Why Flutter Cross-Platform App Development is Ideal for Businesses?

In the 21st century, our lives are increasingly intertwined with mobile devices and the multiple applications available across the app marketplaces. Thus, businesses across the globe are in constant pursuit of tools and technologies that can streamline the app creation process while enabling them to stay competitive in the age of digital innovation.

With over six billion smartphone users globally and an over-saturated app market with nearly five million options, the competition for businesses seems overwhelming. Multiple startups and enterprises are seeking efficient, cost-effective methods to deliver their products. Thus, the tools they employ, from programming languages to software development kits, play a pivotal role in determining how swiftly they can reach their audience.

Multi-platform app development presents multiple financial and logistical challenges, making it vital to find a framework that facilitates the creation of applications for multiple platforms using a single, unified codebase.

The answer to this conundrum is Flutter cross-platform app development. It is a dynamic tool that accelerates product development, synchronizes release schedules and broadens the customer base.

In a tech-savvy world where mobile and desktop technologies seamlessly blend, Flutter is the framework that has proved its prowess. It excels in building cross-platform mobile, desktop, and web apps, making it a top choice for both startups and established companies.

This blog will help you understand why Flutter is the ideal solution for cross-platform app development in today’s tech-driven world. So, without further ado, let’s delve into the details.

What is Flutter?

Flutter is a groundbreaking software development kit (SDK) created by Google and is currently revolutionizing the cross-platform app development landscape. It leverages the Dart programming language, differentiating it from the traditional app development ecosystem. Flutter debuted in 2018; the framework is integrated with features that address the shortcomings of its predecessors in cross-platform development.

The overall appeal of the framework comes from its adaptability. It lets developers create apps that work smoothly on Android and iOS and even extends its reach to Google’s Fuchsia, a budding app development platform.

Flutter is a powerful and efficient SDK for cross-platform app development, all thanks to the relentless efforts of Google’s development team. It has been extensively refined with enhancements like extended support for Firebase APIs, proprietary tools, bug fixes, and improved documentation.

Furthermore, the framework has been proven ideal for developing robust web apps. Flutter has also improved its engine performance and integrated seamlessly with popular developer environments like Android Studio and Visual Studio Code.

Flutter cross-platform mobile app development excels in being inclusive for developers of all backgrounds. The global framework supports multiple languages and includes features like inline videos, interactive charts, and built-in advertising.

These strengths have made Flutter stand strong as the global top pick for app development. Being able to deliver remarkable outcomes, Flutter opens the door to boundless possibilities.

According to Statista, Flutter is the most used cross-platform mobile framework, with 46% of global software developers opting for it. Thus, it is vital for businesses looking for a versatile and efficient solution for their app development needs to consider the significant advantages offered by the framework.

Why Do Startups Opt for Flutter?

Startups across the globe prefer to create a Flutter cross-platform app because it is one of the ideal frameworks that can be used to build native-looking apps for both Android and iOS with a single codebase. It is also known for its fast development speed and ability to produce high-quality apps. Additionally, Flutter has a large and active community of developers, which means a wealth of resources and support is available.

[Also Read: Guide for Developing Startup Mobile App with Flutter]

Why Do Enterprises Choose Flutter?

Enterprises choose Flutter cross-platform app development for its robustness and high-performance capabilities. The framework’s unified development approach simplifies the process and improves scalability, making it perfect for large-scale projects on multiple platforms. This guarantees efficiency and consistency across their app ecosystem.

How Does Flutter Work?

Flutter is a multi-layered system with the framework, engine, and platform-specific embedders. Developers use Google’s Dart programming language to build Flutter applications. The Flutter engine is primarily written in C/C++, and the Skia library powers Flutter’s graphics capabilities.

Dart is crucial for improving Flutter’s performance. It supports both ahead-of-time (AOT) and just-in-time (JIT) compilation. AOT compiles the code into more efficient native code, leading to faster app startups and better overall performance. JIT enables Flutter’s hot reload feature, reducing development time.

