Flutter facilitates the rapid development of applications. A huge set of fully customizable Flutter widgets helps to create native interfaces very quickly.
An expressive and flexible user interface in Flutter improves rendering speed.
In fact, Flutter creates native applications and its code is compiled into the native code of the respective platform.
ImpiCode’s dev team can create an outstanding mobile application in Flutter that works on Android and iOS systems and uses a common code base. Thanks to such a solution, the MVP of a product, and even the final solution, can be created faster and can also produce savings on further development and maintenance.
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Flutter is a framework that enables the creation of mobile applications for Android and iOS devices. Thanks to Flutter, two versions of the application are created at the same time. The Dart programming language is used when creating applications in this technology.
It is worth emphasizing that the applications made in Flutter have similar performance to native solutions because, in fact, the applications created in Flutter are native. The Flutter technology supports writing a part of the code in another programming language, e.g. in Kotlin or Swift. As a result, it is possible to add additional functions and elements specific to a given platform (Android or iOS) to the application.
Although Flutter is a relatively new tool, it has already gained a large group of supporters. Flutter is one of the 11 most popular technologies among projects deposited on GitHub. Additionally, every year more and more applications are created with the use of this tool. One of the most notable examples is the Xianyu app developed by the Alibaba development team. Currently, the application is used by over 50 million people.
The entire architecture of Flutter is based on widgets making it possible for developers to create the entire user interface by building the so-called Widgets tree. The application is the main tree trunk widget, and the individual screens are the first branches. Each widget specifies a structural element (such as a button or menu), a stylistic element (font, color), and layout, among other things. It is worth noting that developers do not use OEM widgets, but built-in widgets that look the same as their native counterparts. What is more, Flutter supports the creation of one’s own widgets.
Additionally, Flutter SDK includes a ready-made set of tools responsible for compiling the code for native applications of target platforms. Flutter has its own engine that helps to control the appearance of the entire screen and renders each pixel. Thanks to the engine and widgets, the developer has full control over the appearance of the user interface.
The main feature of Flutter is custom widgets. Unlike other application development frameworks, Flutter does not use WebView or OEM widgets. Instead, Flutter draws widgets using its own powerful rendering engine. It is worth noting that a small part of Flutter was written in C and C ++. Most of the technology was created in Dart, a modern, concise programming language. As a result, developers can easily modify various system components such as widgets and themes.
Flutter was created by Google developers, and its beginnings date back to 2015 when the framework was officially presented at a conference for Dart coders. The first version of Flutter was codenamed "Sky" and operated only on the Android system.
In December 2018, version 1.0 of the technology was released at the Flutter Live event. It was the first stable version that enabled compiling native Android and iOS applications from a single code. From that moment on, new versions of technology systematically appear, introducing new widgets and improving the operation of the framework.
Flutter can be used to create almost any mobile application. Nowadays, Flutter is used to build many solutions from different fields including:
Flutter technology is very often chosen by startups building an MVP product. Flutter enables rapid and low-cost creation of application versions for both Android and iOS. The goal of startups is to gather as many users as possible to test an MVP because it gives them valuable information. The application for both the Android and iOS versions helps to reach a large group of potential users. Additionally, users will not find any difference between an application created in Flutter and a native application. An equally significant factor for when selecting Flutter is the ability to create a beautiful UI. Flutter provides a rich catalog of widgets that can be modified. As a result, developers can create incredibly rich user interfaces.
Flutter is becoming one of the most popular technologies for creating mobile applications. Its increasing popularity provides many interesting properties. Below are the most important.
Flutter is a multiplatform programming tool enabling coders to use the same code base while creating applications for both Android and iOS versions. Besides this, Flutter has also a “hot reload” feature that allows developers to see changes without the need to recompile the entire code. In this way, it is very easy and quick to fix errors and experiment with different elements and functions of the user interface.
Applications made in Flutter are exceptionally rapidly developed, mainly for two reasons. Firstly, Flutter uses the Dart language with special components that support compilation to native code. Secondly, Flutter has a huge set of custom widgets, so there's usually no need to access external widgets. It is worth noting that the performance of applications created in Flutter will be similar or even equal to the performance of native applications.
Flutter’s own widgets not only decrease inefficiency problems, they also decrease compatibility issues with different versions of operating systems. After updating Flutter’s widgets, the application works without major problems on new versions of the systems. Flutter is constantly developed by the Google development team, which carefully makes sure that the widgets in Flutter are as up to date as possible and similar to the widgets of a given platform. In addition, applications made in Flutter can operate an older version of the system and still use new widgets.
Flutter has a high-performance rendering engine that provides complete freedom in creating a user interface regardless of the platform. The framework uses its own rendering engine to create widgets, and the UI created works correctly on any platform. The developer does not need to adapt the user interface to deploy it on another platform.
Flutter supports the creation of a custom, individualized user interface. This technology enables the adjustment of all the elements visible on the screen. It provides many functionalities, including trimming, matching different shapes and colors, and shading. Although native technologies also provide a custom user interface, they require much more work. Flutter makes the UI building process quick and fun.
When choosing a technology, bear in mind that Flutter has not only advantages but also limitations. Below are Flutter’s main shortcomings.
Flutter is still considered a relatively young technology, it is, therefore, not included in the group of mature and stable frameworks. In comparison to older and more stable solutions, Flutter has a more modest number of advanced functions and less extensive libraries. However, the Flutter community cares for its development all the time, and Flutter can quickly catch up with its rivals in terms of the quantity and quality of functions and libraries.
Applications built in Flutter technology have large file sizes and take up relatively a lot of space in the smartphone's memory. In some cases, large file sizes may be problematic.
Flutter is developed by Google, which is why the company primarily focuses on the correct operation of applications on Android, not iOS. While most of the SDK functions work fine on Android, sometimes iOS versions have errors. Additionally, updating widgets to newer versions of iOS is not as fast as with Android.
Flutter is becoming increasingly popular. This technology was used by companies such as Google, BMW, Square, and eBay. Below are some famous companies whose applications were created in Flutter.
Google has already used Flutter in its projects several times. The technology was used, among others to build a new version of the mobile application enabling campaign management. Unlike previous versions, the new version of the application is distinguished by an interesting design, notifications to facilitate campaign management, and the ability to edit existing campaigns. Additionally, in the new version of the application, there is a feature to contact Google experts.
Alibaba used Flutter to create an application that supports Xianyau, the company's second-largest retail platform. Alibaba's dev team chose Flutter due to the speed of development and ease of maintenance. The application is currently used by over 50 million users.
Elon Musk's company used Flutter to create the SpaceX Go application. The application includes a rocket launch schedule and a catalog of all spacecraft. In addition, the application has a spacecraft locator that provides information about the position and speed of a specific vessel at any moment.
Groupon is an example of a company that has decided to integrate an existing application with Flutter technology. Thanks to this, the company was able to introduce new functionalities to the application and give it a better look.
If you would like to find out more about Flutter or need support in your project that uses this solution, write to us via the contact form.
