According to Zippia users worldwide spent 133 billion dollars on apps as of 2021, an increase of 20 percent from the previous year. The same source reports that an average consumer interacts with thirty mobile applications each month.
These statistics should not come as a surprise as we all see around us people of all ages using their mobile phones most of the time.
Young people keep their phones on their laps while working on their laptops in workplaces. It's high time businesses read what is written on the wall and jump into the mobile app industry.
Your organization can increase your brand awareness, customer engagement, conversions, sales, or whatever is your goal.
You select a suitable app development framework to create your mobile app. Flutter and React Native are among the most popular app development frameworks.
This article entails their role as a framework for mobile app development and which one you should use for your project.
Let's start:
What is Flutter?
Google created Flutter as an open-source UI SDK (software development kit) to build hybrid mobile apps. Launched in May 2017, Flutter can be employed to build apps for iOS, Android, Google Fuchsia, Windows, macOS, Linux, and the web.
Flutter offers a hot reloading feature that allows developers to view changes they made in the code as soon as they do it without having to update the whole product.
Flutter mobile apps appear as decent on upgraded platforms as on previous versions.
Components of Flutter
1- Flutter engine
2- Flutter development tools (DevTools)
3- Dart platform
4- Foundation library
5- Design-specific widgets
Flutter uses Dart as its programming language. Developers can build the front ends of native mobile applications for iOS and Android using a single codebase.
Widgets
It has two sets of widgets that comply with particular design languages.
1- Material Design widgets: They apply Google’s design language called Material Design
2- Cupertino widgets: They mimic Apple’s iOS design
These widgets facilitate the natural appearance and behavior of Flutter applications on each OS, mimicking their native modules.
Code Sharing
Google announced the release of Flutter 2.0 in March 2021, on which developers can employ the same codebase to dispatch native applications to five operating systems.
These include Android, macOS, iOS, Linux, Windows, and web experiences focusing on browsers like Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox. You can embed Flutter in your smart home appliances, TVs, and vehicles.
Production-Quality Support in Flutter 2
Production-quality support is probably the largest announcement made by Google in Flutter 2 for the web. You can use it for:
SPAs or single-page apps
You laid these apps once, and they transport information to and from internet services.
PWAs or progressive web apps
These solutions merge the web’s access with the abilities of a desktop application.
Existing mobile apps
Production quality support lets Flutter products function on a desktop.
Benefits
- Effortless development
- High performance
- Maintains design consistency
- Availability on mobile, desktop, and web
- Intuitive UI and smooth navigation of mobile apps
Popular examples of Flutter
- Alibaba
- Google Assistant
- eBay
- Hamilton application
- Google ads
- eBay motors
- Stadia
- Groupon
- Philips Hue
- Topline
What is React Native?
React native is an open-source cross-platform software development framework based on javascript programming. Its developers are Meta and community and it can be used to build products for Android, iOS, Android TV, tvOS, macOS, windows, web, and UWP.
Facebook has used Javascript, C++, Java, Python, and Objective C to write this framework.
While Flutter is dedicated to front-end development, React Native can handle both front and back-end development.
As its name implies, it allows you to build apps that will function on platforms iOS and Android. It depends on React framework, which runs on DOM (Document Object Model) to create, alter or remove components.
Benefits of React Native
1- It offers a fast refresh option that increases the speed of the development process
2- You can use one codebase for two mobile operating systems
3- Its programming language JavaScript is a universal language
4- It let you decide exactly what products you wish to use in app development, both based on your preferences and the app’s requirements
5- It is a more mature platform than Flutter and thus, Facebook has stabilized its API, focus on debugging, and working on a couple of interesting improvements such as decreasing app size
6- React native developers enjoy the help of a massive and active community as well as numerous UI frameworks, libraries, and guidelines
7- React Native comes more easily to React developers than Flutter or other frameworks
8- React Native decreases testing up to 50%
Popular examples of React Native
1- Instagram
2- Facebook
3- FB Ads Manager
4- Pinterest
5- Skype
6- Tesla
7- Bloomberg
8- Wix.com
React Native Vs Flutter: Head-to-head Comparison
Functionality:
You should consider the size and speed of an app when analyzing its performance. Flutter apps run faster and take less time to load than React native apps.
