iOS and Android are the two most significant platforms for mobile app development. Usually, you need to develop the app for both of them with different coding scripts. Thus, cross-platform development has become more popular over the years in the smartphone industry. It helps you save effort and time while developing an application by hiring a mobile applications development company. Various tools have come into the market to make cross-platform development possible.
Also, the product owners are constantly looking for an expansion in their knowledge of the app development market. They want to use new technologies to develop high-performing applications and optimize the development time. That’s the reason; Flutter has taken entry into the mobile development industry.
Introduction to Flutter
Google introduced the stable version of Flutter in February 2018 at Mobile World Congress. Flutter’s alpha version was introduced by Google previously at Google I/0 (annual developers conference) in 2017.
With Google’s modern development kit, Flutter is designed to create mobile apps for iOS, Android, and Google Fuchsia, a new platform under development by Google. Since launching this extensive framework, Google has continued its promotions at conferences as they want more people to use it.
Flutter for Cross-Platform App Development
The development kit of Google allows you to create 2D mobile applications. You can use it to create full-featured applications with support for cameras, network, geolocation, storage, etc. If you need to develop stunning designs or stock platform applications, then a cross-platform framework like Flutter can be a suitable choice.
Pros
Flutter has numerous advantages that attract a large community of developers and app owners. Following are some crucial benefits of the Flutter framework for you:
Access to Native Features and SDKs
Some particular functions for particular platforms like geolocation and camera require access to native features. You will have to use native programming languages to implement these functions, and Flutter provides you with the feel of developing on the native platform.
Flutter also allows you to reuse existing Java, Objective-C, and Swift code to access SDKs on native features in Android and iOS.
Hot Reload
Hot Reload is one of the best things about Flutter. You can see all the modifications you’ve made to code right away in the application with this feature. It takes a few seconds to view the live changes, so your development team can quickly add new features, conduct experiments, and fix bugs.
Best for an MVP
If you want to introduce the product to investors as early as possible, you can create a Flutter mobile app that looks entirely native on both iOS and Android. So that your investors could get a clear frame of your idea of what your MVP looks like. At the same time, you would have to spend more time and money to hire a mobile app development company in the UK to develop both the apps separately.
Widgets
Widgets are essential for an application’s look and interface. They must have a natural feel and look regardless of the screen size. Choosing fast, customizable, and extensible widgets can make your app more attractive. Flutter will offer you all this as it has extensive capabilities and a rich set of widgets for building complex custom widgets.
In Futter, widgets are not only used for views. They are also used for full screens and even for the application itself.
Support Expertise
Since Flutter is one of Google’s premium initiatives, this comprehensive framework has a famous name behind it. There is excellent support from the team of Material Design experts and a community of thousands of developers who are willing to contribute to its growth.
Cons
Flutter is relatively Young and is still emerging and developing. The toolkit has some minor flaws. Let’s take a look at them.
Limited Number of Libraries
Google is behind Flutter, and that’s why there are so many helpful libraries available in it. However, this framework is relatively fresh in the market. You would not find every modern functionally you are looking for.
Native applications, on the contrary, comprise everything in their native SDKs, including Twilio, Stripe, and most streaming services like Ustream and Wowza. While using Flutter, you will have to hire a mobile applications development company to develop these libraries, which may be time-consuming.
Smartphones Only
Flutter is useful to create mobile apps only and isn’t compatible with web browsers. When you make a choice for the technology stack you want to develop with, this can influence your decision. If you need maximum device flexibility for your product, then Flutter may not be a suitable option for you.
Limited TV Support
If you’re wondering whether the applications built with Flatter can run on Apple TV or Android TV, then the answer is yes. But, Flatter offers very low or practically no support for Apple TV and Android TV.
Wrapping Up
Google is constructing the future of cross-platform development. Most Product owners and entrepreneurs often need to compromise between quality and productivity. They choose to build separate applications for Android and iOS or shift to a cross-platform solution that eventually fails to deliver native experiences. Flutter will be the most suitable platform to fill this gap. It focuses on complex visuals, native performance and productivity to help build your dream cross-platform application.