Flutter mobile app development began when Google introduced Flutter in May 2017. The first stable release, Flutter 1.0, came in Dec 2018. Thanks to its features, Flutter became popular around the world in a very short time.
Flutter has changed how developers build mobile apps. It makes development faster and easier, so almost every mobile app developer finds it appealing. However, every new tool brings new challenges, and there is a lot to learn about it.
So, if you plan to create an app in Flutter, you should first understand it completely. Here is your complete guide to Flutter mobile app development.
What is Flutter Mobile App Development?
If I had to describe Flutter in my own words, I would call it the latest hybrid mobile application environment. It works like native apps. It is also the first material design cross-platform framework from Google.
Flutter is an open source development environment with a material design concept built in. This concept brings modern app design to life with ease.
What is material design?
Material Design is a concept that gives mobile application designers a magic wand. With it, they find many pre-built designs and ways to modify them. Google has included material design in the Flutter mobile app development platform. As a result, designers craft a high-level UI experience in no time. This combination also helps us create a dynamic and stunning UI without much effort.
Ionic Cordova V/s Flutter
Before Flutter, Cordova and PhoneGap were the platforms that bridged the gap between hybrid and native mobile applications. Basically, the Cordova framework uses a webview environment to create a native app. It has some device APIs to call native functions. It also uses HTML/CSS/JS to create a webview and wraps it to look like a native application.
However, Cordova uses Javascript. Because of this, it may create sluggish animations and a poor UI response in the app.
However, this is not the case with Flutter. Unlike Cordova/Ionic, Flutter does not use HTML/CSS to create webviews. Instead, it uses reactive views, so we don’t need Javascript as a bridge to reach native functions.
Moreover, the Flutter platform lets us develop high performing iOS and Android applications with a single code base. It has a new architecture built on widgets, and it is fast, customizable and extensible.
Flutter does not use any platform widget (or DOM webviews). Instead, it provides its own widgets, which is an advantage over Cordova/Ionic. You can read more on the official Flutter website.
Advantages of Flutter Mobile App Development over Cordova/Ionic
1. Unlike Cordova/Ionic, which use webviews, Flutter uses widgets. They render fast and solve the problem of poor UI performance. This is a major advantage of the Flutter app development platform, because webview components may not look consistent on different devices or screen resolutions.
2. It has a hot reload feature in the development stage. This means there is no need to re-install the application after making changes.
3. Its dart package library provides firebase plugins, which are useful tools. Firebase also has its own features, like live rendering. If anyone changes the firebase db, the change shows up in the application automatically. It also gives fast database communication when you fetch or send data.
Flutter Mobile App Development FAQ
Can we attach a NodeJS server with flutter application and does it have performance difference while using Google firebase as backend?
Yes, we can attach an existing nodejs server to a Flutter app. It will work similarly to a Cordova/Flutter app or even better.
Undoubtedly, Google firebase is a much faster backend, and its live reloading feature makes it faster still. However, it is not a free tool, and we have to pay for its services. If you already have a backend and don’t want to spend extra money on another one, I suggest you stick to the existing backend.
Is there any high standard PDF viewer available on flutter where we can put buttons on top of the document (to approve and reject) on both IOS/Android platforms? Does it show the PDFs from an URL after being authenticated?
Yes, Flutter has a PDF viewer. We can use it to display PDFs after authentication, and we can also give options to perform some actions. If you need help with your app, see our mobile app development services.
Building a mobile app?
We build Flutter apps for iPhone and Android from one codebase.
