It’s 2024, the mobile app industry is flourishing, and is predicted to grow in the coming years. With billions of mobile phone users around the world, the demand for high-quality mobile apps that offer value to their users is increasing.
With this growing demand, the pressure on developers is increasing as well, to deliver apps that can operate on multiple platforms. This can be difficult for start-ups as creating an app compatible with Android, IOS and other devices while the demand is at its highest can take up a lot of resources.
While right now there are many frameworks available to build cross-platform apps from a single codebase, none are as efficient as Flutter. Flutter is an open-source tool for cross-platform app development created by Google and powered by Dart programming language. Let’s dive deep into the use and benefits of Flutter for app development.
A] Cross-Platform App Development & Introduction To Flutter For Cross-Platform App Development
Cross-platform apps are mobile apps which can run on different platforms like Android, IOS, Linux, etc. Cross-platform app development has therefore become popular in recent years as it saves time, money and effort and produces high-quality apps for various platforms simultaneously.
With a cross-platform framework, developers can use a single codebase to create apps for different mobile systems. Hence, the developers do not need to code the software multiple times for individual platforms like IOS and Android.
The Flutter framework is one of the most popular frameworks for cross-platform app development. Since its launch in 2018, its popularity has skyrocketed due to the effectiveness and ease it provides its users. The Flutter codebase is platform-agnostic, meaning the apps created using the framework can run on various platforms without needing to alter them. The apps created with Flutter are also beautiful and provide a smooth user experience that is on par if not better than exquisitely designed, natively compiled applications.
Flutter helps build a cross-platform app from a single codebase efficiently by using its library of premade widgets and plugins. It uses Dart language, a client-optimised programming language for cross-platform software development. It is easy to read, remove and customise to fit the developer’s needs. In addition to providing cross-platform development, there are various features of Flutter which make it the prime choice for app developers.
B] Benefits of Using Flutter Cross-Platform App Development Tools
1. Automated Testing
Flutter apps are easily tested for bugs, stability and other features with automated headless testing. The dart:ui library allows developers to test the software without the UI on the device. This allows for faster testing and pointing issues which can be solved before the apps are marketed. Using Flutter you can run multiple tests under a minute.
2. Hot Reload
Hot reload shows the changes in your app after changing the code. It significantly reduces the development time as it gives more opportunities to experiment and fix bugs. With hot reloads, a Flutter app development company can try out new features on the Flutter platform, see how it affects the app’s UI and then decide on the feature.
3. Widgets
Flutter widgets are the defining feature of the development platform. Flutter has an extensive widget library, which can be used to design the entire app in less time. The widgets are highly customisable, helping to design apps with unique features.
4. Dart, Skia, And DevTool
The combination of Dart programming language, Skia graphics engine and DevTools makes Flutter very effective in ensuring the app’s quality. Dart is an excellent choice for building cross-platform apps with rich features with its simplicity. While Skia ensures the graphics are smooth and consistent across platforms. DevTools are efficiency tools which make the process of analysing errors and debugging easier.
5. Ease Of Learning
Flutter can be easily understood even by people with little or no experience in coding. Its extensive library of widgets makes it easier to create attractive apps without writing codes.
Further Reading: Best Flutter App Development tools to Utilize in 2024
C] How Flutter Can Help Your Company Succeed in the Mobile App Market?
From start-ups to corporates, businesses want to reduce their working cost and increase their productivity and Flutter can deliver both. Flutter is a budget-friendly framework by Google who are set on providing various rich features to optimise the user’s resources.
With Flutter, developers can create feature-rich apps with beautiful UI for multiple platforms using a single codebase. Having a single codebase means the developers can use a single code for various platforms saving time and money.
Flutter also reduces the time to market with the fast testing and debugging features, accelerating the development process. The smooth UI and UX help to reduce constant bug fixes and updates after the app is launched. Poor performance of the app will make users abandon the app, reducing ROI. Flutter ensures the app’s smooth performance by using tools like Skia and DevTools in addition to the Dart language. If you don’t have a team of flutter developers and want to build flutter applications, an easy solution is to get in touch with a Flutter app development company that will help you build your cross-platform compatible app.
Further Reading: Flutter App Development Best Practices to Follow in 2024
D] Types Of Cross-platform App Development Projects Which Can Benefit From Flutter
- E-commerce Apps: E-commerce apps require well-designed UI for product listings, shopping carts, payment gateway and more. Flutter provides essential tools to build such features that are both easy to navigate and visually appealing.
- Business Apps: With Flutter’s extensive library of customisable widgets, developers can create business apps for project management, inventory management, customer relationship management, and more.
- MVPs: Minimum viable products (MVPs) are the early version of an app which has the basic functionality for use and can be developed more in future. Flutter’s hot reloads, real-time changes to code and faster time to market make it an ideal choice for developing MVPs.
- Multimedia Apps: Multimedia apps can be easily built using Flutter’s audio and video playback features. Flutter is capable of delivering apps for podcasts, video streaming, etc. which can work perfectly on all platforms.
- Educational Apps: Flutter can be used to create interactive educational apps that have video streaming capabilities for language learning apps, quiz and trivia apps, video courses, etc.
E] Popular Apps Created Using Flutter Framework
- Google Ads
- Google Stadia
- Google Play
- The New York Times
- MyBMW
- Tencent
- SpaceX Go
Conclusion
When compared with other cross-platform app development frameworks, Flutter’s advantages make it the best tool for developing bespoke feature-rich apps. Flutter’s capabilities to reuse a single code for multiple platforms like Android and IOS, hot reloads to make quick changes and updates, and a shorter time-to-market makes it cost-effective and time-efficient.
Organisations can increase their productivity while simultaneously reducing costs with Flutter. The extensive widget library and plugins deliver custom feature-rich apps for various industries. Its versatility, efficiency and cost-effectiveness make it the perfect choice for cross-platform app development. If you are looking to develop a robust cross-platform mobile app, We at Siddhatech can provide you with a seamless design and development process. Contact us today to let us know how we can help!
Further Reading: Flutter App Development Trends to Look Out for in 2024
FAQs
Yes, Flutter helps to develop apps at affordable cost and within less time. This helps start-ups and small businesses to develop apps even with fewer resources and get back the investment quicker with a shorter time-to-market.
Flutter uses Dart programming language. It is a cross-platform developing language by Google which is easy to learn and use, efficient in creating codes and highly customisable.
With Flutter you can use native codes from Android as well as IOS using the platform channels feature. Platform channels help to combine the cross-platform capabilities of Flutter with the resources of native code.