“I want to build a mobile application that both Android and Apple users can’t keep their hands off! But, I don’t want to spend a very huge amount. Is Flutter good for app development? Or do you have any other suggestions?”
We received the above enquiry via email a couple of days ago.
Short answer version – Yes!
Long answer version to the question: In this fast-paced life, only those apps succeed, which users can access on various devices. For instance, people sometimes shop using their mobile phones, iPads, or even laptops. Also, we must consider that, although unequal, there are scattered users of iOS, Android, and Web all around the globe.
The reasons behind the cross-platform frameworks gaining popularity are multiple. Viz. reusable UI blocks, responsive performance, and code reusability.
And, we are sure it is no surprise that you would want the app to be built without any compromises on quality, speed, and performance. Hence, you would like the application to be perfect.
The super fast emergence and hailing of digitization have very gracefully paved the way for newer technologies that provide a better user experience. Better in terms of everything — speed, performance, responsiveness, UI, and the list is endless! Entrepreneurs usually prefer native apps, but then due to lack of budget, they drop the idea. With Google launching Flutter in December 2018, this problem has a SOLUTION!!!
But First, What Is Flutter & Is Flutter Good for App Development?
Flutter is a renowned open-source software development kit (SDK) for applications developed by Google! Additionally, Flutter has become the #1 preference for building hybrid applications.
Apps built with flutter have a great UI. This technology provides the flexibility of making user-engaging Flutter interfaces.
So, what is the USP of Flutter?
The classic standpoint about Flutter is that we can use it to develop apps for six operating systems:
By using Flutter, there is no requirement for platform-specific codebases. This technology aids in developing the app on a hybrid platform — a single codebase for iOS, Android, and Desktop apps.
Image Source – Statista
Are you questioning ‘Who Uses Flutter Today in 2023’? Not only consumer applications but also well-established enterprises have been developing mobile apps or using Flutter as their base technology.
A few Flutter apps examples for you:
Is flutter open source? Yes
Does it let you make amazing designs? Yes
Why don’t you give it a shot if you see such named companies using Flutter Flutter architecture and framework for their apps?
The market’s biggest players have been built in or are using Flutter. Then why don’t you too…?? 🤔
Consult the Flutter mobile app development company!
Now that we have explained what flutter is, let’s learn what programming language it uses.
13 Advantages of Using Flutter for Cross-Platform App Development
Now that you know the answer to “Is Flutter Good for App Development?” is a yes; here are 10 points to convince you of the affirmation.
Have you watched the movie ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’? Every coin has two sides. Hence, Flutter brings along its very own set of pros and cons.
We are vouching for the advantages because they really overpower the disadvantages.Flutter pros and cons – Let’s get started with ‘Why Flutter is the best choice for mobile app development’.
1. Open-Source Framework
Since Flutter is an open-source platform, the code is easily readable and understandable. You can hire Flutter developers who can build a fully-functional app for you.
2. Cost-effective
Flutter’s cross-platform development capabilities and fast development times can help reduce the overall cost of app development.
3. Native Advantages of Cross Platform – Best Player!
We believe that Flutter is a winning framework because it offers the advantages of a native platform in a Flutter cross platform development (hybrid). What else an app needs more than this flexibility and smoothness!
Also, deploying your code in Flutter poses lesser risks of possible synchronization issues as compared to deploying codes on native platforms with two teams for iOs and Android.
4. Reusable Code
The code is reusable for both Android and iOS. You cannot exactly reduce development time by half, but Flutter helps you in shaving off quite a significant portion of that time.
PRO TIP!!!
Custom Widgets are a USP of Flutter!
Want customized widgets in your app too? Contact our business development team for more information!
5. Custom Widgets for Different OS
Flutter is one widget-based framework that enables developers to insert unlimited plug-ins smoothly. There is ample flexibility that this framework offers. Moreover, the Flutter components like custom widgets offered by the platform lead to the creation of user-gripping UI Flutter designs. It offers fast and easy customization. Flutter’s extensive widget library enables developers to create highly customizable UI designs that can be easily reused across different projects.
6. Strong Community Support
Flutter has a large and growing community of developers who contribute to its ecosystem by developing packages, tools, and plugins that make app development easier and more efficient.
