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App development process involve series of activities namely developing strategy, analyzing & planning, UI/UX design, app development, testing, deployment & support. Exploring the plethora of platforms, and resources takes up a huge amount of time, not to mention the chunks of code and hours spent programming.
Because time & applicability is of importance in any business, the entire process would revolve around finding an optimized and functional method to complete the task at hand. Ideally, what a developer looks forward to is completing the process within a given time, not compromising on the quality of the project, which depends on a lot of factors like the platform in which the codes are building, selecting an easily programmable yet efficient language, applicability etc.
Have you heard of Flutter?
Well, let me ease you into some of the features & see if it can help make the process any less time-consuming.
Flutter is an open-source, cross platform UI toolkit for app development created by Google. Flutter uses Dart as a programming language which is inspired by JavaScript. Previously named Sky, the app was unveiled at 2015 Dart development summit which caught the eyes of programmers worldwide with its ability to render consistently 120 frames per second.
From then on, there has been significant increase in the development of Flutter & app development community’s endless discussion about it. Some of the best design examples using Flutter are Reflectly, Google Ads app (Well, Why Not?), GroupOn, BMW, eBay etc.
Flutter is superfast, easy to work with, time saving and the best part, uses declarative programming.
Declarative programming relies on using logic and making results, which even though skips a lot of steps, but makes the programme much simpler.
Hot Reload saves you a lot of time by making any changes made in the code appear instantly. Bug fixing & testing gets easy with this function and you can have all your fun experiments while on the way.
Using additional third-party integrations, you can have native feature access and f the code used whether It is Kotlin, Swift or any else could be used and reused again if the need arises.
This is cliché, but have you ever built a lego house? The Flutter App Builder shares the feeling similar to something like that while you are building the app. You could mix and match the variations of code to experiment & get creative. Combined with Hot Reload & customizable widgets (which flutter provides) this is a dream come true for a lot of minds. Apart from that, you could also save quite a lot of time while building MVPs and start user testing in no time.
*No apps like Flutter
Flutter offers a completely new perspective on app developing which is unique, and wildly accepted. With no competition in its own field of play, flutter is thriving its way to the fame. On top of that, the team has been fixing bugs that once were negative remarks, improving by each update.
*Instant Changes
Flutter with the help of Hot Reload, brings changes made visible instantly on the application thus saving a lot of time. As mentioned earlier, this function is quite handy while bug fixing & testing.
*Single Code Base
Instead of using multiple codebases for multiple platforms, Flutter’s single code base for supporting platforms. Maintenance is made easier and time saving while using Flutter so that the developer can go back to more important tasks at hand.
*Enhanced User Experience
Flutter uses both Material & Cupertino for its widget, which is expressive and astonishing in look & feel. It provides the project a sleek and flexible UI experience for the user & developer.
*Swift & Efficient
With the user-friendly approach & widgets at hand, developing is made easier than ever. A shorter time spent on each project gives a flutter app developer, quality time to work efficiently and the firm, to optimize employee numbers.
*Web Browsers Supporting
Earlier versions of Flutter did not support web browsers but Flutter can now create progressive web apps, single page apps, convert existing mobile apps to webpages.
Additional Perk: 15 Web App Development Ideas You’ll Want to Steal in 2021
*Bigger App Sizes
Flutter app contains the whole runtime, so there is no dependency of a specific Android SDK version, therefore bigger size is inevitable.
Additional Perk: 10 Best Apps Built Using Flutter Framework
*Lack of Resources
Resources are literally life-savers for programmers in the making. Because Flutter has not been around for that long a time, its resources base still needs a lot of updating. Therefore, a lot of the programmes you have to write should be started from scratch by yourself.
*Dart as a Programming Language
Even though Dart is inspired from JavaScript, it still is a new language and not a popular one. So, to use Flutter, the user must learn it from beginning even after years of experience.
Read More: How To Choose The Best Flutter vs React Native From the Developer’s Point of View?
*If you need your app to be ready fast/ you are developing an MVP
As mentioned, Flutter has an extremely short and simple development cycle than a lot of other applications because of its availability of builder tools, integrated functions, and customizable widgets.
*If you need a complex User Experience
Flutter basically lets you control every pixel of the project, so an ability to customize all your way into the project is granted. It provides a complex yet exciting user experience only at the flutter development cost of your creativity.
*When your app needs excellent performance
Literally any SDK in the vicinity you use need bridges to integrate other platforms, but not Flutter. Anything and everything you do in Flutter need not require modifications for integrating, thus making it an original performance-oriented application.
*When Deadline is near
Flutter allows quick code writing using which in turn speeds up the entire development process. Not only is it fun to work with, the templates made available by the team leaves it so seamless to maneuver into the project.
To sum it up, Flutter has a lot of amazing features and it certainly is one-of-a-kind application to use. It requires a certain skill in Dart and a creative mind. But it is not perfect for every situation. It could take forever to build something that requires deep system level integration, games or anything that is a bit more complex.
Accessing more sophisticated platform specific features still demands writing native code & calling it from flutter. Bluetooth, wi-fi or custom camera access requires a lot of native code & all you could do is wrap it up using Flutter, resulting in sacrificing native feeling & not enough saved time.
Flutter is an excellent choice for simpler apps, but it will not replace native mobile app development. It is yet to improve in the libraries and resource bases but hopefully, we will get to see a more powerful update soon.
