Today, in this competitive digital world, it has become imperative for businesses to stay in tune with trends that allow them to gain their brand outreach. This is where it becomes crucial for them to use out-of-the-box technologies.
If we have to make mention of a platform responsible for aiding entrepreneurs in gaining a broader user base; cross-platform is what most will agree with.
Now when we use the terminology cross-platform, you can understand it involves a platform capable to work on different OS like Android and iOS. Here, when we want the smooth functioning of the app on these OS, it becomes imperative to use a technology stack that can make this possible. This is where Google’s Flutter comes to the rescue.
According to a survey conducted by the developer community in 2021, 42% of developers recommend the use of this technology stack. This is enough to give a valuation of its popular nature.
So without further ado; let us begin this article by educating ourselves about it, its features, benefits and use cases to gain an idea of the prominence.
Introducing You to Google’s Flutter
Flutter, a Google baby, is an open-source UI software development kit (SDK) released in 2017 to primarily provide aid and assistance in cross-platform app development. This is for platforms like Android, iOS, and Windows through the use of a single codebase. This follows next by enabling apps to interface directly with the underlying services of the platform.
Popular Apps Built Using Flutter
If you are stepping into the journey of Flutter app development, you must be aware of the popularity that this tech stack has achieved. It accelerates testing and consists of a rich library that ensures quick loading and delivers a smooth user experience when users interact with it. This is why some big names in business have used Flutter to build an app.
- Reflectly
- Groupon
- eBay
- Dream 11
- Alibaba
- Postmuse
- Uber
- Airbnb
- Hamilton
Features of Flutter
As you can see in the above image, Flutter has these inherent features that make it a favorite among developers as well as businesses or startups.
- Hot reload to help developers observe code changes getting immediately reflected on the UI.
- Enables developers to write codes that can work on different platforms and get the ability to share them too using a single codebase.
- Widget library consisting of color, padding, etc. to ensure a glitch-free user experience.
- Platform-specific widgets present within Google Fuchsia, Android, and iOS to enable native app performance.
- Being open-source, it helps developers gain access to different design options, alongside being presented with a huge community that is available to support at any time.
Benefits of Flutter
I have outlined the inherent features of Google’s Flutter. Let us now educate ourselves on the different advantages of using the SDK, particularly during the task of cross-platform app development.
Is Fast
The hot reload feature in the tech stack allows developers to make changes within the code and observe the changes as they take place in real-time. This is enabled with the advantage that the development experts need not have to restart the app every time they perform this task. This helps save a lot of time for them.
Delivers Sleek Appearance to App
The material design widgets you have within the tech stack are its USP. This enables the app to receive a sleek and modern appearance which in turn boosts user engagement to the maximum. This also makes certain that maximum user retention takes place for the app.
Makes MVP Development a Reality
MVP (minimum viable product) development for two platforms becomes a reality through the use of Flutter. If you are in search of a technology stack that can aid you to create a product whose development is fast and cost-friendly, then you already know who you can rely upon as one developer alone will make your app creation a reality.
Helps Developers Share Codebase
Probably one of the main benefits of embracing Flutter app development is that developers get the desired flexibility to share the code between Android, iOS, and other respective platforms. This saves considerable time for them in terms of rewriting the code from scratch. This makes it easy for developers to deliver an app with a close-to-native look so that in the end they can build a native-like app.
Is High-Performing
In comparison to other frameworks, Flutter is high-performing in nature. In comparison to other technology stacks, particularly those supporting cross-platform app development, you can rely upon this technology stack as it accelerates its pace. Due to the benchmark being 60 frames per second, hence the appearance of the screens remains seamless and sleek.
Use Cases for Flutter
Educated about the different pros of Flutter, we need to get acquainted with the different scenarios when it is best to make use of Flutter for mobile app development.
Gaming Apps
Due to the hot-reload feature present in the technology stack, it functions faster than the other technology stacks. This is something extremely crucial in the gaming industry. Since games need to run smoothly, using Flutter is the only solution to making this achievable. This is due to the assistance it will provide in delivering a high-performing application and in integrating features that are intuitive, interactive, and innovative, all at the same time.
Smart Home Apps
Apps that promote interconnectivity require a simple foundation. This helps users to personalize the experience of each internet-connected device at their house. To enable this and make the aspect achievable, using the Flutter development kit is key. This is particularly when you develop an app for smart home interconnectivity. It will make it easy to handle a variety of devices and platforms.
Booking Apps
One of the main criteria of booking apps is their possession of a design that is out-of-the-box. This follows next by making it easy for users to perform booking, and other respective tasks. Hence, it becomes imperative to use visually appealing images. So how do you make this achievable? Take the Flutter app development advantage. It will not only aid you to customize the pixels. It will also help you to conceive designs that would look attractive on different screens.
Journal Apps
These applications demand the use of a database that users can easily comprehend followed by making features easy to add for developers. With Flutter, this becomes a possibility. This is due to the widgets inherent within the SDK that are easy to deploy and customize as is visible in Reflectly. A popular mental health companion platform, developers made use of the technology stack’s widget. Thereafter, the creation took place within two months only.
On-Demand Music Apps
With Flutter, it becomes easy for developers to access its different packages that can get used for multiple functions. This includes fetching music from external storage or playing, pausing, and performing other respective activities. All developers need to do is use the flutter_audio_query and audio_manager packages.
Banking Apps
Last but not least is banking apps. These apps demand a sense of equality in the features they have. This follows next by having a streamlined UI to help customers receive a simple and safe banking experience when they use the solution. This is where Flutter comes to the rescue as the need for API stability and getting access to testing capabilities and speed becomes achievable.
Summing Up
Flutter is rapidly evolving, and receiving constant support from Google. This goes on to ascertain that developers get access to well-supported documents as and when they may need them for their perusal. It alternatively also goes on to make clear why you need to use this SDK. If you are still in thought about its use, hire Flutter developers from a dedicated Flutter app development company. Their team of experts will implement an innovative approach during building an app so that users remain engaged with it albeit making sure that cost and time are saved for you during its course.
