As a team of experienced MVP wizards, we understand the importance of delivering exceptional products to our clients within a reasonable timeframe. That's why we're always on the hunt for the best ways to bring our clients' ideas to life without losing our minds in the process. When we were presented with the challenge of building a mobile app for a client, we conducted thorough research and testing, and chose Flutter as our primary development framework. And it definitely delivered! 

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In this blog, we'll explore the benefits and tradeoffs of using Flutter, compare it to other popular mobile development frameworks, share how we used Firebase and LottieFiles to enhance the app, and provide some helpful hints on how the prototyping process can be improved.

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For those who don't know, Flutter is an open-source mobile development framework created by Google that lets you develop high-quality apps for mobile, web, and desktop from just one codebase. This eliminates the need to write separate code for different platforms, and with pre-built widgets to choose from, Flutter makes for a good starting point for any project. Designing user-friendly interfaces with Flutter can help shorten one’s journey to the market.  

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What really impressed us about Flutter was its hot-reload feature, which is a real game-changer for development speed. It spots the change instantly and allows us to iterate faster, without having to wait for the entire app to rebuild with every small change we make. 

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You might be thinking, "What about React Native?" Well, Flutter has won us over by providing several significant advantages over React Native, primarily concerning performance and ease of development. One of the biggest differences between Flutter and React Native is that Flutter uses its own rendering engine, while React Native relies on native platform components. This means that Flutter has more control over the entire rendering process, and can result in better performance and smoother animations. Since animations were the key element of the app, this was really important for us.

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Of course, no framework is perfect, and Flutter does come with some tradeoffs. The app size might be larger than other frameworks due to the Dart runtime, and the community is still growing compared to the likes of already established ones like React Native and Xamarin. However, Flutter's popularity is soaring, and for a good reason.

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But what about the backend, you ask? We turned to Firebase, another Google gem, for its array of tools and services to build high-performance and scalable apps. Firebase's Realtime Database allowed us to use streams for real-time updates in the app which proved to be very effective. This meant we could make dynamic changes without spending extra time building and deploying new versions of the app. Using Firebase Authentication, we were able to add a secure and easy-to-use email and user authentication process for our client. But we didn't stop there. Additionally, we customized the user interface to seamlessly match the design of the app.

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Last but not least, we added some spice to the app with LottieFiles. This animation library is a game-changer, allowing for hassle-free addition of custom-made animations. Swapping animations like you would images allowed us to test out different options in search for the perfect fit. LottieFiles is used by the likes of Duolingo and many others and we highly recommend you try it out.

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All in all, building our client's mobile app with Flutter, Firebase, and LottieFiles was a smooth ride. It aligned perfectly with our development process, letting us create a beautiful and responsive app in a projected timeframe. And with Firebase and LottieFiles to back us up, we could make sure the app was not only secure but visually stunning as well. 

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In conclusion, if you're thinking about developing a mobile app, we highly recommend using Flutter. Keep in mind that, though a great tool, there is so much more that goes into building a great digital product than just picking the right framework. So if you need a partner to ideate, build, and launch your new venture, we are keen to learn more.  

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Need help bringing your digital product vision to life? Get in touch at sales@dlabs.io.

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