Developers write code in Javascript on React Native but to convert that code to the device’s native language, they use a bridge to enable information exchange and collaboration.
Due to this extra agent, react native apps’ functioning and loading speed slows down.
On the other hand, Flutter renders code using ARM and x86 native libraries, consuming less time and resources. Flutter apps also show animations smoother and faster, thanks to Flutter’s C++ graphic executing engine.
Popularity:
As you can see in the chart above, Flutter was used by 30 percent of developers, and React Native by 42 percent in 2019. Then, flutter’s usage surged in 2020 and reached 39 percent while that of react native stayed constant.
Then in 2021, Flutter surpassed React Native as the most commonly used app development framework in 2021 (42 percent) while React Native’s popularity took a dip (38 percent).
Writing code
React Native use JavaScript
React Native is the winner when we compare it with Flutter in terms of the best programming language. React Native use Javascript, a popular and user-friendly client-side programming language, as well as HTML and C++. These languages facilitate seamless app performance.
Javascript offers a collection of tutorials and documentation to help you learn to write code in it. Furthermore, its vast community of users is also a great help for beginners. It features libraries, built-in blocks, and frameworks to make programming easier.
Flutter uses Dart
Dart has a smaller community of developers as it is tougher to learn. Still, Dart is an object-oriented programing language which makes coding in it faster than in other languages.
Design
Flutter and React Native both exhibit remarkable design features but they use different methods for constructing user interfaces. React native apps run smoothly and allow for customization, thanks to their native visual aspects and look.
In React Native applications, the app’s components get upgraded with their native OS upgrade. It retains resemblance and experience to other apps on the same platform.
On the other hand, Flutter apps appear identical no matter what is their device model and platform version. Other aspects of the app like navigation stay the same unless willingly updated.
It becomes easier to apply a regular neutral design for all gadgets to lay aside the app solution’s scope.
Moreover, Flutter has a pre-built debugger that you may link to a functioning application on Android and iOS. It offers a preview of the existing state of the flutter engine along with different software for examining memory usage or fine-tuning a few options during the execution.
React Native’s debugger is the same. It works for Android and iOS apps and allows you to see a preview of the existing state of the JavaScript virtual engine as well as tools for examining storage usage or fine-tuning a couple of options on the fly.
Time to market
Both platforms enable cross-platform app development, meaning code reuse that rids developers of separate programming of independent products.
Community support
Google developed Flutter to help its mobile app development team build better solutions. Therefore, flutter has the back of Google’s team, which makes its community huge even though it is relatively new.
React native, On the contrary, is an older framework and enjoys a larger community that creates massive libraries and ready-made software packages.
Both frameworks are popular among app developers. But React Native demands attaching to external libraries for more functionalities.
Expenses and requirements
React Native asks a developer to only learn Javascript to code on its platform, which most developers are familiar with. It means you can easily hire a professional if you decide to build your app on React Native.
Flutter, on the flip side, can pose difficulty if you choose it for your project. As flutter is a newer technology, many experienced and older coding experts don't have its know-how.
Finding a Flutter developer can take a lot of your precious time. The Flutter developers at Maven Digital are diligent, savvy, and extremely talented. Contact our app development company today if you want to develop a functional and attractive Flutter app.
Compatibility and trustworthiness
Any user can develop apps on React Native and Flutter as their creators (Google, Facebook) distribute them with permission-free licenses.
Flutter is less compatible with a native platform’s updates, while React Native uses the native OS’s elements for extra adaptation efforts, should the system gets updated.
Installation
Flutter has its GitHub repository from which a user has to install the complete binary for the specific operating system. Users also require an additional .zip folder for macOS installation to utilize a PATH variable. Therefore, its installation process needs more steps and is slower.
