The app market is huge. Just as an example one can take TikTok that now has 800 million active users since its launch in September 2016. It has seen over 1.5 billion downloads on the Apple and Android platforms. This points to just how important it is for apps to work fluidly on both platforms and the importance of cross platform mobile application development. Talk of cross platform apps and the two platforms that spring to mind are Flutter Vs React Native. Currently these are favored for cross platform mobile app development solutions. Each has its adherents but which one will overtake the other? It is hard to say.
Flutter Vs React Native – Who will be the winner?
Some Flutter and React Native stats
Flutter has over half a million developers using it for mobile app development solutions and over 2 million have used it since its launch in December 2018. There are over 50000 Flutter based apps on Play Store according to Google.
Facebook’s React Native is still going strong, powering popular apps like Instagram, Amazon Prime Video, Microsoft OneDrive and Uber, to name a few. According to Statista, React has 42% market share, compared to Flutter’s 39%.
Which way will developers go? React or Flutter or Xamarin? At present Flutter and React are almost neck to neck. It must be remembered that in 2017 React lagged behind Xamarin. Flutter may leapfrog over React and then React may advance. It is an interesting battle as both platforms evolve.
The Flutter revolution
Google launched its open source UI Flutter framework in May 2017as the response to the growing popularity of React Native. It uses Dart language.
Flutter’s advantage lies in its capability of letting developers come up with solutions for desktop platforms, provide embedded solutions, deploy web apps and launch cross platform mobile apps.
Mobile app development solutions become easy since the platform uses the same codebase for phones, wearables, tablets and desktops as well as TV and smart displays. Wearables inclusion is the prelude to inclusion of more IoT sensors in innovative apps that a capable IoT software development Company can come up with on demand.
According to Google, 60% developers work on Windows, 27% on macOS, 13% on Linux. The platform also allows easy inclusion of third party packages and support from Google for critical issues. Thanks to Google’s native use of Flutter in its own platforms and constant version releases, Flutter is becoming more refined.
Ease of development in Flutter
Mobile app development solutions, especially for cross platform, are easy to develop given that Flutter is based on stateless and stateful widgets. All developers have to do is use Android Studio and download Flutter and create environment variables referencing folders.
The process is agile since developers can make use of the Hot Reload feature to make adjustments on the fly. You also have choices of architecture. You can prefer BLoc that relies on streams and RxDart and you can just as well choose Redux/Flux.
Flutter’s Fast performance
Compilation is based on C/C + + libraries leading to near machine language like code that leads to faster performance. This alone could be a decider, especially in complex and extended apps such as those used in banking.
Given its ease of use, fast development and one codebase for two platforms and reduced need for testing it is not surprising that Flutter is fast becoming the first choice of IoT Software Development Companies and mobile app developers, posing a strong challenge to React Native.
React Native
If Airbnb, Facebook and Instagram use React Native then they must have strong reasons for doing so. Like Flutter, it uses a single code base for iOS and And.roid app development as well as for VR. Released by Facebook in 2013, it is older and well established. It does follow a different approach to mobile app development solutions.
React Native blends native development with React, which is a JavaScript library for UI development. The good thing is that you can build apps for iOS and Android using React and a single codebase, just like Flutter.
The core is platform agnostic components while the top layer can be platform related, which leads to superior user experience. The React components encapsulate code and work with APIs and Javascript. Like Flutter, you can engage in agile development and see changes and modify even as web app development progresses.
Huge community base
React Native has been around much before Flutter made its appearance and that means you have a strong community of contributors to whom you can turn to find solutions for any complex problem.
Smart widgets
One advantage of Flutter Vs React Native is that though it uses limited widgets, the widgets are smart and can adapt to the platform on which the app is run. This feature certainly takes some load off the developer of cross-platform apps.
Performance Niggle
Just one slight niggle is that the entire app is not compiled into C/C++ like Flutter does. Only the UI components are compiled and JS operates as a separate thread. This translates to slightly slower performance compared to Flutter.
As in Flutter you have options of architecture. You can use Facebook’s Flux or community built Redux.
Developers who are already familiar with JavaScript and require fast coding, single code for multiple platforms and robust performance are likely to choose React Native.
Who will win?
There is no clear winner though some predict that Flutter will forge ahead. Flutter, to its advantage, has more API and UI components while React Native relies on third party libraries. Further, Flutter also provides better documentation and testing features.
Each has its advantages that will suit specific goals. Businesses that already have React based solutions may prefer web app development solution providers to use React Native for seamless integration. Business clients may not care much whether you use React Native or Flutter.
They are concerned with the end result. It is for mobile app developers and IoT Software Development Company to have teams expert in both technologies and pick one that will deliver the desired results within defined budgets and time frame.
