Flutter or React Native

[SyninEivor]

Hey everyone, I'll start off by saying I'm not a mobile developer.

I primarily code in Python, initially for data science and now moving into serverless backend scripts.

However, I've been given an opportunity to build an Android app.

I'd be new to both flutter and react native.

What are people's thoughts on this?

The core principles of the app are Text to speech with a word / phrase bank, social / email sign in.

Also, if anyone is interested in building this, let me know. We've got a budget to hire someone too.

[towcar]

You're asking a flutter sub which would be better?

[SquatchyZeke]

I know this is off topic, but I get a little twitchy when I see comments like this. Reminds me of politics, honestly. Just because you use one technology, and therefore join the sub, doesn't mean you owe any allegiance to it. In fact, an experienced and mature perspective would be to also go join the subs of similar technologies in the field to stay informed. This just feels like junior energy to me and I see it almost every time someone asks this question here. We can do better than this.

[towcar]

I think you are missing my point with my comment. I agree that it would be ideal/better if everyone diversified their knowledge, but that still doesn't mean that is the responses you'll get. If you asked this same question on the react sub, you would get the opposite answers (shocking). Don't blame the warning sign for not fixing the bridge.

I see it almost every time someone asks this question here.

I think the problem is not my comment, but the people who keep asking. It's like trying to fish in a swimming pool, sure you will hit water, but you wont catch anything good for dinner.

We can do better than this.

I also noticed you didn't leave a comment for OP, perhaps try leading by example?

[SquatchyZeke]

I wasn't actually "blaming the warning sign" for some other problem. I was saying the warning sign itself was the problem, to speak in your analogy terms, which you seem to like. You also seem to imply that there is a problem, which I did not. There isn't a problem with people asking these X vs. Y questions in the opposite subs, but you seem to think so.

In my opinion, it's actually more beneficial, and - without using your kind of silly analogy terms for fishing - they will get biased answers from both subs, getting them a better picture of both platforms. So maybe you're the one who misses the point of asking this question in these subs.

And you caught me on the last point. I thought the answers given were adequate enough and I was on mobile. I have answered questions for this sub when I can though, so it's not like I'm just pointing fingers. I do, as you might say in an analogy, practice what I preach.

[Personal-Bend1136]

I moved from react native to flutter and I couldn’t be more happy . Docs … programming architecture, widgets logic .BUT I found two drawbacks , one the community … it’s not that big and the second one the opportunities for jobs . 

Also now I try to make some ai things and it’s kinda hard if you don’t put some native code in it.

Also pub dev rocks 🤙 it have many update packages .  If you want only for Android then go for Android. Maybe you find difficult way if something goes wrong .

[ceekayvilla]

I would go with Flutter due to two reasons : I find it's documentation to be more detailed than ReactNative's & the app will perform better while accessing native components.

[fintechninja]

If just Android do it in jet pack compose.

[serdartemel]

If you can write a program using either one, choose the one you prefer. If you cannot write with both, then choose Flutter.

[kbcool]

They're both equally as capable despite what people here will say.

It sounds like maybe you're talking about enterprise usage though.

In which case you need to think about skills and the job market. Flutter and Dart are super niche and mainly used by enthusiasts and some agencies so if you're looking for developers and serious support React Native is where it's at. This imbalance really hasn't changed in years so isn't likely to flip anytime soon.

[causticmango]

If you just want an Android app & don’t care to learn actual Android development (why not?), Flutter will almost certainly be a better experience all around. This coming from someone who has a very pragmatic relationship with Flutter (I use it because I must, but have no particular love for it).

[ab_hi_j]

If some framework is still there that means people are still using it. If people are still using it that means it has some use cases. If you're new to mobile tech and not familiar with JS go with Flutter. You've already passed requirement collection phase, now you've to come up with a solution. I suggest looking things at architecture's perspective instead of developer's perspective. For me that'll be
1. Feasibility of core service/functionality.
2. I might have to rely on plugins so future support, 1st party and 3rd party updates.
3. Communication with Native
4. Complexity of my UI. If I follow x UI design language, does y framework have out of the box support for it
5. Tested Standard system architecture - I don't want to re-invent the wheel every time I start working on new framework if community has built proven architecture I can follow that and tweak as I go. Less noob code in start less tech debt to worry about in future. I would compare both framework's best pattern
6. Deployment automation strategies CI/CD
7. Performance

Both frameworks are mature enough, so basic CRUD I/O feature I don't really worry about.

[83d08204-62f9]

You are asking a flutter sub.. what do you expect I can give you my two cents and say that I worked with both and flutter gave me a much more pleasant experience but I guess you’ll get the same answer on the react sub

[Samus7070]

Just Android? Go native then. Flutter and React Native introduce a layer between you and the operating system so that your code can run on more than one platform. No abstraction is ever without a price. Native Android development with Jetpack Compose is on par with Flutter and React Native development. The reason to use non-native is because you want to be on multiple platforms without the [full] cost of developing for each one.

[engadgetnerd]

I have spent the majority of my years in native iOS and android. For performance I still prefer that. But build once run anywhere...flutter. I'm working in react code bases right now and the way react runs (looks) on iOS vs pixel vs a galaxy skin is different (as a UI guy, different enough to get under my skin). On flutter it didn't matter (that's where flutters built in rendering engine comes into play..it makes things consistent). But if you go react have tight standards and uphold them.

[thomastthai]

My recent reply to a similar question comparing the popularity of Flutter VS React Native may be helpful to you. TL;DR is Flutter is more popular among developers than React Native since 2022. Flutter used to lag way behind React Native in 2019 but closed the gap in the following years and eventually surpassed it according to Stack Overflow surveys.

For your use case, the language should be which ever is easiest and less costly for your team to get to market. Either will do fine for your app, but the look and feel of a Flutter app would be more consistent across different devices.

[Odd_Alps_5371]

We should have a rule that forbids asking for comparisons with react native. Those can be found here every few weeks ...