Mobile development with Flutter - Pros and Cons in 2024

Many companies, when planning to build a mobile app, would like not to limit themselves to either the iOS or Android platforms. It's like trying to pick a favorite child: it's impossible to do.

That's why building apps that work across several platforms is all the rage now, and why Flutter is among the best options available. What, however, is the point of developing apps using the Flutter framework, and what are the advantages? Is it flawless to the point that no one can find any major errors? Is Flutter the way to go if you want to create an app that works on several platforms?

You’ll get the answer to all of these questions here. First, let’s see how it works.

How Does Flutter Work?

Google introduced Flutter in 2017 as an open-source platform for building cross-platform applications for Android and iOS using a common codebase. With Flutter, you can build powerful apps using the coding language Dart. It works with Android Studio and supports inline videos and advertisements. For smartphones and tablets that are compatible with both iOS and Android, it's closer to an SDK.

Instead of being a framework, Flutter is an SDK that comes with all the necessary components to create apps that can run on many platforms. One of the most widely used Google software types, Flutter provides a wide range of capabilities and advantages. There are benefits and drawbacks to Flutter, just as there are to every technology.

Why Flutter is a Good Choice for Mobile Development

Many mobile and web app development services enjoy working with Flutter, which is why it has become the market winner. Let’s explore the benefits of using Flutter app development for mobile devices. There are six reasons to go with Flutter.

#1 It’s Quite Fast

You can save expenses on app development projects, save technical resources, and shorten time-to-market using Flutter, which is a major selling point compared to other options. Like other frameworks, Flutter offers a platform that lets you develop apps for both iOS and Android using the same codebase.

With its most recent update, Flutter has made it possible to build for the web, macOS, Linux, and Windows. Flutter is opening up even more possibilities for cross-platform compatibility and savings by expanding its cross-platform capabilities.

#2 It Has Different Widgets

Flutter makes use of pre-made widgets, as we said before. Flutter is essentially widgets, you may even say that. The ability to construct a user interface using these components is one of the product's groundbreaking features. In contrast, Flutter's reliable and integrated object model allows it to work with a wide variety of objects, including layouts and controllers.

Flutter widgets may be anything from buttons to padding to fonts. Layouts may be made by combining widgets, and you can use them at any degree of customization, from using pre-existing sections to making your own widgets using the same tools the Flutter team used.

While Flutter's tree-based widget organization makes rendering a breeze, it also runs the risk of making the whole structure too complicated. A simple object in a large application may contain as many as ten layers of code, so it's important to prepare beforehand.

#3 It Offers “Hot Reload”

There are no additional plugins needed for the hot reload tool to function since it is built into Flutter's framework. Essentially, it lets you see code changes as they happen. Picture this: the app you were trying to execute ran into an issue. It doesn't matter whether you're in the middle of fixing it or not; Flutter allows you to pick up just where you left off. With hot reload, you can try things quickly, speed up iterations, and increase productivity.

With Flutter, you may use hot restart instead of hot reload. Hot restart removes the app state and compiles the code from scratch. While it does take longer than the normal restart, it is still quicker in the long run. Of course, when using Flutter to build a website, you will not be able to use hot reload; instead, you will need to resort to hot restart.

#4 It’s Easy to Customize

Google has prioritized personalization in the Flutter system because they understand that app design is key to competing in the app store. 

Flutter gives users full control over the visual appeal of their deployed apps by using widgets that are customized to the environment. With all the many kinds of highly customized Flutter apps out now, it gives you "command over every square inch of the screen.

The rendering engine in Flutter is one of its distinctive features. When compared to other frameworks, Flutter's UI code is more robust and quicker since it generates its own UI widgets for the device, rather than relying on traditional frameworks to do so.

The best thing about Flutter's UI customizability is that you can use a single script for various platforms, resolutions, and devices. Quite often, the framework can do things that the majority of tools just can't do just now.

#5 It is Backed By Google

Google is behind Flutter, and the tech is used extensively by Google, so you can be confident that it will get ongoing support. There will be no delays in fixing any issues, and the product will continue to evolve for a very long time.

What’s even better is that a gigantic, international Google community uses the Flutter programming language to develop and debug apps. So, if you run into any problems when using Flutter, you can be sure that there are plenty of resources to get answers.

Also, to make sure the apps run on several platforms and guarantee good performance, Google is building Fuchsia UI and applications using Flutter. Given its significance to this enormous project, we anticipate that Flutter will still be a big player in the long run.

#6 It’s Easy & Affordable

Because Flutter is so easy to use, even a developer who has never worked with many platforms before can start building an app using it in a matter of weeks. To help educate and improve Flutter developers, Google also offers a wealth of training materials.  

