remote communication and exercise to streaming, shopping, and even healthcare.

This rapid growth has intensified competition within the mobile app industry. Developers are racing to create innovative solutions while seeking faster, more efficient ways to build applications. In this environment, Time to Market (TTM) is critical for success. TTM refers to how quickly a product moves from development to being available for customers.

Why choose Flutter?

Choosing Flutter for your next project can be a game-changer. Let’s explore the key benefits it brings:

Flutter and Dart

One of the key benefits of Flutter is its own programming language, Dart, which is an object-oriented language developed by Google. Dart offers null safety features, making it easier for developers to catch potential issues early in the development process. The combination of Flutter and Dart allows developers to high-performing native apps across multiple platforms.

Development Time

Flutter’s hot reload feature is probably one of its primary benefits. It provides a fast development cycle allowing developers to see modifications in the application in real-time without the need to recompile the app every time a change is made, avoiding losing its state. This feature makes the development process faster and more efficient.

While Native development requires separate codebases for each platform, Flutter allows—with a single codebase—deployment for both iOS and Android app development. For the development process, this means a significant amount of time saved, since developers don’t have to create and maintain a specific codebase for each platform.

Design flexibility

Flutter provides a rich set of customizable, pre-built widgets that allow developers to create innovative pixel-precise, visually appealing UIs. It supports both Google’s Material Design and Apple’s Cupertino design standards, boosting consistency across platforms.

In Flutter, almost everything is a widget. These range from structural elements like Scaffolds, Columns, and Containers to interactive components like buttons, images, and text fields. Flutter compiles these widgets into native code, which boosts performance and delivers smooth, responsive animations and transitions.

Open-source and community-driven

Flutter is open-source and backed by an active developer community. This means plenty of shared resources, libraries, and tools to help solve challenges. Being open-source also means that it is free to use, which makes it an attractive option for businesses and developers aiming to build high-quality apps on a budget.

Comprehensive documentation

Flutter offers extensive and well-organized documentation, including installation, tutorials, and a widget catalog. For most of the widgets, there are explanatory videos and images, as well as a DartPad section with example code and its widget, which allows developers to modify said code and see the changes applied. It’s also developed in English, so every widget’s name and property represent exactly what they are.

Powerful support tools

Flutter supports many development environments, such as Visual Studio Code, Android Studio, and IntelliJ IDEA. It also integrates with third-party tools like Google Maps, Firebase, and social media APIs, making it easier to add features to your app.

Yes, but… Consider these challenges

While Flutter offers many benefits, it’s important to consider a few potential challenges before making your decision.

Learning curve

As Flutter uses a unique language, taking the time to learn Dart is a must. This time may vary, depending on the previous knowledge of other languages developers might have. Since Dart is an extended version of JavaScript, for those who are already proficient in other languages, it may take a little longer to learn.

Limited resources

Despite its growing community, Flutter still has a smaller pool of third-party libraries compared to other mobile app development frameworks like React Native. The same happens with some specific platform features, including certain APIs, which are essential for enabling software components to interact and exchange data. While native development allows access to all of the device’s features and capabilities, Flutter relies on platform channel plugins to bridge the gap. This means some complex features or APIs might not be readily available or could require additional coding effort.

So, why are APIs important? APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) provide tools and resources that define how software components interact. They help developers easily access data and services from different sources, enabling the creation of applications that work smoothly across platforms and devices by exchanging data through requests and responses.

Running speed

Although Flutter apps perform near-native performance speeds, they may run slower compared to other frameworks, especially in larger-scale apps. Still, this difference in speed is usually almost imperceptible.

Conclusion

Flutter is a powerful, flexible framework that offers faster development cycles, a robust widget system, and high native performance. While there are some downsides, its advantages—like rapid iteration, strong documentation, and third-party API integration—make it a compelling choice for building cross-platform apps.

Flutter’s hot-reload feature allows developers to iterate quickly. Its extensive documentation and large community of developers make it easy to get started and find support. With Flutter, you can create high-quality apps more efficiently, reducing time-to-market (TTM).

As more developers adopt Flutter, expect to see even more innovative apps built with this framework. So, if you’re seeking an efficient way to build cross-platform mobile apps, Flutter is definitely worth considering.

FAQs About Flutter

Is Flutter a programming language?

No, Flutter is an open-source framework. It uses Dart, a programming language developed by Google, to build apps across platforms like mobile, web, and desktop.

What language is used in Flutter?

Flutter uses Dart. This object-oriented language offers features like null safety, making it easier to reduce errors and compile to native code for high performance.

Is Flutter a dead framework?

Not at all! Flutter is thriving, backed by Google and a strong developer community. With features like hot reload and its ability to create Flutter applications for Android app development, iOS, and web applications, Flutter continues to grow in popularity.

Is Flutter Python?

No, Flutter is not based on Python. Instead, it uses Dart, a language specifically developed by Google for Flutter app development. Dart enables developers to write apps with fast native performance and seamless rendering of UI elements.

Is Flutter based on Java?

While Flutter is not based on Java, it can interoperate with it, especially for Android app development. Flutter uses Dart as its primary language but you can integrate platform channel communication with specific platform features like Java or Kotlin for Android.

How does Flutter render widgets?

Flutter renders widgets by converting the UI into native components that run smoothly on different platforms. This allows the UI to maintain high performance while running on a single codebase across Android apps, iOS, and the web.

Partnering for your growth

At Seta Workshop, we specialize in using Flutter to deliver multi platform solutions tailored to your needs. Whether you’re looking to develop fast apps for Android or need support integrating a specific platform feature using a platform channel, our team is here to guide you through the process.

With our expertise in building Flutter applications, you’ll deliver your project in time and optimize it for high performance across all platforms.