Benefits of Flutter Cross-Platform App Development

The exponential popularity of Flutter for cross-platform encouraged developers to build apps with this framework.  As a highly extensible and scalable platform, businesses across the globe prefer to create a Flutter cross-platform app. Let us look at the advantages of Flutter cross-platform app development in detail below:

( Also read: Is Flutter Game Changer for Enterprise Mobile Applications?)

Single Codebase

One of the major benefits of Flutter cross-platform app development is that it allows the developers to use a single codebase for multiple platforms, reducing development time and simplifying maintenance. This means that updates and enhancements can be consistent across all platforms without managing separate codebases for iOS and Android.

Hot Reload

The hot reload feature is a game-changer for developers. It enables real-time code changes and immediate visualization of their impact without restarting the entire app. This speeds up the development process and fosters better collaboration among team members.

Extensive Number of Widgets

Flutter’s extensive library of widgets greatly simplifies app development by providing a wide range of options. These widgets include basic UI elements and offer complex functionality, making adding features and improving the overall user experience effortless.

Multiple Themes

Flutter provides the flexibility to apply multiple themes within your app, allowing you to create different visual styles per diverse user preferences. This feature is valuable for maintaining a fresh and engaging user interface.

Ideal for MVP Development

Flutter is the best choice when your goal is rapid development to showcase to potential investors. It offers a time-efficient solution for creating native-looking applications on both iOS and Android. This enables investors to visualize your MVP without allocating valuable time and resources to build separate apps for different platforms.

[Also Read: What Makes Flutter Ideal For the MVP Development Process?]

Fast Performance

Flutter’s native compilation enables apps built with Flutter to have fast startup times and high-performance capabilities, making it an ideal choice for high-demand applications.

Rich Customization

Flutter offers various pre-built widgets and customization options, enabling developers to create visually appealing and highly functional apps. This flexibility allows for seamless alignment with each project’s unique requirements and branding.

Strong Community Support

The thriving Flutter community plays a significant role in the platform’s increasing popularity. Offering a wide range of resources, plugins, and regular updates, developers have easy access to solutions. This also allows them to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and techniques in Flutter app development.

Features of Flutter that Simplifies Development Process

Numerous features in Flutter simplify the development process. Let us look at them in the detail below:

Business Logic Components (BLoC)

Flutter’s principles are founded on reactive programming, which revolves around the concept of streams. This architectural pattern is called BLoC (Business Logic Components). This design approach separates the application’s user interface (UI) from its underlying business logic by harnessing the power of streams.

The fundamental value of BLoC design is its reactivity and freedom of UI from data. Unlike other architectural patterns, where UI might be stacked with delays, the BLoC design prevents application performance delays using organized, async techniques and streams. It implies that animations and screen scrolls will work easily while data is stacked from the server.

We have been utilizing BLoC pattern architecture for years to build a Flutter cross-platform app for businesses. It is the best fit for applications with complex architecture and much information. In a case where the app’s architecture is simple, the Provider design simplifies resource allocation and increases scalability for classes.

Code Architecture

When it comes to code architecture, the number of nested objects in Flutter code doesn’t impact the final performance and responsiveness. This is due to the absence of recursive calls during layout processing. For instance, in traditional native apps, an abundance of widgets can potentially impact the application’s performance. However, with Flutter cross-platform app development process, you can effectively implement UI/UX designs of any complexity styling and include a multitude of widgets.

Flutter supports multithreading, where threads are known as Isolates. When beginning to code in Dart, only a single essential Isolate is referred to as the UI Thread.  This setup is ideal for managing long-running tasks alongside the smooth operation of the entire application.

DartPub

DartPub serves as the go-to package manager for mobile developers using Flutter. It boasts an extensive collection of reusable packages and libraries. When selecting a plugin module, developers can assess both its popularity and the code’s health and maintenance. This aspect becomes particularly significant when crafting custom features – the choice of modules may not solely rely on their popularity but also on the assurance of constant updates and code integrity.

How Much Does it Cost to Develop a Flutter Cross-Platform App?

The overall cost of Flutter cross-platform app development can vary between $45,000 and $200,000. Several factors impact the cost of Flutter cross-platform mobile app development, such as the overall complexity of the app, the project delivery timeline, the UI/UX design of the app, the hourly rate of the hired app development company, post-delivery app maintenance, etc.

