Flutter's Main Weakness: Is It a Deal-Breaker for Developers

While Flutter is a popular cross-platform app development framework and is backed by Google, it comes with several major weaknesses. However, does that mean developers should stop using Flutter and look for alternatives? That’s what we’re going to find out.

In this blog, we’ll talk about Flutter’s main weakness and other disadvantages that people rarely talk about. By going through the weakness, you can determine if Flutter is worth including in your next project.

What Is Flutter?

Created by Google, Flutter is an open-source software development kit (SDK) meant for crafting cross-platform applications using a single codebase. Flutter has been growing in popularity over the years and is one of the most widely used frameworks among software developers.

Initially, Flutter allowed developers to create iOS and Android apps only. However, after the release of Flutter 2, developers can develop apps for multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, web, Windows, Linux, and even macOS.

While Flutter is popular and is improving with time, it comes with several weaknesses that can make its use irrelevant. Let’s learn more about that.

Weaknesses of Flutter for App Development

Flutter Is Not Suited for Web Development

If you’re planning to use Flutter for web development, it may not be the best idea. Here’s why:

Flutter inserts its engine into the code, which makes the apps bulkier than if they were created natively. When apps are heavier or larger, the performance degrades. That’s something you cannot let happen in the case of web apps, as they’re meant to load faster (PWAs). Also, slow performance translates to a longer loading time, which is not good for SEO either.

It’s not just the case for web development, Flutter apps often occupy more space as compared to its alternatives in every platform. So, if you plan on creating apps that occupy the least space, Flutter is not for you.

macOS Is Necessary for Cross-Platform Development

When you visit Flutter’s official website, you can download the IDE for all platforms, including Linux, Windows, and macOS. It means you can develop apps using Flutter on the device of your preference. However, that’s not true in the case of cross-platform development. Why?

To develop an iOS app, you need Xcode – which runs on macOS only. While you can write the code on any platform of your choice, you need a macOS to deploy the app to iOS, which can be limiting for some developers.

Additionally, some individuals suggest using a macOS virtual machine in a windows device. While this is technically possible, it adds unnecessary steps to app development which further increases the development time.

Programming Language: Dart

Dart is the official programming language for Flutter. While Dart is powerful, clean, and fast, it’s not as prevalent as other programming languages. The adoption of Dart over the last couple of years has not been impressive.

Moreover, there are limited resources when it comes to learning Dart. So, if you’re a new developer, you might find it hard to find solutions to even some of your basic queries. And because of the low popularity, there aren’t many employers out there looking for Dart developers, which may further demotivate developers from learning Dart for Flutter.

Community Support Is Limited

One of the biggest competitors of Flutter is React Native, which is based on JavaScript. Because JavaScript has been there for decades (even before React Native was a thing), the React Native community is pretty large and mature as compared to Flutter.

Flutter, on the other hand, mandates developers to use Dart, which is not nearly as popular as JavaScript. For this reason, there aren’t many developers in the Flutter community; so new developers might find it hard to get active support in case they get stuck or come across any bugs.

Not as Native as React Native

When it comes to giving a native look and feel to apps, Flutter does not render native components. Instead, it takes over the entire screen and renders its own user interface in an attempt to give the best possible experience to the user based on the device they’re using.

However, this so-called native look and feel is not as good as React Native. React Native uses native components throughout the app development, which enables developers to create more accurate native apps.

Delay in Supporting New Features

Whenever a new feature of iOS or Android is released, certain changes are to be implemented in Flutter before developers can use that feature. However, Google takes quite a lot of time to bring support for new features for Flutter, which can be a competitive disadvantage.

Take the 120+ Hz displays, for example. Though they’ve been in the market for several years, it was only recently that Google extended support for creating apps with 120 Hz refresh (in their latest release of Flutter 3).

Flutter’s Main Weakness: Immaturity

The biggest weakness of Flutter is the immaturity of the platform and the subsequent consequences of this fact. Here’s how:

• Concerns in the long run: Several individuals choose Flutter because it’s backed by Google. However, the same reason is preventing companies from switching to flutter, considering how many young projects Google has killed in the past.
• Use of community workarounds: Importing and using a JavaScript library in Flutter is a cumbersome procedure as compared to the platforms (React Native), and so developers have to opt for community workarounds.

However, this can be problematic as community workarounds cannot always be trusted, especially for confidential projects. Who knows when the creator stops support for a particular library? Also, the library could be corrupted – making your app more vulnerable.

• Several improvements are to be made: There are several improvements to be made and bugs to be fixed in Flutter. This is highly unlikely to happen quickly, as there are over 11,000 open issues on GitHub, some dating back to 2016.

So, Is Flutter's Main Weakness a Deal Breaker for Developers?

It depends. Companies that have seasoned developers who’ve worked on different technologies can switch to Flutter pretty easily because of their expertise. Also, they can make the most of the technology and achieve the results they desire.

However, for example, you probably cannot afford to create apps that are heavier and have performance issues just because Flutter comes with hot reload or is backed by Google, right? There are different, probably better, alternatives to Flutter, that you can try, including React native, Xamarin ionic, and more.

If you’re a budding developer trying to enter the field of cross-platform app development, you should be cautious. The short-term benefits won’t cancel out the potential long-term weaknesses of Flutter.

FAQs:

Q1. Does Google use Flutter?

Yes – Flutter was developed by Google and has been used for creating several popular apps for Google, including:

• Google Pay: An international payments platform.
• Google Classroom: A learning platform developed by Google.
• Google Ads: Application for creating and managing ad campaigns.
• Stadia: A cloud gaming service developed by Google.

Q2. Is C++ like a Flutter?

C++ is a programming language, while Flutter is a cross-platform app development SDK. If you compare C++ with Dart (Flutter’s programming language), they’re very different. Both C++ and Dart have different syntax, use cases, and features.

However, Dart is quite similar to JavaScript and C#. If you’re familiar with the latter, you may find Dart easier to learn.

Q3. Is YouTube written in Flutter?

No. For its mobile apps, YouTube uses native technologies such as Kotlin and Java for Android and Objective C and Swift for iOS. This is because YouTube prefers the best possible performance, which can be achieved using native development only.