It goes without saying that you can decrease costs by shortening the time it takes to design, test, and launch your Flutter websites and apps. However, various sources report varying amounts of savings. We can't guarantee a precise sum, but we can guarantee that these savings will be noticeable no matter how big or little your project is.

#7 It’s Global

Google offers in-built tools to help make your products accessible to more people since they believe in diversity and inclusion. If you'd like the app to support many languages and locations, you usually have to have the code ready for translated content, which is developed later. This action is known as internationalization.

To make things easier, Flutter comes with its own set of widgets built on top of the Dart package. There are about 80 supported languages, along with a plethora of other features, such as date formats, layout variations (for right-to-left texts), currencies, etc.

Why Flutter May Not Be the Best Choice

Of course, every programming language comes with shortcomings, and Flutter is no exception. Compared to these seven upsides for any mobile app development company, there are four reasons that show why it’s not the best option for every scenario.

#1 It’s Relatively New

One major issue with using Flutter for development is that it is still in its early stages of maturity. When compared to other mobile programming frameworks, Flutter is still very young.

There hasn't been enough time for developers to build up their expertise and create hundreds of real apps, unlike many other frameworks. When it comes to mission-critical applications, many of Flutter's auxiliary libraries and tools aren't quite enough. Of course, it continues to grow and expand.

#2 Not Enough 3rd-Party Libraries

When it comes to simplifying software development without reinventing the wheel, third-party libraries and tools are vital. Because of their accessibility, open-source nature, and extensive testing history, these libraries are a great choice. After all, any developer loves to test out a tool that has proven itself in other settings.

It is not typically hard to find these libraries for older, more established languages, but it is a common challenge for modern ones. Of course, Flutter has thousands of packages, and that figure is only going up.

#3 Non-Standard Design

Some of Flutter's strongest points come from its capacity to render its own components; yet, this capability also causes Flutter applications, especially on mobile platforms, to deviate from the standard look.

With Flutter, you can create Android applications with Google's Material style and iOS apps with Apple's Cupertino style. These provide features that are compatible with the platform they're running on, but stand out from non-Flutter applications, which sometimes is not great because there's value in following the norm. This may be a major issue if you want consistency between Flutter and applications that don't use Flutter.

Being able to distinguish yourself from the competition may be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on your situation.

#4 Dart is Not There Yet

In and of itself, Dart is an excellent programming language given its speed, object-orientedness, and standard paradigm. However, when it comes to adoption, it is still less dominant than industry heavyweights like JavaScript and C#. If you're building a mobile team, it could be difficult to recruit new members as not many new engineers would choose Dart. Be sure to keep this in mind when you choose a cross-platform strategy and want to work with Flutter and Dart.

So, is Flutter a Good Option Overall?

There are a number of other frameworks available besides Flutter that can write code for both the Android and iOS platforms.

When it comes to cross-platform technologies, the Flutter framework is now well-known and respected by users, business owners, and developers worldwide. It's a free and open-source framework for making mobile apps that work on several platforms with only one set of source codes.

Since developers using Flutter don't need to write that much code to create a cross-platform app, we can say that it's a user-friendly tool for novice and advanced programmers. So, overall, it seems that Flutter is a solid choice to develop Android and iOS apps, but the final decision really depends on your team, resources, and specific projects.

FAQs

Is Flutter a good choice for startups?

You may build a broad range of applications using Flutter, from little ones for startups to big ones for companies. The technology is incredibly versatile. It works well for small apps because it lets developers make apps quickly and delivers the finished result for a low price.

Is Flutter good for enterprise apps?

Since it is an adaptable framework that many are using in production, Flutter is also a fantastic technology for business applications. This is especially true in the banking sector, which often has higher requirements for software and more complicated demands.

Can you use the Flutter Programming Language for an existing application?

One advantage of Flutter is that it allows you to add functionality to existing mobile apps as well. With Flutter's Add-to-App capability, you may modify your current project while adding new features or rewriting other portions of the native app development process. Of course, another option is to completely rebuild your project in Flutter.

What's the process to create an app using Flutter?

At LANARS, we follow a thorough approach to designing and developing Flutter apps. We combine agile techniques with user-centric design concepts to make sure everyone works together efficiently and we create apps that look amazing.

What’s your experience with Flutter mobile app development?

As a reliable mobile app development company, we guarantee first-rate Flutter programming services since our team is very competent in the framework and has the necessary credentials to back it up. So, if you plan to start a mobile app project or want to integrate Flutter into your current app, you can contact LANARS team representatives and get an accurate quote in no time.