Flutter Advantages: 10 Reasons Why Using Flutter For Your Next Project

What\’s the big deal about Flutter App Development? One of the biggest advantages of Flutter is cross-platform development, which developers can build attractive apps in iOS and Android platforms simultaneously. In addition, Flutter programming saves more time and money than native development. Because you don\’t have to hire two development teams to build two different platform for Android and iOS. Are you still wondering why everyone keeps talking about Flutter? Why should you use Flutter for your next project? Or What are Flutter\’s advantages can help your business growth? No matter who you are – a CTO, a startup founder or an enthusiast developer, this article is definitely for you. Especially, we will answer all questions about Flutter advantages and disadvantages. You\’ll also get a quick view why Flutter is one of the most loved and wanted framework by businesses and developers.

What is Flutter?

Flutter is a cross-platform technology from Google. From the very beginning, this toolkit allows developers to create applications for Android and iOS from single source code. Sound familiar? Yes, the same promise was repeated in some cross-platform framework like Xamarin, Iconic, Cordova, or React Native.

So do we really need a new framework like Flutter?

• For developers, you don\’t need to create new code for different platform. With cross-platform development, it easier for them because of its one code base and ready-to-use widgets. In other words, this makes it even more convenient and provides much better performance in both Android (as Material Design) and iOS apps (as Cupertino).

• For startup owners, you won\’t need to hire differently  iOS developer, Android Developer, and website developer. Another Flutter\’s advantages is cost control. Companies no longer have to worry about spending money on mobile app development for different platforms.

Flutter usages statistics

Moreover, Flutter is promising development trend 2020 which has shown no sign of slowing down any time soon. According to Statista, Google Flutter was the second most popular technology for application development in 2019. The advantages of Flutter app for businesses were so profound. In fact, there are many Flutter app examples in the market. And Xianyu, which is created by using Flutter, was downloaded more than 50 million times and has over 10 million active users every day. Sound interesting? With advantages Flutter offers, the Stack Overflow survey showed that it’s one of the most loved tools and technologies of 2020 by developers worldwide. But Flutter, which is like all programs, has both pros and cons. So that, in these paragraphs below, we will tell you what advantages of Flutter are as well as some advices based on our experience.

What are the advantages of Flutter for developers?

Every cross-platform framework is a dream of any business. Because if you separate two platforms native iOS and Android apps, it will be more expensive to develop and maintain. Just one single code base, Flutter allows to create a attractive apps for both operational systems. But, when comparing it with other competitors, Flutter is a bit different in some key aspects. Now, let’s have a closer look at benefits of Flutter software development.

1. Faster code writing

• Hot reload.

Typically, iOS and Android developers need to write code, then wait for it to compile, and be loaded on the device before seeing changes. But, with Flutter\’s hot reload, they can check the effects immediately or without delay. In other word, your development team, together with QA engineers and designers, can cooperate more effectively, make quick changes, and see outcome as well. This is exactly what makes Flutter app development time faster than others.

\”We found the Flutter development experience to be superior, with better hot reload capabilities, very strong official documentation, and a more stable API.\” –– Alexandre Freire, Engineering Manager, Nubank.

• Ready-to-use widgets.

Besides, customizable kit of widgets make it easy to create applications of any complexity. No matter the screen size, widgets is fast, reliable, and extensible. In addition, you can use ready-made widgets with a large set of Material and Cupertino. it is also possible to flexibly work with animation and gesture processing. Thus, the entire process is faster and simpler.

2. Large community support

Maybe you don\’t know, Flutter is developed by tech giant – Google. So that, Google consistently support Flutter developers with frequent updates and issue fixes. Moreover, when using Flutter, you can notice a significant increase in performance compared to similar technologies. The Flutter app development community has been growing from strength to strength. Since its first release, now, Flutter has 81,200 Stars on Github. Due to the friendly developer community, experts and beginners are ready to share their knowledge and experience. Moreover, Google organizes several events, helping both startups and established businesses to catch up, discuss, or learn how Flutter app help to grow businesses.

3. Similar to native app development

The Flutter software renders use an internal graphics engine known as Skia. This software allows fast and well-optimized development than most other mobile app frameworks. A Flutter application will be ultimately indistinguishable from the native app. Because Flutter doesn’t rely on any intermediate code representations or interpretation. Additionally, Flutter development team can work seamlessly on both iOS and Android. With highly advanced and custom UI designs, it is an excellent choice for mobile applications.

