Managed by Google, Flutter is a well-known and widely used open-source, cross-platform app development framework. Since the Flutter framework came into existence; it has gained a lot of popularity throughout the world and is being utilized by a number of businesses and developers. With Flutter development services, businesses are able to develop applications that work well with iOS, Android, and Google Fuchsia. It is giving a tough competition to other cross-platform frameworks such as React Native. Though Flutter is relatively a new framework, it is already being used by some of the big and well-established brands such as Google Ads, Alibaba, Hamilton Musical, Reflect, etc., to create cross-platform mobile applications.
Flutter is quite easy to learn even if someone has never used Dart before. The key reason why Flutter is a favorite framework of many developers is that it allows them to utilize a single codebase to develop cross-platform apps. This not only helps to make the app development faster but also helps in reducing bugs, improving functionality, and generating better ROI.
A Brief History about Flutter
Flutter was introduced by Google in the year 2015 as an advanced SDK (Software Development Kit). It was based on the Dart language and was initially introduced as a platform for Android development. In the year 2017, an alpha version of Flutter (0.0.6) was released to the public for the first time. Since 2017, Google has been investing in Flutter and recommending it as one of the best platforms for mobile app development. In the year 2018, a new version of Flutter 1.0 was released and made available for the developers, allowing them to develop mobile applications using this SDK. In 2019, Flutter support for desktop and web platforms was announced publicly. Various tools for developing Flutter applications for MacOS, Windows, Linux, and Web were also released.
Reasons to Choose Flutter App Development
Some of the key reasons to choose Flutter app development over other frameworks like Native and Hybrid app development include:
- Cost-Effectiveness: Since Flutter app development requires developers to utilize a single codebase once, it reduces the time and effort in developing, testing, and managing two applications. This further helps to save a lot of app development costs.
- Faster Time to Market: As app development using Flutter requires less time for coding, it allows developers to focus on other functionalities of the application instead of replicating it on various platforms. All this allows businesses to launch their app faster in the market without the need of extra resources.
- Exceptional Performance: As compared to hybrid applications, the Flutter framework does not require any kind of bridge or link to communicate with the underlying operating system. This makes Flutter applications quite powerful and high-performing apps similar to Native mobile applications.
- Hot Reload: Hot Reload is one of the best features of the Flutter framework. This feature allows developers to quickly see the changes in the code in real-time. It further assists developers in performing experiments, building UIs, adding features, and fixing bugs easily and quickly. The hot reload feature usually works by injecting updated source code files into the running Dart Virtual Machine. As soon as any changes are implemented, the developers can see the effects, and accordingly, they can proceed ahead with the app development process.
- Highly Flexible, Scalable, and Easy to Integrate Solution: Flutter is an easy to access and integrate framework. It also comprises flexibility and scalability capabilities. Whether one wants to redevelop an existing application to match it with current and future market trends or want to create an outline to present it in front of the investors, Flutter is an ideal solution that can be integrated for any purpose.
- Desktop App Support: Flutter desktop app support allows developers to pile up Flutter application’s code to a native MacOS, Windows, or Linux desktop application. The developers can also create customized Flutter plug-ins that support MacOS, Windows, and Linux platforms. This ultimately helps to make an app work smoothly on a desktop.
- Own Rendering Engine: The Flutter framework utilizes its own rendering engine that makes it more competitive as compared to other cross-platform tools. Thus, this framework provides support for various older versions of Android as well as iOS.
- Web Support: Web support for Flutter is another excellent feature of Flutter that delivers similar experiences on the web as on mobile. It allows developers to create apps for iOS, Android, and the browser from the same codebase.
- Huge Widget Library: Flutter comprises various ready-to-use widget collections. Developers can select widgets based on the project requirements, type of platform, nature of the application, and various other factors. It is important to note that the widgets present in Flutter’s library are standard widgets based on the key preferences of the users. Besides a huge library of widgets, Flutter also has animations that can be utilized to make an application even more appealing and effective. Therefore, by employing these widgets, developers are able to make an application that is more acceptable for the target customers.
Conclusion:
Flutter is quite a simple to use framework that allows developers to create functionally rich, visually attractive, and top-performing cross-platform apps. So, if you are planning for Flutter app development, it is advisable to hire Flutter developers who are well-experienced and have all the required skills to deliver a customized Flutter app development project that best meets the business requirements.
