Why I am Choosing Flutter to Develop Apps

Here is the breakdown of my logic for why I am choosing Flutter instead of React Native or building the app with the native language for each platform.

So with every decision, I should start by defining what my goal is and then make sure that I keep that in mind as I consider the pros and cons of each option. It’s easy to lose sight of what matters.

MY goal is to develop my own apps and to one day add more people to my app development team. I’d like to grow my LLC into an app development studio where all of the employees contribute ideas and everyone shares in the ownership / profits. I want our apps to be fun and to make a difference. I don’t want to make games.

Currently, I want to prioritize fast-paced cross-platform development done by a single person so that I can see results quickly, make a bunch of apps to test my ideas in the market, and iterate quickly through improvements.

Given what I have learned, which I will go into in a moment, I would not recommend the same choice I’ve made to someone who wants to work for a large corporation. Nor would I recommend the same choice for someone who wants to get into game development.

Let’s dig into the details now.

Knowing that I want to make apps solo (and that I’m not willing to budge on wanting to release to all platforms), I know that it’s just not realistic to try to learn all of the native languages — Swift/SwiftUI, Java/Kotlin/XML, C/C++/C#, etc — so I quickly know that my main language/framework needs to support cross-platform development. I make the distinction here that I want this for my MAIN language because I full-heartedly believe in also learning the native languages. I will need to in order to debug, release cutting edge OS features, customize the UI per platform, or create apps for wearables and vehicles. However, I don’t want to recode the whole app in 5 different stacks. Best practice when coding is to not repeat yourself, after all.

Now which cross-platform framework should I choose? The major two are Flutter and React Native. I won’t bother mentioning the others since I, personally, don’t think they’re worth considering (at the time of writing).

This decision is where I became the most conflicted and had to reflect on my goals to remember what’s important.

Here’s my take:

React Native will give you better odds of getting hired for a big company.

Flutter is better for making your own apps.

Here’s why I say that:

React Native

• More popular
• Has been around longer
• More jobs for React developers
• Uses pre-existing languages, like JavaScript
• Smaller project size
• Native look — default aesthetic is the native for the platform (consistent with device)

Flutter

• Fewer languages == faster to learn
• Better documentation == easier to learn
• Better performance when apps on running on final device
• “Flutter look” — default aesthetic is the same across all devices (read: consistency across audience and brand)

For me, Flutter is the easy choice.

I don’t mind the design looking the same on iOS and Android. I see that as encouragement to create something that is more branded / unique and less generic / default UI patterns. That’s not to say I think we should throw the baby out with the bath water. There are a lot of great principles in Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and Google’s Material Design.

Documentation is a big deal for me. Minimal, jargon-heavy documentation is a pet peeve of mine.

I also want to prioritize the speed with which I can create something.

So Flutter is my go-to…but that doesn’t necessarily mean it should be yours too.

Wishing you success in your pursuits,

Kass