In the versatile field of mobile app development, the prosperity of any project is solely based on the wise selection of the right technical framework. Among the many available mobile app frameworks, Flutter is the most popular, allowing businesses to build hybrid apps to cover larger markets. Flutter is a mobile app development toolkit that helps create modern mobile apps from a single codebase for cross-platform functioning. It helps you maximize the potential of your app, landing you on a successful business journey.

While you are about to begin your Flutter app development, it is important to look deeply into its strengths and limitations so that you can make an informed decision about your choice to accelerate your business growth.

Let’s begin by understanding Flutter.

Understanding Flutter

Flutter, a Google technology, rose to fame due to its capability of creating natively compiled programs for desktop, mobile, iOS, Android, and the web. It helps developers build both the front-end and the back end with unique, engaging user interfaces for certain mobile applications. While the frontend developers take care of the designing part and also focus on the visual implementation with the help of Flutter and Dart widgets, the backend developers can also manage the data and logic of the server through the same tool. 

One of the top characteristics of Flutter development is that it uses a single codebase for building apps that can run on any OS. It also offers an expressive user interface, allowing customers to see visually appealing content. Further, as an App builder now, it comes with the Hot Reload feature and a bag full of widgets that simplify & quicken the overall app development.

However, Flutter has its own set of pros and cons that you must learn about to have a smoother experience using it. Let’s get to know them in detail.

Pros of Using Flutter

Fast development and hot reload feature

Flutter is a high-speed application that enables developers to achieve the desired pace while creating any app. It is known to use natively compiled code that requires no interpreters to finish the tasks. Thus, it helps to reduce the cost and time of any project. 

One of the remarkable features of Flutter is the ‘Hot Reload’ technique. This technique saves time by allowing the developers to change a certain code shown on the device at the time of a technical glitch without restarting the full application. This feature nourishes a more developed process that involves fixing bugs quickly.

Unique codebase for various platforms (Android and iOS)

Flutter gives developers the chance to create an exclusive set of code that can build applications for both the iOS and Android platforms. Hence, it eliminates the code requirements for particular platforms. In addition to this, Flutter is also proficient in multi-platform advancement. This standalone feature makes Flutter the best choice for mobile app development. 

Feature-rich and customizable user interfaces

Flutter is famous for its ability to produce incredible and high-performing user interfaces for several platforms. It offers numerous features to customize widgets, enabling viewers to have visually appealing and highly intuitive user interfaces that are easy to use. This feature also makes Flutter efficient and viable for any business type, ensuring growth.

Excellent performance and smooth animations

Flutter has successfully enabled smooth animations and the best performance in revolutionizing mobile app development. Notably, it uses a reactive framework, which provides efficient yielding and updates. e Its versatile programming language, Dart, is a compilation of native codes that allows multi-platform development and improved performance. In addition to this, the widgets in Flutter offer consistent and personalized user interfaces for flawless animations and perfect user engagement.

Read: How Much Does It Cost To Develop An App Like Wish?

A growing dynamic community for support

Flutter has a huge supportive ecosystem that provides dynamic engagement to extend developmental support and share knowledge. Developers around the globe contribute to plugins and packages and also share their knowledge through several social media platforms and in open forums, maintaining an active & advancing community.

Disadvantages of Using Flutter for Mobile App Owners

Restrictions using APIs 

One of the setbacks of Flutter is that it sometimes blocks access to native APIs. This can cause a reduction in native functionality and raise compatibility issues related to the platform. This can lead to serious developmental problems like building platform-specific designs, glitches in features & functions, security breaches, and many more, making the app owner question its worth for every type of business project.

Application size is bigger than indigenous apps

In comparison to other native programs, Flutter apps are inclined to keep a large size due to their personalized set of widgets. Also, it rarely depends on the native platforms, which is also responsible for its larger size. However, this becomes a concern for mobile app owners since users sometimes may have limited storage or performance speed issues, making them consider twice before downloading their apps. Though several advancements have been made to solve this issue, it will still take some time to overcome this flaw completely.

Relatively new technology with a smaller talent pool

As the technology used in Flutter is completely new, it is a little difficult to find seasoned developers to run all the related work. Initially, the developers might find it difficult to adapt its Dart language, which is new compared to other programming languages. In addition to this, mobile app owners may find it difficult to find and hire experienced and domain-specific Flutter developers to tailor their mobile applications to their business needs. 

Compatibility issues with operating systems

Another setback of Flutter is the compatibility issues seen on some devices and browsers. Even though Flutter provides a seamless user experience, sometimes certain features of complex apps are not fully compatible with some devices. To overcome such situations, app owners should keep this in mind and run their apps thoroughly through various QA & functioning tests on a variety of devices for seamless performance.

Limited support for development

Flutter’s programming language, Dart, is quite new, so not many developers are well-versed in it. Also, it is not as developed & popular as other languages, which makes it difficult to work with it. Developers using it may have to build things from scratch, find third-party support, and find limited to no guidance in various processes. This becomes a hindrance and time-consuming for mobile app owners intending for faster time-to-market apps.  

Final Thoughts

Before selecting Flutter, mobile app owners should diligently assess all the essential aspects of their project and business priorities. The strengths of Flutter, like multi-platform coherence and speedy development, are very lucrative for any business. In addition to all this, one has to consider its limitations, including its larger app size, the unpopularity of Dart, and limited access to native programs. But let these limitations not stop you from giving Flutter a shot at building modern mobile apps for your business, for it does have a lot to offer.

Author’s Bio:

Harikrishna Kundariya, a marketer, developer, IoT, ChatBot & Blockchain savvy, designer, co-founder, Director of eSparkBiz Technologies. His 12+ years of experience enables him to provide digital solutions to new start-ups based on IoT and SaaS applications.