Google’s Cross-Platform App Development Tool Hits Version 1.0

Google is launching version 1.0 of its cross-platform app development tool, allowing developers to start building mainstream cross-platform apps with a single, universal codebase that works both on Android and iOS.

The company has been testing Flutter for a long while, first announcing it back in February of this year. Flutter is a mobile UI framework that allows developers to write apps in Dart that can run on Android and iOS. Unlike Flutter’s competitors like React Native, Flutter actually compiles your Dart code into native Android/iOS code, meaning you will get better performance than with something like React Native, which runs your code via JavaScript engine.

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React Native has gained a huge following and still has an enormous ecosystem, combined with developer support, so Google will have to continue putting in a lot of work into Flutter for it to succeed. There are already a bunch of apps on Android and iOS that are built on Flutter, so that’s definitely a good start.

With Flutter 1.0, Google is introducing new features like Dart 2.1, as well as a new feature that lets you add native iOS/Android components into your app, and vice-versa. Google is also launching a new project called Flutter Hummingbird, bringing the same mobile UI framework to the web. Google hopes to allow users to use the same code to make their mobile apps available on the web, so that will pretty much compete with Facebook’s React.

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Conversation 13 comments

  • dcdevito

    04 December, 2018 - 2:22 pm

    <p>Seems no one wants to write C based apps anymore. JavaScript all the things!</p>

    • christian.hvid

      04 December, 2018 - 3:39 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#378026">In reply to dcdevito:</a></em></blockquote><p>Flutter apps are written in Dart, not JavaScript. I think we should all be happy that app developers don't get to use C – just imagine how many times your phone/computer would crash due to buffer overruns, dangling pointers and unreleased memory allocations. :)</p>

      • dcdevito

        04 December, 2018 - 4:48 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#378059">In reply to christian.hvid:</a></em></blockquote><p>Dart is based on JavaScript</p>

        • christian.hvid

          04 December, 2018 - 5:20 pm

          <blockquote><em><a href="#378102">In reply to dcdevito:</a></em></blockquote><p>Not really – Dart is a language that draws inspiration from C, C# and JavaScript among others, and can optionally be transpiled into JavaScript. In the case of Flutter though, it's compiled directly into machine code and is nearly as efficient as C/C++.</p>

  • jim_priestley

    04 December, 2018 - 4:46 pm

    <p>Funny, your hero image made me think they had shipped an IDE, but that is @code, Flutter is just and SDK…</p>

  • Salvador Jesús Romero Castellano

    04 December, 2018 - 5:30 pm

    <p>Still behind Xamarin Forms in terms of platforms support… But with google behind it, I don't think this will last long. Microsoft's support for Xamarin is pretty lacky.</p>

    • dontbe evil

      05 December, 2018 - 3:28 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#378114">In reply to Salvador Romero:</a></em></blockquote><p>check the latest xamrin news</p>

  • skane2600

    04 December, 2018 - 7:16 pm

    <p>More specifically dual-platform. These schemes almost always involve compromises, it will be interesting to see what they are in this case. Of course sometimes there are cheats in the form of code "ifdefs" (no, not literally), platform-specific resources or more restricted options than a native app enjoys.</p><p><br></p><p>The real value of a cross-platform approach would be the ability to design your app without regard to any of the platforms that are supported. Once you have to think about specific platforms you're starting down the road to what has been done in C for many decades.</p>

  • dontbe evil

    05 December, 2018 - 3:27 am

    <p>no thanks, dual platform, not cross platforms and still millions of years behind others like Xamarin</p>

  • locust infested orchard inc

    08 December, 2018 - 5:27 pm

    <p>Adoogle and its bi-dysfunctional little Flucker.</p>

  • webcluesglobal

    06 June, 2019 - 5:55 am

    <p class="ql-align-justify">Its sounds good that Google is launching a tool of <a href="https://www.webcluesglobal.com/cross-platform-app-development/&quot; target="_blank"><em>Cross-platform App Development</em></a>, So first let's start testing this tool &amp; then we will be able to review on it. Oh wait Google also launching new update on Hummingbird so let’s see which type of effect we get over organic results.&nbsp;</p>

  • michel123

    03 September, 2019 - 7:34 am

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  • michel123

    03 September, 2019 - 7:37 am

    <p><a href="https://lathiyasolutions.com/&quot; target="_blank">WORDPRESS DEVELOPMENT</a></p>

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