7. Strong Backup – Firebase Backend
The backend of Flutter is Firebase. It is a pretty fast and reliable database. The Firebase backend is equipped with user authentication and usage tracking. Moreover, we can develop the app for iOS and Android in the Dart language at once. This reduces the app development cost and time both.
8. Google Guaranteed!
This might sound a little funny, but Google is itself based on Flutter, so there is no chance Flutter will lose its pedestal for decades together!
9. Hot Reloads!
Any changes made in the code reflect within seconds. There is no delay in the timings, and therefore everything is way too quick. This cuts the time required to restart the tester every time a change is made in the codebase. At the end of the day, this contributes to speeding up the development process.
10. Platform-Agnostic Nature
A single unit is used to test the entire code as a hybrid platform framework. There is no need to test two different versions of the app. The testing time is reduced, and the room for errors is minimized.
BOX OF INFORMATION!!!
Flutter uses third-party packages and Framework packages.
Part I
The most popular third-party packages used in Flutter apps are:
Part II
The most popular framework packages used in Flutter apps are
11. Faster Deployment
The best part of “is flutter good for app development” are its faster deployment capabilities. Codes written in Flutter are then compiled into ARM code for both Android and iOS. While updating or fixing the bugs, the code does not need reloading. The hot reload deploys the updates seamlessly.
12. High Performance Matters!
Whether it is a movie or a mobile application, performance matters the most!
If performance were a problem, the renowned brands would not have been using Flutter for their application interface. Its architecture and rendering engine enable it to deliver high performance, resulting in fast and smooth animations and transitions.
13. Compatibility with Existing Code
Flutter can be integrated with existing native code, making it a good choice for companies that want to add new features to their existing apps.
These were the benefits of Flutter for cross-platform mobile app development.
What Programming Language does Flutter Use?
The Dart programming language is the essence of how does flutter work.
Not only while writing the code but also for spotting the bugs followed by debugging —- Dart virtual machines aid the process via just-in-time execution.
The Dart null safety concept came up in March 2021. The latest Flutter 2.0 supports Dart sound null safety. Also, the Flutter app development framework is now available in beta version. This means that no variable in the code can have null values unless specified. This helps in reducing the errors in typing codes drastically.
The above image shows a couple of screenshots of the GearHead app developed and designed by Excellent Webworld.
Two Very Important Surveys About Flutter!
Survey #1:
A set of developers were asked a few questions about “Is flutter good for app development and do they prefer it?” Below is a graph that displays a visual representation of their answer. And also how the use of Flutter has been increasing considerably.
Image Source – Medium
Survey #2:
The Q4 of 2021 survey by Flutter recorded an all time-high of 10,105 responses in total. The results said that 92% of the users were satisfied by the apps made with Flutter. This positive graph has only been rising since the survey of Q4 in 2019. This implies that Flutter is a newbie very well taken and adopted by the app development industry.
SEE COMPARISON of Flutter alternative – Flutter Vs Kotlin
What All Types of Apps Can Be Built Using Flutter Framework?
“Is flutter good for app development?” – most development companies will say yes.
Following are a few categories which Flutter can do justice to. Let’s go into details of what is flutter used for!
Utility Apps today has gained immense prominence because of their multi-functionality. Just as in Economics every product and service has Form, Place, Position, Time utility; similarly, moreover, these also help in managing files, compression tools, disk management tools, etc. Note-taking, Flashlights, and Media playback tools all can be listed under this category.
There are no second opinions on whether or not the eCommerce applications have gained popularity today. To back this up with a statistic, retail m-commerce sales in the US will amount up to approximately $710 billion by 2025. Shopping, Grocery, Retail or any other type of on-demand app can be put under this title.
READ THIS ALSO – eCommerce UI/UX Design Tips To Increase Sales!
Users love using the apps wherein they can blurt out their feelings. Daily journals have always been a hyped up habit. Launching such an app can be very fruitful because of the high demand of mental health stability in this generation.
Also, another addition to the similar category would be the health and fitness apps. People skip gyms due to numerous reasons but they do choose to workout in the comfort of their home.
Having to carry cash is immensely boring and unsafe. It is not uncommon to use banks on phones. As the education ratio rises, people have been adopting online transactions worldwide. Banks, Insurance, etc.
