10 reasons to switch from React Native to Flutter for your next mobile app
Developed by Google, Flutter is a natural fit for building apps for the Android platform. Here are 10 reasons why it’s time to ditch React Native for Flutter
Mobile app development has undergone a major transformation in recent years as tablets and smartphones come to dominate our digital lives. While there are now several app development frameworks to choose from, Flutter and React Native own the lion’s share of the market, with 42% of mobile app developers using Flutter and 38% using React Native.
Both frameworks have the benefit of being open source. Meta Platforms is the developer and principle contributor of React Native, which supports all major mobile and desktop operating systems. Flutter, a UI software development kit from Google, also supports a broad range of platforms. First launched in 2017, it’s also the newer of the two platforms.
Here are 10 reasons why you might want to hire a Flutter developer for your next project:
- One of the biggest benefits of Flutter is its better native OS support. Flutter’s widgets use the platform’s native user interface elements, which means the resulting apps look and feel like native apps.
- Flutter has a larger and more active community than React Native, which is constantly looking for ways to enhance the framework. As a result, there’s a wider range of open-source packages and libraries, making it easier to develop truly custom apps.
- Unlike React Native, Flutter compiles app code directly to native machine code, which results in improved performance and faster app launch times. React Native, however, works through a JavaScript layer, potentially resulting in slower performance.
- Flutter’s ability to create apps for multiple platforms is another major advantage. While React Native also supports a wide range of platforms, Flutter’s versatile and powerful framework even supports Linux.
- Flutter is powered by Dart, a client-optimised programming language for building fast apps on any platform. Dart is also more null- and type-safe than JavaScript, resulting in reduced runtime errors and code that’s easier to update and maintain.
- Flutter’s widget design system makes it easy to create customer UI elements. You can customise and abstract widgets to create unique designs that help you stand out in the highly competitive mobile app market.
- Flutter offers better device integration tools than React Native. Developers can easily create apps that use hardware features like cameras, microphones, or other sensors. It also offers native integration with OS features like contacts and photos is easy too.
- The fact that Flutter is developed by Google rather than Meta (of Facebook fame) is also a solid reason for making the switch. This gives developers far more confidence in the framework’s longevity and future support.
- Flutter’s code, which uses the Dart programming language, is more concise and easier to read than React Native’s JavaScript code. It’s designed with ease of use in mind, so developers can more easily understand the code base and make changes quickly.
- Many developers still prefer React Native, since it uses common web languages like JavaScript and HTML. Since proficiency in these languages is more widespread than it is with Dart, React Native is often a better choice for in-house developers.
In conclusion, there are several compelling reasons to consider rebuilding your React Native app in Flutter, including ease of use and maintenance, enhanced native app support, and a generally superior development experience. If you’re ready to make the switch, hire a Flutter developer today to start working on your next project!