Flutter Vs Iconic — Which One Works For You?

Lori Caricofe
App Development Company
7 min readApr 27, 2020

In the 2020s, mobile apps are indispensable to business growth. High-and-Efficient performance mobile apps speak for a company gravity and reliability in the present digitalized times.

With around 2 billion mobile apps in the store, only extraordinary apps make it to the user’s phone. Developing such types of apps is one of the biggest challenges for mobile app development companies in Dubai as well as their clients. Selecting the right platform and development tools is primitive for creating great apps.

Alongside with other and emerging app development options, Native mobile app development has incredible advantages, while cross-platform app development requires lesser app development time, lower costs, fewer resources. Therefore, one can’t but ignore the significant potential of cross-platform apps.

So, here comes the most frequently asked question — “Flutter Vs Iconic”? Which cross-platform development tool is the best fit for your app?

Understanding The Iconic Framework

Three dedicated proficients and thinkers, namely Ben Sperry, Max Lynch, and Adam Bradley are bringing up the rear for creating Ionic. They launched the first Ionic version in 2013. The latest and stable updated version of Ionic was released on 25th July 2019.

As the initial Ionic version was developed on Angular JS, but now you can select between Angular, React or Vue while working on the latest Ionic version.

Iconic is a free, open-source UI toolkit for creating cross-platform mobile apps for iOS, Android, and web using a single codebase. Ionic users use Javascript, CSS and the HTML language for developing one of its own kind of hybrid mobile app. It uses native UI protocols, Native SDK’s (Software Development Kit) and amalgams the native app features and UI standards to develop high-quality apps. Whereas, it uses PhoneGap or Cordova for Native app development and rubs as a progressive web app in the browser.

The ionic core focus is on creating a native look and feel of the app, featuring User Interface components and frontend building blocks for progressive apps.

So, here I have pocketed the top reasons why proficient and passionate app developers in Dubai love the Ionic framework.

Most of the developers are well-known with Javascript, HTML, and CSS. It is quite more comfortable for an app development company to use Ionic for cross-platform apps.

Ionic enjoys high-end personalization of its themes and components.

Cordova plugins facilitate designers in accessing components like GPS, Flashlight, camera and others.

Ionic uses AngularJS, a framework popularly used by designers, allowing better management of code lines.

  • An Overview Of Ionic Framework Review Highlighting The Following Limitations Of The Tool:
  • Ionic is not stable when it comes to heavy apps as it renders graphics through a browser. Notably, heavy apps that use Augmented Reality crawl with Iconic framework instead of being robust.
  • Iconic doesn’t have Hot Reloading, which directly means the app will reload every time a change is applied, decreasing the development process.

Ionic cannot merely integrate native plugins without transforming them into Javascript. In the case of non-standard features, whether it’s Android or iOS app developer will have to develop the plugin.

Undeniable, Ionic apps are more substantial than the native app, as there are a lot of lines of codes, dependencies, plugins, and so on.

The Flutter Framework Review

Created by Google, Flutter is an open-source software development tool for creating highly-efficient and performing iOS and Android app development. The tool uses a single code Dart to build cross-platform apps and is integrated with in-built objective C and Swift for iOS and Java Code on Android.

The Flutter framework uses the Dart language to build its mobile apps. Flutters use just in Time compilation when writing and debugging apps. Here, I have clutched some of the reasons that make the Flutter framework a go-to for developers:

Undeniably, Flutter is backed by Google. The association itself assures developers and customers of top-notch development.

Flutter does not need specific UI components for each platform to render its UI, making it simpler to develop native-looking apps.

With “Hot Reload”, the changes applied to the app can be seen at any instant, without losing the current app, which proffers faster development.

The flutter apps are created directly into the machine code, eliminating performance bugs and ratifying native-like apps.

So, before you grab your coffee and start the discussion about Flutter vs Ionic, it’s critical to pay attention to the deficiency of the Flutter network. Here are some of the challenges that rub the eyeball for Flutter:

The Dart language is not as famous as other programming languages, like JavaScript, Java Objective-C, and others. Even, not many developers are profound with Dart, which means you may be in the urgent need to hire the right app developers in Dubai for the flutter project.

Flutter is a relatively new platform. It lacks third-libraries and widgets. Some listed widgets in Flutter are platform-specific as well.

Flutter lacks community support and friendly documentation.

The Poles Apart Philosophies Of flutter & Ionic

Despite sharing some prevailing philosophies, both Flutter and Iconic are distinctive from each other.

