Top 5 Reasons Flutter Transforms IoT App Development

Creating IoT projects requires the involvement of many people. An example team includes a Product Manager, Hardware Engineer, Software Engineer, Backend Developer, and Security Engineer. Even that may not be enough when developing patents or just the accompanying mobile application for the project. We are talking about several more people joining the team to even get the project off the ground.

Since 2018, we have been continuously working on IoT projects for mobile applications and started with a standard approach: two separate apps dedicated separately for iOS and Android. But the truth is that we were never fully satisfied working this way, and while iOS IoT projects were created quickly, Android required more laborious work.

In 2020, as Flutter was gaining credibility and popularity among developers, our team began implementing it in new projects. In the following years, the technology grew exponentially, and developers soon started using it for IoT projects as well. Why do we think it has revolutionized the approach to these projects in question? Part of IoT systems is often complex mobile applications. If we can choose a technology that will save us a lot of trouble in the future, reduce costs, and at the same time is a future-proof choice, then the option of this technology may even become crucial for the survival of a startup. So much so that not one single startup will have to prove much before there is traction and the prospect of increased budgets.

Here are five compelling reasons why we choose Flutter for IoT projects:

1. Reduced cost and time

Flutter is a cross-platform framework, meaning apps for both Android and iOS platforms are developed with a single code base. Similar technologies on the market allow this, but they don’t allow you to tamper with the native components, such as cameras, wifi, and Bluetooth, as Flutter does. The result? Instead of hiring two people, or even two teams of several people, the same work can be done by one person/team, directly affecting development costs. Often there are situations in IoT projects where, in addition to the development of the mobile application, there is the issue of creating algorithms or data analysis on the side of the mobile device. As a result, making each subsequent change separately on both platforms becomes cumbersome and costly. In the case of Flutter, when dealing with a single code base, once introduced and tested, changes are immediately tested and submitted to productions for both iOS and Android.

2. Open-source approach

Google made sure that the popularity of their baby, Flutter, was constantly growing without a single developer having to force anything. As a result, programming in Flutter is fast and efficient, the development community has already begun to collaborate and create more and more additional tools, and there are already many proven ready-to-use libraries if you plan on using Bluetooth, Wifi, or NFC components.

Take a look at this successful example created by Philips.

3. High-performance 

Flutter uses native components of the device, making it easy to think of Flutter as a tool for creating the most demanding applications. Above all, if we use open-source solutions, these tools are developed by multiple developers and can often be better tested than solutions created on our own. 

In our case, switching to Flutter saved a lot of the hassle of optimizing work on a demanding Bluetooth project on Android. In addition, we could plan more efficiently over the implementation in Flutter for both platforms than on only one Android platform.

4. Easier Prototyping

Above, we mentioned reduced costs and high application performance. But what if someone is considering testing their product and needs to know what technology will be the best to create a simple MVP or a proof of concept prototype? When designing IoT solutions, it’s crucial not only to optimize the entire team but to make it possible to go through the often long R&D phase by doing a lot of testing. Remember, Flutter isn’t a more expensive technology aimed only at production projects. We can use it from the beginning to create and test optimally, plus we don’t have to worry about scaling up the project later.

5. Multi-platform 

Applications in Flutter are developed simultaneously for iOS and Android, but not only, and with the same code base, we can create web and desktop applications for macOS and Windows. Flutter is also tied to Fuchsia, Google’s operating system, which is expected to be the imminent leading technology. If it replaces Android in smartphones, thanks to Flutter, we won’t have to invest in rewriting Android applications for Fuchsia in the future.

Still prefer to stick with solutions that have been proven for decades?

Your startup has a large budget, and you want to make the best possible technology choice. Other solutions, like Native Technology, will still allow you to achieve your goals efficiently. On the other hand, most startups should bet on maximally optimized solutions.

The most important information is that this article is not marketing material but the voice of insiders. Developers and, above all, the industry’s business decision-makers are all betting on Flutter.