Why should you use Flutter for MVP development?
Launching a minimum viable product (MVP) is a priority for many developers and startups. But finding the right tool to develop is just as important as defining what that MVP will be. While there are many outstanding development frameworks, we believe Flutter has proven to include some of the best features for MVP development. In this article, we’ll focus on the importance of developing a Flutter MVP and why Flutter is such a valuable tool.
About Flutter Development
Released in 2017, Flutter is Google’s toolkit for the development of native mobile, web and desktop apps. The idea behind Flutter is to give developers an ideal cross-platform development framework. The fact Flutter is an SDK means it provides users with everything they need to create cross-platform apps, such as ready-made widgets, a rendering engine, and testing and integration APIs.
Some of its features include hot reload, reduced code, and customized widgets. Moreover, Flutter uses Dart as a programming language, a modern alternative to JavaScript developed by Google. The framework is not only easy to learn but is also known for increasing productivity and having extensive documentation.
Why should you develop an MVP with Flutter?
A minimum viable product is the most basic version of your product that can actually function for its purpose. When talking about a mobile app, it refers to its first version, including only the most basic and essential features and scrapping any extra ones that can be left for future updates.
MVPs have proven successful for both small and large companies, such as Uber or Instagram. Why should you focus on building one? Well, here are just some reasons:
⦁ It validates the viability of your idea, decreasing the risk: you may have a million-dollar idea, but wouldn’t you rather make sure it works and satisfies a market need before you invest all that money on it? Developing an MVP means you can explore the market and get to know your target client, its preferences and interests better before developing a full version of your app.
⦁ It’s considerably cheaper than launching a full app: building a basic version of your app or website will render your costs lower, which is especially important if you are lacking investors and have a limited budget to begin with.
⦁ You can release your product sooner: less work means faster progress. This is good for a number of reasons. To start with, it is easier to keep your team motivated and the costs will be lower. Moreover, it will be available to users faster, which means you can also start getting feedback and making a profit faster. Finally, there is less of a risk of someone else beating you to the punch, releasing a similar app, and stealing your thunder.
⦁ You can swiftly prove to investors that it works: if you want your business to grow or to just expand your product, you may be in need of investors. However, a lot of them won’t just jump at the “right” idea. They want proof that it works to make sure their investment is worthwhile. An MVP allows you to do just that and increase your chances of raising funds for your project.
Why should you use Flutter?
Flutter has many interesting and valuable features, but why should you use it specifically to develop your MVP? Here are our top reasons:
⦁ Attractive design: Flutter includes a variety of UI features and interactive designs, as well as the latest technology. Flutter’s catalog of ready-made widgets solves the most common problems when developing user interfaces, such as centering an item or just placing it on the right spot. You simply have to choose the widgets that best adapt to the application that you have in mind. Moreover, Flutter supports accessible widgets and lets developers customize them. The array of options and flexibility also make it a great choice and an excellent way to attract investors.
⦁ Accelerated development process: Flutter’s hot reload feature—powered by Dart VM—means that your code changes are reflected in your app the moment you save them, preserving the current app state. Therefore, you won’t need to rebuild your app after every change, making the process considerably faster.
⦁ Cost-effective: in addition to providing an accelerated development process, Flutter lets developers create apps using a single codebase for both iOS and Android. This helps reduce costs significantly as it cuts the workload considerably. It also means your development team will only need to be well-versed in one technology, instead of having to have a full grasp of both iOS and Android development languages.
⦁ Large community: the community behind any development tool is extremely useful and important. The fact Flutter has a large community means constant contributions and support for users. In fact, the Flutter community, called FlutterDevs, includes dozens of technical blogs, brainstorming events and open-source contributions on GitHub.
Final thoughts
Flutter MVP development definitely brings a lot to the table when it comes to developing a minimum viable product. As you can see, its main benefits are what MVPs are all about: cost-effectiveness, shorter development times and the ability to attract investors. We hope this article has given you some insight into this fantastic tool and made you curious enough to try it, if you haven’t already.