4. Own rendering engine

Obviously, Flutter requires a pretty wonderful user interface. The problem with many cross-platform solutions is that they look the same on iPhone and Android. But what about the companies that need to use Material Design for Android and Human Interface for iOS? For such companies, Flutter is the most suitable solution. It is equipped with packages that contain a set of custom widgets for both operating systems.

5. Simple platform

Flutter provides advanced OS features like GPS coordinates, sensor data collection, permission handling, Bluetooth, credentials, and other features in ready-to-use plugins that are supported by Google. If your app is reliant on an OS-level feature not available as a plugin, Flutter can establish communication between its Dart programming language and the native code using platform channels. This way, you can implement anything that a native app can do on a Flutter app, with just a little extra effort on the native side.

6. Beyond mobile applications

Since 2018, the technology appeared as Flutter 1.0. But that is not all, at 2019 I/O conference, Google announced a technical preview of Flutter web. Without any change source code, it is possible to run Flutter applications on browsers. In 2019, at fluterInteract, Google announced Flutter Octopus, which allows debugging on multiple platforms simultaneously. From one single codebase, developers can create a solution that will work not only on mobile, web, but also on Mac.

7. Good documents and resources

• Dart is very simple to get started with. If developers have any experience with JavaScript or other C-like languages, they will have no trouble picking up Dart within a day or two.
• There a robust plugin manager (pub.dev), where shows how to make use of styles, animations, and possible manipulations.

Flutter Advantages: For Customers And Businesses

You\’ve already understand advantages of Flutter for developers. But is it a good solution from business perspective? The answer is yes!

8. Quicker time to market

As a business owner, you may think that one of the biggest Flutter\’s advantages is hiring one team for both iOS and Android platforms. However, another important benefits of Flutter is fast time-to-market. For instance, it\’s hard to predict whether the iOS or Android version will be able to release product on time. While Flutter works for cross-platform at the same time. Even though there are cross-platform solutions with the same advantages, Flutter still stands out from other frameworks.

\”Flutter significantly reduced the time we needed to develop new features from one month down to two weeks.\” –– Bruce Chen, Senior Development Engineer, Alibaba

9. Beautiful UI

This year, Flutter partner with Google Assistant and Lenovo teams to most recent contest: Flutter Clock. In fact, we are always amazed by what developers around the world are building with Flutter. Let\’s take a look at the following video:

https://youtu.be/PaPUkxYHDUw

The framework offers a set of distinctive and eye-pleasing widgets. They also continuously improve the libraries with various interface components. As a result, a smaller development team can build a beautiful native app on both platforms much more quickly.

10. Cost-effectiveness

Cost optimization is an essential goal for every company. When developing native apps, business owners have to pay twice: one for iOS version, one for Android version. They must share the budget with two separate team. With the feature of Flutter, you only require one Flutter development team to developed and manage your apps. Hence, it significantly reduces expenses on human resources and shortens the time required to complete the development tasks.

Why should try Flutter?

For business, if you still unsure Flutter is right way or not, let\’s briefly go through the most outstanding advantages of Flutter:

• Native performance
• Highly expressive UI
• One single code for front end and back end
• An open-source project
• Perfect for a minimum viable product (MVP)
• Faster code development
• Reduce time-to-market
• Suitable for any target platform like app, web

In fact, in most large companies, they build a small part of their existing application in Flutter. After seeing benefits of Flutter, they start replacing other parts.

Some Advice From Our Experience

Is Flutter good for your business? No one can make the decision for you. If Flutter’s advantages can provide all the capabilities that an application needs, you should choose it. Flutter has pros an cons. But, the advantages of Flutter for businesses far surpass any disadvantages. Aside from the few areas where Flutter is currently lacking, we have to tell you that:

• Starting with Flutter could be not only simple but fast and efficient.
• The benefits of Flutter app for businesses show how much better it is than other cross-platform development frameworks.
• Investing in Flutter app development ensures you will get your app faster.
• In the long term, faster mobile app development will save more money.

Hopefully, this article has given you enough information to decide if you can use Flutter in your mobile application project. If you need to know more, don\’t hesitate to contact us at contact@agiletech.vn or via (+84) 936 281 059 for more information.