It is also vital to know that Flutter cross-platform mobile app development is one of the most cost-effective app development processes, particularly due to its unique advantage of using a single codebase for multiple platforms. This means reduced development time, fewer resources required, and lower maintenance costs compared to traditional development frameworks.

After looking at the Flutter cross-platform app development pricing, let us now move ahead and look at the multiple famous businesses that have incorporated the use of Flutter for their mobile apps.

Renowned Enterprises that Leverage Flutter Cross-Platform App Development

Well-established businesses across different industries have embraced Flutter to enhance their app development. Here are a few examples that opted to create a Flutter cross-platform app for their business:

Alibaba

Alibaba, the global e-commerce giant, has employed Flutter for its popular Xianyu app. This has made them enhance the overall user experience and reduce development time.

Realtor.com

Realtor.com employs Flutter to provide a unified and visually appealing experience for users searching for real estate properties on both major mobile platforms.

BMW

BMW utilized Flutter to create its “BMW In-Car Experience” app, ensuring a consistent and high-quality user interface across various platforms.

eBay

eBay leveraged Flutter to develop portions of its app, enhancing the cross-platform user experience.

Nubank

Nubank, a prominent fintech company, utilizes Flutter for various parts of its app, ensuring efficient and consistent performance for its users.

What is the Future of Flutter?

The future of Flutter as a cross-platform app development framework is very bright. Flutter is a relatively new framework, but it has quickly gained popularity due to its many advantages, such as its ability to build native-looking apps for multiple platforms with a single codebase, fast development speed, and large and active community of developers.

The latest version of Flutter, Flutter 3.10, includes a number of new features and enhancements that make it even more powerful and versatile. For example, Flutter 3.10 includes support for Windows development. This now allows the developers to use Flutter to build native-looking Windows apps in addition to Android and iOS apps.

Flutter 3.10 also includes a number of new features and improvements to the Flutter engine, such as support for Metal3, the next-generation graphics API on iOS. This will allow Flutter apps to achieve even better performance and graphics quality on iOS devices.

In addition, Flutter 3.10 includes a number of new features and enhancements to the Flutter tools, such as support for hot reloading for Windows apps and improved debugging tools. This will make it even easier and faster for developers to debug and build a Flutter cross-platform app.

The inclusion of a number of new features and enhancements has made Flutter cross-platform app development even more powerful and versatile. This suggests Flutter’s future as a cross-platform app development framework is bright. With evolving capabilities and a thriving community, Flutter solidifies itself as an innovative choice for businesses looking to build exceptional cross-platform applications.

Appinventiv’s Flutter app development services can assist businesses in harnessing the full potential of Flutter. With a team of experienced developers and almost a decade of experience in app development, we can help businesses build robust Flutter applications that guarantee high performance, are visually stunning, and work flawlessly across multiple platforms.

Whether it’s enhancing existing projects or starting from scratch, Appinventiv is well-equipped to transform your app ideas into reality. Get in touch with our Flutter app developers to embark on a journey of innovation and efficiency.

FAQs

Q. How to build a Flutter cross-platform app?

A. The very first step to build a Flutter cross-platform app for your business model is to hire an ideal flutter app development company, which has trustworthy experience in this field. Moreover, you need to make sure to calculate the Flutter cross-platform Mobile app development cost before making any solid decision.

Q. What programming language does Flutter use?

A. Flutter uses the Dart programming language to create rudimentary codes and is essentially the base for any cross-platform app.

Q. Which framework can be used to develop cross-platform applications?

A. From the myriad of frameworks, the best ones to use for cross-platform development are Xamarin, React Native, and PhoneGap.

Q. How long does it take to build a Flutter Cross-Platform app?

A. The overall time-frame to build a Flutter cross-platform app varies on the overall complexity of the app. For instance, a highly complex Flutter app with an extensive feature list will take around 12 to 14 months for development. On the other hand, a simple Flutter app with minimal features will take around 3 to 6 months, on average.

THE AUTHOR

Dileep Gupta

DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER