Quick Summary :- If we are to compare Flutter vs native technologies, both are sufficient when it comes to providing exemplary user experience, and high scalability. But is this the only common relation between these two? Not exactly. They differ hugely when it comes to the development pattern, costs, performance, maintenance and so much more. This article covers every aspect of Flutter vs native technologies, their benefits, limitations, and differences to help you make an informed decision.
platforms that leverage their native technologies for development purposes. Swift for iOS with Xcode or Java, Kotlin with Android Studio is some of the notable examples. However, in recent times, it is abundantly clear that a cross-platform framework like Flutter has been on the rise, and it provides native performance for iOS and Android with a single-code line.
Is it or is it not better to develop one application for two mobile platforms than essentially developing two different apps with separate codebases? To make your decision-making process more comfortable, we conducted this research to compare criteria such as cost of development, performance, architecture, use cases, and more. By the end of this blog, you will know when exactly you should choose Flutter or Native technology.
The Comparison Battle
What are Native Technologies?
Native application development involves developing an application-specific to either iOS, Android, or Windows so that it can take full advantage of device features such as a camera, accelerometer, compass, GPS, and so on. Native apps are installed through application stores like Google Play for Android and App Store for iOS. Some of the commonly used frameworks and programming language are:
iOS: Swift, Objective-C and Xcode
Android: Kotlin, Java and Android Studio
Use cases
- AR/VR applications
- Apps with rich-animations
- Gaming apps
- Standalone native applications
- Apps with complex/advanced UI
- GPS-centric apps
- Travel based applications
- On-demand apps with heavy computation
- AI-triggered apps with large data volumes
- IoT apps that connect with TV, Watch and Wallets
What is Flutter?
Flutter is an open-source framework that functions with a language called Dart by Google. It’s commonly addressed as an enhanced UI toolkit used to build cross-platform applications with a single codebase. It provides accessibility to develop expressive and flexible UI with native performance. Additionally, it is supported and contributed by a team of Google developers and the entire flutter community.
Use cases
- MVP mobile applications
- Apps with material design
- Apps that function with OS-level features
- Advanced OS plugins with simple logic
- High-performance apps with Skia rendering engine
- Flexible UI with high-level widgets
- Reactivate apps with vast data integration
Speed and Cost of Development
Native Technologies
Time taken to build mobile applications with native technologies differs based on your budget, timeline, and scaling ability. The creation of small-scale and enterprise-level apps is possible with native technologies to satisfy the expectations of iOS and Android users. So either the development team will be large or there will be a requirement for two special teams for iOS and Android.
This would add to your project’s investment budget as two codes have to be written for two different platforms with separate functionalities. In other words, native technologies abide by the “write twice, run twice” approach.
Flutter
Flutter follows the “write once, run anywhere” approach, providing developers with the ability to write one code for two different platforms. This indicates that the time taken for development would be significantly shortened with reduced development cost. It’s taken no more than five developers for big players like Alibaba, BMW, Watermaniac, PostMuse among others to build their applications on Flutter.
Not only does it allow developers to write codes effortlessly but it’s also easier for new developers to understand those codes. Since the training cost is economical, even a novice developer can be trained easily, eliminating the need to hire multiple experienced developers. Instagram , LinkedIn
