Flutter vs. React Native: Which one best fits your next mobile app development project?
Till the last extent of the imaginable future, there is no possibility of the mobile app development industry’s downfall. The advancement, however, is being done and will be done consistently. There are around 6.3 billion people who are using mobile phones. The prevalence of its usage is growing exponentially.
Now, comes the question of optimized apps, with low cost of building, and lesser maintenance. The three questions have given birth to various frameworks competing to solve the demands in the most effective way possible. Among them, Flutter and React Native are the most prominent ones, having a majority of the market size already captured.
In this blog article, we are going to discuss in detail the fundamental difference between the two pioneers of hybrid app development. Later, you will be introduced to the top mobile app development company in the USA, to assist you in your next project.
The market size of mobile app development
On average a person hosts 80 applications on his phone. In the year 2023, the market size value of mobile app development has been estimated at $229.98 billion, while the forecast for the end of this decade is expected to be $567.19 billion.
The market segment of application development has its major share in North America which captures 31.83% of the market. Companies such as Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Apple, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, etc., are all headquartered in the USA.
On the other hand, the revenue share of the mobile app development industry is higher from the other side, in the Asia-Pacific region. In rapidly developing countries like China and India, with high rates of technological advancement, internet usage has increased. The prominent segments of mobile applications that are prevalent belong to e-Commerce, gaming, and social media.
A brief overview of Flutter
During the Dart Dev Summit in April 2015, Mr. Eric Seidel, one of the co-founders of the Flutter framework, officially announced its development. Since then, the scenario of mobile application development has changed manifold because of Flutter’s distinctive features, such as:
- Hot Reload
- Minimal Code
- Cross-platform development
- Native feel and features
- Widgets
- Accessible native features and SDKs
In a nutshell, Flutter is an open source User Interface framework, developed by Google in 2015, and first released in May 2017. The most significant feature of this framework is its single-code database that can be used for developing mobile applications compatible with all platforms, including iOS and Android. This cross-platform development with a single code database helps the developers save a lot of time and money.
Flutter’s architecture
1. Programming language
The programming language used by Flutter is Dart which was designed by Lars Bak and Kasper Lund who were developers at Google.
2. Engine
Flutter has an engine where programmers write their codes for further development. The same codes are utilized for iOS, Android, macOS, Linux, etc. The Flutter engine, however, is written in C++ programming language.
3. Library
Flutter has fundamental classes and methods like APIs to interact with the engine. These materials are embedded in the Dart-based Foundation library.
4. Widgets
Flutter has two widgets – Cupertino and Material Design. These widgets are formatted in line with various design languages. Cupertino follows Apple’s iOS human interface, on the other hand, Material Design synchronizes with Google’s Material Design language.
A brief overview of React Native
The germination of the idea took place with the need Facebook detected regarding mobile usage. In the year 2021, Facebook announced that they were going to be a mobile-first company, considering the prevalence of mobile applications, Finally, in 2015, the first conference on React.JS took place, which announced the launch of this development framework.
React Native brought with itself a lot of amazing features, such as:
1. Native performance
2. Third-party library ecosystem
3. Community support
4. Reusable codes
Hot reloading
In a nutshell, React Native is a framework developed by Facebook for the development of applications for Android, Android TV, iOS, macOS, tvOS, Web, Windows, and UWP. It allows the developers to utilize React framework alongside native platform capabilities.
React Native’s architecture
1. Native modules
With React Native, you may create Native Modules to write code that is particular to a given platform. Developers may make use of platform-specific APIs that are not provided out of the box by using Native Modules, which are JavaScript modules that expose native code functions.
2. Styling
To style its components, React Native uses a mechanism fairly dissimilar to CSS. However, rather than using CSS, it defines styles with JavaScript objects. The components’ visual look can be modified according to your preferences by applying one of these styles to them.
3. Virtual DOM
4. Bridge
To translate between JavaScript and native code, React Native makes use of a bridge. This bridge connects JavaScript to the native APIs of the underlying platform, giving developers access to all the features of the device.
5. JSX
The JSX (JavaScript XML) syntax that is used by React Native makes it possible to write code that is similar to HTML while still using JavaScript. JSX simplified defining the format and presentation of components including tags, attributes, and event listeners.
What is cross-platform development?
In this day and age, when people utilize apps to an excessive degree while at the same time, there is an excessive amount of new application creation, it is very vital to save time. When time is saved, money is saved in the long run.
To solve this matter, cross-platform mobile application development came into being. Instead of wasting time in creating separate applications for iOS, Android, Linux, Windows, etc., developed preferred a hybrid application model. It has many advantages, some of them are:
- Codes written in a cross-platform development framework can be reused for different OS (Operating Systems).
- One-application-for-all helps to maintain the single User Interface which substantially improves the user experience (UX).
- The cost of developing a hybrid application is no doubt far lesser than native ones.
- The single codebase enables the developers to maintain the application easily.
- It is relatively easy to market single-app-for-all rather than individual ones for different operating systems.
The distinction between Flutter and React Native
| Distinction | React Native | Flutter |
|---|---|---|
Owner | Meta | Google |
Launch | 2015 | 2017 |
Language | JavaScript | Dart |
Support | It has a large community that provides open-source libraries for codes, guidance, and other resources. | It is used by a smaller section of the developers, therefore, not enough resources can be found online. |
Market Size | 38% | 42% |
Execution | When compared to the Flutter app, the performance of the React Native app is poor. In such cases, problems may arise when a hybrid application architecture is being used by the developers. | The Flutter app runs quickly and efficiently. Flutter uses the arm C/C++ library during compilation, which brings the code closer to machine code and improves the app's native speed. |
User Interface | Native UI components with access to third parties | Own UI components in the form of widgets but limited. |
Examples | Skype, Instagram, Facebook | Google Ads, Hamilton |
Decision-making stage
The comprehensive discussion on the two pioneering frameworks for application development has led us to the conclusion that each has its own set of benefits and drawbacks; nevertheless, if it is employed according to the requirements of the business, it has much more advantages than any other platform.
Both frameworks are developed and owned by global leading companies. Flutter is owned by Google, while React Native is under Meta. Therefore, there is no issue of reliability.
Flutter is considered to be much easier when it comes to usability. The updates in iOS or Android do not change the structure of the application in general. On the other hand React Native is dependent on the native elements, therefore, any update may cause changes in the UI of the application.
The major considerable distinction between Flutter and React Native is Flutter’s availability of plugins that helps to find the geo-location and do the proper mapping. On the contrary, applications developed on React Native work with a one-time location only.
The debate will be endless if the goal is not determined. The entire process of choosing the optimum framework for your custom app development depends on the demands of your organization.
Contact us now to find the best React and Flutter developers for your next enterprise mobile app development project.
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