Build Cross Platform Apps with Flutter

Flutter For Building Cross Platform Apps

Flutter is an open source mobile application development SDK created by Google. It is used to develop applications for Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows, Google Fuchsia, and the web from a single codebase. With Flutter, developers can build native apps that have the same look and feel as those written in the native language of each platform.

What Are the Benefits of Using Flutter?

• Quick Development Speed: With Flutter, development time is drastically reduced in comparison to native app development. It has a hot reload feature that allows developers to make changes quickly without the need to restart the application.
• Cross-Platform Usability: Flutter apps can be built for both Android and iOS at the same time, eliminating the need to write separate codes for each platform.
• Rich Widgets Library: Flutter has a wide range of widgets available that can be used for building apps. This saves the time and effort it takes to build custom UI components.
• Smooth Performance: Flutter is responsible for rendering the UI of the apps, and since it compiles the code to native ARM code there is no JavaScript bridge involved that affects performance.

What Are the Limitations of Using Flutter?

• Lack of Third Party Libraries: As Flutter is relatively new, the number of third party libraries available to integrate with it is less compared to other platforms.
• No Support for Older Versions of Android: Flutter supports only Android version 4.1 and above, so if you want to target lower versions of Android you will have to consider other options.
• UI Complexities: The UI elements in Flutter are built using a layered architecture, which can get complex if you want to create complex animations or transitions.
• Large App Size: The size of a Flutter app is usually larger than a native app due to the use of the runtime.

Conclusion

Flutter is a great choice for developing cross-platform apps as it reduces the development time and ensures consistent performance across multiple platforms. Though there are some limitations, with Flutter’s rapid growth, more and more third party libraries are being developed to integrate with it, making it an even better option for developing cross-platform apps.