React Native comes with its Node Package Manager, which people with javascript prowess can readily use and download rapidly with the least work. It shows that React Native is comparatively convenient to install.
Development API and UI
React Native poses a few challenges during UI development as you need to modify and build modules utilizing JavaScript and employ your program’s patches to make the component function.
Flutter is, however, super easy to develop the front end of apps on its platform. Firstly, it comes with bespoke front-end development software packages which fully support Google’s Material Design and Apple’s Cupertino. Plus, Google also provides its native support.
Code Reusability
Flutter allows you to alter a single sentence in your program, determine a new logic and reuse the code for another feature/project. It is extremely user-friendly and has an animated programming interface that allows for easy reusability. Thus, Flutter offers easier code reusability than React Native
Quality Insurance
Flutter comes with dozens of integration testing functionalities enabled by Google, but it allows less external testing software.
React Native is generous in terms of permitting the usage of third-party tools such as Jest or Detox to supersede any limitations.
Development Time
React Native is the clear winner here because it offers plenty of resources to help in app development. You can use its libraries, designs, Javascript-driven IDE (integrated development environment), or text editor.
Your business may have to spend some time to get qualified Flutter developers onboard as it is a newer technology, so people are familiar with it.
App Launching Process
Flutter offers a relaxed app release experience, thanks to Google’s efforts, including options like automated launch and Fastlane deployment. While React Native still uses manual and standard app launch methods.
Recruiting professionals
Who do you think you would find more easily — a Flutter developer or React Native developer? Our comparison will answer this.
As per Glassdoor, a flutter developer earns approximately $100,000 yearly on average while a React native developer’s annual average salary is roughly $108,000. The statistics show that your business might need to splurge more to hire a React Native developer than a Flutter professional.
Device support
Both Flutter and React native applications can run on iOS 11 and above. If we talk about Android, react native apps can function on Android 6.0 or later, while Flutter needs Android 4.1 or above. Flutter is relatively more compatible than its counterpart.
Documentation
Google has created in-depth documents with organized resources and videos for Flutter as it is a newer framework.
Developers worldwide who have used this framework for a long time have created guidelines and documentation for React Native.
Still, Some React Native developers complain of not being able to find the resources they need for their projects, while some find it more helpful than Flutter guidelines. We will say that the competition is a draw in Flutter versus React Native in the documentation.
Flutter Vs React Native: The Future
Let's look at the positives that highlight a bright future for Flutter.
- Flutter has become the most commonly used cross-platform mobile app framework year over year from 2019 to 2021.
- Google is nurturing a fervent userbase to support Flutter
- Google has been launching stable versions of the framework
- There are 500k Flutter applications after the launch of Flutter 3.0
Facebook has also added these new features in React Native:
- Hotkeys on the Apple debug menu
- Improved support for M1 users
- Latest status bar API
- New.xcode.env configuration folder
- Support for C++17
React Native Vs Flutter: Which one to choose?
| When Flutter works best | When React Native works best |
| You need to create a larger and more performant application | Do you want to reuse the app’s code for a web application |
| You wish to minimize the time to market | You need 3D rendering in your solution |
| Your project requires particular tasks or plenty of customizations | Your product needs multi-platform support |
Final Words
Both frameworks are the best in their places, but a project's success also depends on the developer’s prowess with a specific framework.
We have qualified and certified React Native and Flutter developers at Maven Digital. Connect with us to discuss your dream project!
FAQs
1- Which framework is easier to learn Flutter or React Native?
There is no easier framework that all developers agree upon. Each mobile app is unique and the choice of the framework should depend on the app’s parameters and the company’s objectives.
2- Which is better flutter or react native for a 3D project?
React Native is better for an app project that needs 3D. Flutter doesn't support 3D projects.
3- Why is Flutter not famous?
Flutter has a drawback which is its programming language, Dart. Not all developers can code in this language. Still, flutter is going strong in 2024.
4- Does TikTok use the Flutter framework to build its app?
Yes. Flutter and Firebase power the TikTok clone application.
