Cross-platform development provides services for multiple platforms. An app developed through cross-platform can run on various devices. There are many advantages of using this development and they are: cost-effectiveness, easy to implement, fast development phase, uniform nature, and so forth.
Among various cross-platform frameworks ruling the industry, the one that is gaining huge momentum is Flutter.
Flutter has a very different approach from other frameworks. Flutter uses Dart language which is easy to understand and this framework is completely free to use as it is owned by a reliable source called Google.
Flutter has impacted mobile app developers and app development companies in many ways and earned a lot of profit. The rise of Flutter app development services has been gaining momentum and fortunately, this framework can be learned by anyone who is well versed in Java and C++ and for extra help app developers are joining Flutter communities where professionals can answer every question related to it.
Flutter has launched its 1.12 release in April 2020 introducing several new features like OpenType Rich Typography. Android X support, improved Dartpad, Google font package, etc.
This cross-platform has become the first choice of every developer and company by becoming the winner of Flutter vs React Native comparison.
But, if you are still confused about why Flutter should be considered for making your entry into the cross-platform development world, here are a few points.
Is Flutter Convenient For Cross-Platform Development?
Flutter app development is considered the best option for cross-platform mobile development. Want to know the why? Dive down to know more about it.
Different And Unique Widgets
Everything in Flutter is a widget from screen layout to buttons. These widgets are placed in the hierarchy and they can hold widgets within a widget which is also called container widget. They are easily customizable. Each widget within flutter is a declaration of the user interface, Flutter used Cupertino widget for iOS and Material Design widgets for Android but it’s now a norm. You as a developer can use these widgets on exchange.
Sleek Application Performance
Flutter used DART which is an (AOT) ahead of time completed language. With this technology, the application can directly communicate with native platforms. This ability of flutter saves a lot of time and effort and allows developers to build complex mobile applications with effective performance optimization.
Same Coding Ability
Coding is an inert task and app developers find it very hard to find a platform that can help them write their code faster but with Flutter everything is possible. Flutter app developers can make changes in their coding and see realtime development in the app instantly. The programming style of Flutter is reactive and developing code from scratch is not a necessary option with it. The same code can be used over and over again with minimal changes for both the platforms.
Hot Reloading
For easy and fast experiment Flutter’s hot reload is used, this feature helps build beautiful UIs, fix bugs, and add more features. With hot reloading, developers can make instant changes in the app without having to change the whole coding process and can begin building their code from where they left. A hot reload can work only after the updated source code is added into Dart Virtual Machine.
Simultaneous Development
As said earlier, Flutter’s coding can be used multiple times from both the Android and iOS platforms that are built using Flutter. With this feature, an app developer can code efficiently and not dread this time at all. It is a choice of the developer to use the same coding to change the coding completely to build a mobile app for a different platform with the same features but developments done with Flutter are effective on both Google and Apple platforms.
Great and Rapid UI
Flutter is less cumbersome compared to others. It is an open SDK source that lets you create mobile applications of high performance for both iOS and Android platforms. Flutter can build a simple yet unique User Interface that is smooth. With rich varieties of widgets, the apps appear to look natural. Performance scrolling, fonts, navigation, etc produce an impactful app.
Variety of packages
You are never running out of varieties with Flutter. Flutter is a very young UI framework but people from all around the globe are embracing it widely. There are various packages of different kinds like- Dart Package and Plugin package, which are explained briefly below.
Dart Package
It is a general package provided by flutter which is written in dart language. This can be used in both web and mobile application development and is the same as the path package.
Plugin Package
It is a specialized package that includes API written in Dart code. It can be used with platform-specific implementation for underlying platforms like Android and iOS.
These packages are contributed by other developers and they help in building apps without having to develop anything from scratch.
There are many famous companies that are using apps built through Flutter’s framework like Alibaba (eCommerce), Hamilton Musical (Entertainment), Birch Finance (Finance), Hookle (Social), and many more. But the real question here is – What is the future of Flutter technology? Should you consider Flutter for cross-platform development? Let’s know what Flutter has to offer in the coming future:
Future of Flutter
It is believed that this framework has a bright future as Google is building an OS that is highly potent and can replace every operating system named Fuchsia and this OS uses Flutter as a UI engine.
Further iOS and Android app developers are looking forward to learning more from this framework.
Though a new entrant, Kotlin Multiplatform is taking the cross-platform market by the storm and has become competition for Flutter. This platform was introduced in 2019 and uses JVM, JavaScript & Native programming languages. Both Kotlin and Flutter are free for everyone, but the market will surely hold onto Flutter.