Planning to launch a mobile app? Still, confused which cross-platform framework you should choose in 2020? If so, Flutter is one of the best choices for startups, entrepreneurs, and big-scale enterprises to roll-out feature-rich applications without making a hole in the pocket.
But, how?
Let’s go deep in this post to determine everything related to flutter mobile app development and why it is setting a new development trend in 2020.
Released in 2017, Flutter is still a newbie in the cross-platform app development industry. But due to its robust features and unbeatable benefits, it has marked its footsteps in the mobile app development market.
Today, with several cross-platform options available to build a mobile app in 2020, you must be wondering why to go with flutter for this battle!
But don’t panic! We’ve answered all your questions.
Highlights of This Post
- What Exactly Is Flutter?
- Flutter App Development: Is It the Only Way to Go Mobile in 2020?
- Is Flutter Compatible With Web And Desktop?
- Why Makes Flutter Still In-Trend in 2020?
- Which Tools And Widgets Makes Flutter A Unique Cross-Platform Framework?
What Exactly Is Flutter?
Powered by Google, Flutter is an open-source platform that uses single codebase to build native Android and iOS applications. Instead of being a module, it’s a complete software development kit (SDK) that consists of all the components and widgets needed for mobile app development across platforms.
Flutter App Development: Is It the Only Way to Go Mobile in 2020?
Below are some of the key points that make Flutter the most promising platform for the year 2020.
#1 Backed by Big-shot Google
Featuring cloud computing solution, Flutter is Google’s UI kit that aids developers to build comprehensive native applications. Though several high-end native app development options like Java, Swift, and Kotlin are prevalent in the market, Google promises to leverage enhanced user experience by its latest framework Flutter. This clearly states that the more the number of flutter app developers, the higher would be flutter app development demands. So, the relationship is directly proportionate. Also, since last year, the flutter app developer community is on the rise since more developers are taking interest in learning this new paradigm shift.
Comparison of Flutter and React Native – Stack Overflow
The graph by StackOverflow clearly indicates the rise of Flutter v/s React Native where Flutter is just the new talk of the town.
Google Ads, Alibaba, Reflectly, Cryptograph are some of the leading apps that have achieved huge success backed by Google’s Flutter.
#2 Flutter: Fast but Not So Furious
Let’s get technical with flutter app development. There are multiple challenges a developer might face while learning the Flutter language. One of the major roadblocks a developer might face is a lack of standardization and features.
But Dart is specifically designed for flutter and is tuned for high optimization of the User interface. The syntax is quite simple and easy which makes it convenient for developers to build powerful applications. Moreover, Dart being quite similar to C# and TypeScript help flutter app developers to build apps by gaining command over Dart. With hands-on community support, the development would be quick and easy. This is the reason why flutter is one of the most popular languages for mobile app development.
Is Flutter Compatible With Web and Desktop?
Yes, Flutter is highly compatible with web and desktop.
a) Flutter Web
Yes, you heard it right! Flutter has gone beyond the mobile and has entered the web world with some new and extravagant features. Empowered with standard technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, apps built-in flutter can easily comply with modern web browsers. Moreover, the same code base that is needed to build Android and iOS applications can be used to build flutter web apps.
Apart from this, talking about flutter mobile app development, developers build mobile UI keeping in mind multiple screen sizes, browsers, and screens. In order to make the application responsive, many widgets like LayoutBuilder and MediaQuery help developers to build a mobile app that’s compatible with the web too.
b) Flutter for Desktop
The desktop support allows developers to compile flutter source code to the native macOS desktop app. It means that the flutter team will not stop web support. Moreover, flutter’s desktop support has extended till plugins which means that developers just need to install the plugins supporting the macOS platform and you’re good to go.
c) Multi-platform Portability
Yes, flutter is a highly cross-platform compatible framework. Being a developer, you always look forward to adapting the fastest-growing platform. But, before that, make sure to ensure that your app gives apt performance across multiple platforms to reach a broader spectrum.
What Makes Flutter Still In-Trend?
Below are some of the reasons why flutter is the development trend of 2020:
#1 Same UI and Business Logic Across Platforms
The first and foremost advantage of flutter is maintaining the same UI pattern across platforms through reusable widgets. It thus eliminates the need for an individual set of UI properties which includes font, size, color, etc. You can adjust the application’s UI by editing the code in Android and iOS.
#2 Time Saver
Owing to the flutter’s hot reload feature, there’s no need to spend time on app deployment. You can instantly apply changes in the current application state without losing any data.
Fixing bugs, adding new features, building UI without any compromise in development, and speed not only reduces application’s quality assessment efforts but also acts as a powerful reason to choose flutter over other platforms.
#3 Cross-platform App Performance Quite like Native
Written in a language called Dart, Flutter eliminates the need for JavaScript bridge since it is compiled to native machine code.
The application compilation and release are way faster than React Native.
#4 Custom and Animated UI Available
With Flutter, you can create a highly complex UI for multiple OS versions by combining multiple widgets. As flutter holds a large library with multiple animations support, the application developed not only looks polished and smooth but can also be customized.
#5 High App Responsiveness
Applications built on flutter has an ability to run on any platform without any change in the Dart code and outstanding platform design. Flutter app development has gone a great way ahead of mobile and has opened new opportunity doors for web and desktop that are already in active use today.
#6 Markets the App in Real-time
In today’s technology era where things are getting rolled out on an instant move, there’s an opportunity for everything. So, its quite essential to stay updated with the ongoing trend.
Flutter mobile app development companies can access a complete range of pre-design libraries, tools, and a single codebase approach to build a robust cross-platform app. Below are some significant benefits that cannot be avoided:
- It reduces the app development time to a greater extent.
- It eliminates the risk of having bugs and can be fixed instantly in no time.
Which Tools and Widgets Makes Flutter a Unique Cross-Platform Framework?
Released in 2017 and widely accepted in 2018 for stable production, Flutter is considered as one of the fastest-growing mobile app platforms for app developers, states – Github’s 2019 October Report.
Though a bit new development tool, there are multiple things to keep an eye over this year:
1) SetState
With the help of setState, the framework gets a notification about the internal changing state. It is easy to understand but difficult to maintain.
2) InheritedWidget
It is a parent widget that is developed as a class where data fields are used later on.
It is used for propagating information down the widget tree. It notifies flutter if the widget has data inheritance that should be rebuilt.
3) Provider
ChangeNotifiesProvider is actually a widget that makes instances accessible by calling the create() method.
Conclusion
Newer trends in context to AI, AR/VR, and IoT are constantly on roar in the market and there is no looking back with immense potential of betterment in the near future. Similarly, Google’s Flutter holds immense potential for companies to create on-demand and real-time applications that run everywhere regardless of platform difference with quicker turnaround time.
Are you looking forward to building a native-like mobile experience for all the platforms? Flutter with a dart is the perfect solution. It is the perfect choice for your business to target potential customers on both platforms. Hire flutter app developers from experienced mobile app development companies and get your business app developed in a quicker and affordable way.
Have you built any flutter mobile app for your business? Kindly share your experiences in the comments section below.
DepositPhotos – app development