So, the time you partner with the right app development company and build an app on Iconic, or you build something on the “web”, and you embrace open web standards along with open web technologies. The free web technologies are CSS, HTML, and Javascript that enables a mechanism that braces the Ionic apps on several cross-platform with the same integrity and UI.

When Ionic make sure a broader boundary like open web protocols, on the contrary Flutter features a limited and self-contained ecosystem. Javascript, which is a popular web development language and widely accepted by the leading developers, does not jell well here. It’s essential to partner with the leading iPhone app developers that are well-versed with Dart to work in Flutter.

The Time To Choose The Right For You!

Putting finger on one among the both is not as easy as it seems. Before, choosing one of them you must know the technicalities, capabilities, and differences between both frameworks — Flutter vs Ionic.

As this is fierce battle where taking a stronger side is a critical decision. Let’s see how well they both fought on the following parameters:

Code Portability

Understanding the code portability between Ionic and Flutter helps to outline how both codes act in different surroundings, processors, and operating systems.

Both frameworks — Ionic and Flutter code performs equally when the experts deploy them on mobile and web.

With Flutter, you can build beautiful looking iOS and Android apps from a single set of code. Rather, desktop support is pretty stable now. Flutter comes along with some web deployment limitations.

If you have decided to deploy your app as PWA, you should step ahead with Ionic.

Skillset and Knowledge

Ionic vs Flutter becomes a fierce focal point when it funnels down to the knowledge and expertise required to build apps in both the framework. Ionic is a Javascript framework, while Flutter is not. So, if you are looking for a flutter developer, it’s a must-have for them to know a language called Dart. While the present market scenarios compromises of 1.9% Dart developers, whereas JS developers are dominating with 70%.

So, if your iOS app developers or Android expert are well-versed with Dart, they are ready to work in more than 100 JS framework for mobile, web, and native app development. Dart features a stand-alone and highly customized ecosystem that has its own constraints.

That’s why it builds perplexing situations in the market skill of a Dart developer. He/she only has to work on Flutter-powered apps.

The highly-customized ecosystem of Flutter mentors you the only way “Flutter ways” of doing things. Whereas, on the opposite side of the coin, if you are developing Ionic apps, there is no need to learn the terms known as “Ionic Ways”. In addition, you learn to create web apps in general.

Primarily, you are learning to code the JS style with CSS. And, if you are familiar with Ionic, you can prevail as long as you are working on web platforms.

Performance

When it’s high time to discuss Flutter vs Ionic performance, their efficiency levels play an essential role in deciding which is suitable for your business.

If you are finding for exclusive animation, selecting Flutter is considered as a smart option (FPS -60). However, if you are planning to create a more client-facing application, ionic offers the same performance.

Flutter vs Ionic performance is always about how its about coding for both. In simple words, code quality plays a significant role in deciding the performance of any framework. The Flutter vs Ionic performance depends on the bundle’s size of your app. Ionic utilizes the standard browser runtime as well as primitive.

Therefore, the Ionic bundle size varies around 2,991 bytes while Flutter needs heavy code ven to create the basic app.

Sustainability

Sustainability is a game-changing factor when both Ionic and Flutter are locking horns. Here sustainability means the shelf-life and flexibility of the project.

Undoubtedly, Ionic-powered projects are more powered and sustainable than Flutter ones. So, when you build an app on ionic, you chose a more extensive platform than Flutter. Anything you make on Iconic, you embrace open web standards. It let you follow the same rules and guidelines to create a uniform script to develop cross-platform apps.

And, most importantly, you can use the app with any of the javascript Framework.

Native Outlook & Feel

When the best among the leading mobile app development companies in Dubai talk about Ionic vs Flutter, their hot topic is their respective approaches to native UI elements as their utilization matters a lot.

Nor Flutter neither Ionic utilizes the native UI elements of each platform. Both update the same automatically, e.g. both use material design and Cupertino for Android and iOS, respectively.

Both Ionic and Flutter allow accessing native APIs and their platforms services through a library of ready-made plugins. However, the native mobile implementation of Flutter is entirely customized.

Time To Decide

Of course, you’ll have to make the choice yourself.

But, at Xicom Technologies we recommend you to take a deep insight at both the development solutions and decide evaluated on which philosophy you partner with,

Where and how you plan to succeed with deployment and
What skills you know today
Would like to learn to stay abreast the trajectory.

So, why still waiting for your business rocket-off?

Start right away with your Free project Estimation to have an easy and achievable curve.

Originally published at https://www.xicom.ae on April 27, 2020.

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Lori Caricofe
App Development Company

Software tester by profession. Fast learner, Passionate about tech. Good sense of humour, & Enjoy challenges!