Why Your Next App Should Be Developed With Flutter?

If you need to make an app for your organization, it’s definitely worth asking your developer about using Flutter. Especially if you need your app to run on both Android and iOS.

What is Flutter?

It’s an open source platform created by Google that dramatically speeds up the development process. Basically, your costs will be much lower than using conventional app development methods.

There are a lot of details worth mentioning about why Flutter is so effective, but this is the big one: It allows developers to write code one time and use it across multiple platforms. That means once your app is finished, it is immediately ready to run on Android and iOS devices, in addition to desktop computers and even on the web.

Write code one time, publish everywhere.

Flutter Cuts Development Costs

The traditional way of building apps is to start with the platform you want to be on first. For most organizations in the US, it’s usually iOS because development times are faster and the audience is generally wealthier. Once the app is running on iOS, the team switches to rewriting the code for Android. And if it needs to also run on desktops, more time is needed to rewrite the code once again for PCs and Macs. Finally, more tweaks are needed to make it a web app.

We’ve had some cross-development platforms for quite a while now, such as PhoneGap, React Native and Xamarin, with each one presenting different benefits and drawbacks.

However, Flutter stands out due to its widget-based system that allows developers to easily duplicate the native user interface elements of iOS and Android. If that explanation wasn’t very clear, it means apps look and work just like built-in apps that come installed on Apple and Google devices. There’s not much work required to give your app that functionality because it’s simple to implement in Flutter.

How Flutter Works?

The in-house coding language Google uses to develop it’s apps is called Dart. Apps in Flutter are built with Dart, which makes it possible for designers to easily access Google’s other code libraries. Not only does this allow a lot of code to be reused instead of written from scratch, but it makes the apps look very polished immediately.

For this to make sense, you need to consider that apps are developed using a couple of teams. Backend developers do things like make all the buttons work and allow the information you submit in an app to be recorded in databases. The frontend developers make everything look nice.

Flutter makes it easy for backend and frontend developers to work together simultaneously. The primary reason for this is because of a feature called “hot reload.”

Hot Reload causes the code in an app to execute immediately, every time a change is made. This means the entire team can see exactly what the effects are from every change—in real time. Other coding frameworks take a lot of effort and time to do this, which slows projects down.

Flutter makes development happen fast. And that means your costs are going to be way less than the alternatives.

A few stats worth noting

In March of 2019, LinkedIn listed Flutter as the fastest growing skill among software engineers, which is amazing since it was only released 2 years before that. It’s clear that Flutter is a revolutionary platform for development based on its rapid adoption rate.

Large corporations are quickly switching to it for app development as well. Among them are Google, Capital One, Ebay, BMW, The New York Times and Realtor.com.

VentureBeat reported recently that among the 50,000 Flutter apps in the Google Play Store, 10,000 had been uploaded in one month. Google has also published that the top five territories for Flutter are India, China, the United States, the EU, and Brazil. More than 500,000 developers use Flutter every month.

Flutter FAQs

Depending on what you need to create, you may have some questions about how Flutter fits into your process and if it’s truly a good fit for your organization.

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about Flutter we receive at Blue Whale Apps Apps:

1. Is it better to build native apps or use Flutter?

The answer to this usually comes down to experience, time and cost. An excellent developer can build a native app that will work flawlessly on whatever platform it is designed for. But it will most likely take a while to make and the cost will be higher than building in Flutter. The only drawback to Flutter is that it does create some artificial boundaries to how your app looks. If you need an app that is very unconventional looking, you may be better served with a native app.

2. How much time does it take to develop a Flutter app?

An engineer for Alibaba.com, a massive Chinese ecommerce site, has said Flutter reduced their time for a feature update from 1 month down to 2 weeks. Other estimates place development times as being 30-40% faster than creating native apps.

3. What are the benefits of using Flutter for startups?

Cost savings and speed. Since most startups need everything made from scratch, Flutter allows developers to write code one time, then publish apps online, on both PC and Mac computers, and on Android and iOS devices. It’s also a great way to test business models without a significant investment in time or money.

4. Can I convert my existing application into Flutter?

Yes! Flutter received an update recently that makes this possible.

Blue Whale Apps’s Capabilities

Blue Whale Apps builds both native and Flutter apps. We’re not fixed on one development framework, but will help you determine what method will serve your needs the best while keeping your costs down.

Our team can handle all parts of the process, from conducting audience and market research to UX design to custom coding solutions. Many of our clients come to use with fully-developed ideas for what they want to accomplish, but we can also work with you to define the scope of your project.

Blue Whale Apps Apps specializes in end-to-end development for Fortune 1000 businesses and government agencies. Recent projects have included apps within the healthcare, technology, public utilities, entertainment, retail, consumer products and automotive industries. And last year, Blue Whale Apps Apps was named the #1 Mobile App Developers by AppFutura, Clutch, and Good Firms in 2019.

There has never been a better time to create an app. Flutter makes the development process move much faster, which will not only save you money, but it allows you to test markets before dedicating substantial resources to test an opportunity. Get in touch today to get started. You’ll be amazed at how quickly Blue Whale Apps can put your ideas into the hands of your customers.