Android Native vs Flutter
How does Android Native compare to Flutter?
See the pros and cons of each framework, target platforms and more.
Android Native
Flutter
About
Maintainer
GoogleInitial Release
September 23, 2008
Maintainer
GoogleInitial Release
May 12, 2017
Community
Languages
- Java
- Kotlin
- Dart
Target Platforms
- ✓ Android
- ✓ Android Auto
- ✓ Android TV
- iOS
- Linux
- macOS
- tvOS
- watchOS
- ✓ Wear Os
- Windows
- ✓ Android
- Android Auto
- Android TV
- ✓ iOS
- ✓ Linux
- ✓ macOS
- tvOS
- watchOS
- Wear Os
- ✓ Windows
✅Strengths
- Official SDK
Native Android apps are built using the official Android development tools, which provide access to the latest features and functionality of the Android platform.
- Performance
Native Android apps perform better than hybrid apps as they have direct access to device hardware and the underlying operating system.
- User Interface
Developers can use built-in UI elements to create a consistent interface that follows the Android design guidelines.
- User Experience
Native Android apps offer a familiar user experience for Android users.
- Ecosystem
Developers can build apps for other Android-based systems like Smartphones, Wear OS, Android TV and Android Auto.
- Large Community
Android has a very large and active developer community, which means there is plenty of documentation, tutorials, and examples available to help developers build apps for Android.
- Cross-platform
Flutter allows developers to build apps for a wide range of platforms using a single codebase, reducing development time and costs.
- Performance
Apps built with Flutter are fairly performant as Flutter's engine and framework are optimized to take advantage of each platform's hardware.
- User Interface
Flutter has built-in UI elements for both iOS and Android, allowing developers to create a consistent interface that follows the Apple and Android design guidelines.
- Native APIs
Flutter provides a bridge between to native APIs. This means that developers can access native functionality like the camera, accelerometer and much more.
- Large Community
Flutter has a large and active developer community, which means there is plenty of documentation, tutorials, and examples available to help developers build desktop apps.
🛑Weaknesses
- Cross-platform
Developers have to build separate apps using a different framework to target other platforms like iOS, Windows and macOS.
- Learning Curve
Dart is not a very popular language, so developers will have to learn a new language to build apps with Flutter.
- App Size
Flutter apps tend to be larger than native apps due to Flutter engine being bundled with them.
