Flutter vs React Native - Which One is Better for Cross-Platform Mobile Apps?
If you spend enough time exploring the practices and tools designed for mobile app development, you will hear about two technologies that have pretty much taken over the entire market: React Native and Flutter. These two cross-platform app development tools offer incredibly interactive frameworks for designing Android and iOS apps.
Whenever you have such fierce competition, it’s always a good idea to compare both options and figure out each one’s strengths and weaknesses. This will help you find out which solution can best contribute to your needs and avoid spending money on a program that has no use for you. So, let’s begin our Flutter vs. React Native comparison.
Table of Contents
- What Is Unique About Flutter?
- React Native; Another Powerful Cross-platform App
- Feature Comparison: Flutter vs. React Native
- Flutter vs. React Native; Final Thoughts
What is Unique About Flutter?
When it comes to cross-platform app development, Flutter is definitely one of the most popular options in the market, known for its robust design and incredibly powerful and versatile framework. Flutter was introduced by Google in 2017 as a comprehensive solution to develop applications for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, and more.
Perhaps the most compelling selling point you can find in Flutter is its exceptional user experience across all these platforms. Unlike many alternatives in the market, Flutter maintains unparalleled consistency in design and development capabilities, allowing you to adjust your apps to different operating systems easily.
The growing popularity of Flutter owed much to its optimal performance, user-friendly setup, and extensive library of pre-built widgets that saved developers a lot of time and energy. Flutter is based on the Dart programming language, which adds to its popularity as it is one of the easiest languages for beginners and a flexible solution for senior developers.
Flutter's hot reload feature is another thing about this cross-platform app development tool that has made it a top choice among developers. This feature lets you see the changes and modifications you add to your code in real time, which can significantly speed up the development and revision process.
React Native; Another Powerful Cross-platform App
The second option on any list of the top cross-platform apps in the market is Recent Native, created by Meta Platforms, Inc. in March 2015. React Native is widely used to develop Android, Android TV, iOS, macOS, tvOS, Web, Windows, and UWP applications.
Working with a react native app development company would give you the advantage of using a native-like platform with a well-crafted architecture that redefines the user experience on a whole new level. React Native allows you to reuse a significant portion of the codebase between platforms, which considerably increases development speed and efficiency.
Similar to Flutter, React Native provides users with access to a vast range of ready-to-use components and libraries. This is an important feature as we witness continuous progress in the platform, pushed and supported vigorously by the development community.
Some of the features mentioned about these two apps can be found in the native frameworks as well. However, they offer some unique features too. For instance, React Native provides a ‘live reload’ feature which is quite similar to Flutter’s hot reload, designed to allow developers to see code changes in real-time during the development phase.
Feature Comparison: Flutter vs. React Native
Now let’s see how each platform stands in comparison to its powerful competitor.
#1 Performance
Flutter has its own native rendering engine, Skia, which is known to be an incredibly popular option for high-performance applications. Reliance on native components has dramatically improved Flutter’s speed and effectively solved most of the problems associated with performance aspects of handling complex UI animations.
React Native, on the other hand, may not be the most resilient alternative when it comes to performance. The app is essentially a middleman between a JavaScript engine and native code, which will significantly reduce the speed and performance quality by adding extra translation layers and interpretation processes.
#2 Development Speed
When it comes to development speed, these two apps take a very similar approach. We mentioned earlier that Flutter utilizes its "hot reload" feature to allow users to make real-time code changes to save time on development and perhaps set up a quick feedback loop for more efficient collaborative initiatives.
React Native offers "live reload", which has the same purpose but follows a different process as it reloads the entire JavaScript bundle whenever you make a change on your codebase and updates the UI altogether. This might have some benefits for UI-oriented projects, but it also reduces the development speed.
#3 User Interface
In terms of UI, both offer quite an exceptional package. Flutter, for instance, has its own set of customizable widgets. This will save developers from the trouble of creating compatible widgets and allows them to easily customize features on whatever platform they use.
React Native offers an extensive library of native components that look really good on every platform. So at the end of the day, the choice would depend on the specific development requirements as well as the design style and method you want to apply.
Flutter vs. React Native; Final Thoughts
There is no doubt that both Flutter and React Native have proven their value to the market. Both are powerful solutions for cross-platform mobile app development. If you are looking for a more native-like experience, React Native is probably a better choice. But if you need optimal speed, flexibility, and performance, your best option is to hire Flutter app developers.
Keep in mind that from a professional perspective, even the slightest differences can transform the results you will receive. So, make sure to consult our experts and ask them for their insights about the most suitable framework for your specific needs. We will evaluate your project and provide a customized plan to satisfy all your business objectives.
The One Technologies provides top-notch software development solutions to invigorate your business with advanced application development services. With incredible accuracy, we construct websites as well as innovate future solutions that pave the way for a better tomorrow. Contact us today, and we’ll take care of the rest.