This can involve OTT platform apps or the musical band’s personal applications. Die hard fans collect the smallest possible insights about the bands. Imagine the overflowing number of downloads if you launch an entertainment app made in the Flutter framework.
The projected rise of users on social media is 4.41 billion in 2025. The advanced framework of Flutter offers top-notch font faces, icons, typography, and scrolling behaviors. These altogether help in making the best UX.
There is not one but many niches wherein we can use the Flutter framework to building mobile applications. Drive your digital product to success with Excellent Webworld’s Flutter App Development Services.
Unveiling the Flutter Momentum (Fame).…
Flutter is like an unstoppable train. You better hop onto it or, your competitors will get onboard and surpass you. The worst part? They might capture the market share before you.
Image Source – Google Trends
Image Source – Twitter
Flutter & Other Tech Trends – A Perfect Combination!
Fun Fact – Flutter not only rhymes but is also like water. Just as water takes the shape of a container it is poured in. Similarly, Flutter gels in with other trends very well too. It is a must-say that Flutter is an easy-to-blend framework.
Apart from digging into the question “Is Flutter Good for App Development?”, let us go into the depth of the trending Flutter best practices.
Machine Learning was coined many, many years ago. But, it is still prevalent when it comes to devices. The Machine Learning kit allows the developers in API development and integration with utmost ease. Primary image recognition, text recognition, face detection, barcode scanning, image labeling, and language identification have become more accessible.
Also, it is possible to import a custom model in the Flutter framework via the Firebase backend. It is that major player who takes care of hosting and serving the model.
Lastly, the ML kit works efficiently, securely, and smoothly, whether migrated to the cloud or using the on-premise cloud. Pointing to the essential fact that it responds despite the low Internet connectivity.
Note – Flutter offers a plugin, firebase_ml_vision 0.9.7, that gives access to Firebase’s ML features and kits.
Although the AI buzzword is more recognized as Artificial Intelligence, it also means ‘Computational Intelligence’.
Blending two wizards of AI and Flutter can be a little tricky but developers at Excellent Webworld love challenges.
The early adopters of AI like Google and Netflix have captured a fair share in their industry markets. So, why don’t you do the same?
SEE COMPARISON of Flutter alternative – Flutter vs React Native
Scope of Flutter After 2023 – “Is Flutter the Future?”
After knowing the trends of Flutter, let’s discover the scope of Flutter future.
People have shifted from various cross-platform languages to Flutter because of the perks it brings along.
Clients look for app developer location, prevailing hourly rates, the complexity of features, engagement model, project duration, and location as well.
Cost Estimate to Develop Apps in Flutter?
The future of Flutter is bright! Having covered major topics about ‘Is Flutter Good for App Development?’, let us deep dive into the cost of developing an app in Flutter.
Conclusion – Fluttering Towards the End of Flutter App Development
Throughout the blog, you read the whereabouts of Flutter and explored is flutter good for app development and many other aspects of the app development. At this point, we would not say that Flutter is the universal solution to every application you want to build. But, you can consult the experts at Excellent Webworld.
We are a decade-old IT service provider with a base of 600+ clients in Flutter projects and many more services. The team will guide you with the front-end and back-end technologies for your dream mobile app.
Go through the excellent Clutch reviews for more details.
Let’s schedule a CALL to discuss the Discovery phase of your Project
FAQs – Flutter App & Web Development
Flutter is a good choice for both – app and web development. The reason behind it is that it gels in well with the current generation’s latest web rendering technologies.
Is Flutter good for app development? Yes! Is it good with complex apps? The USP of the Flutter language is that it serves cross-platform applications equipped with high-quality animations and graphics. However, Flutter can be used for building complex applications also. All complicated and hierarchical structures can be designed in Flutter Dart efficiently.
Flutter is a free and open-source platform used to craft beautiful, natively compiled apps for mobile, web, and Flutter desktop apps. Most Flutter web apps are PWAs (Progressive Web Apps)
While building an application, Flutter uses its very own programming language called Dart. Yes, of course, Flutter requires coding to develop applications.
Flutter uses the Dart programming language for improved application performance and responsiveness.
As a matter of fact, Flutter handles every pixel in the application. But, if you want, you can install the HTML plugin in your application by using the command ‘add flutter_html’ in your Dart code.
