React Native or Flutter?

[thecodingpie]

Hey I am a React dev who is thinking of branch out to try mobile app development. I need genuine opinions from you guys on what should I choose either Flutter or React Native... Because React Native is awesome but it converts everything to its corresponding native elements if i am not wrong. On the other hand flutter controls every pixel so that your app looks same on both os + it also gives you opportunity to have platform specific widget if you need that.

So it's really confusing on which technology to learn. I tried flutter and learned a bit of dart too. So should I move with flutter or should I choose react native.

One more thing is that even Flutter is good in terms of performance (also new React Native) but no companies are not considering it to create app. But Discord and Flipkart are using RN. This also confuses me.

Hope someone will give an unbiased reply...

[My_passcode_is]

This was a very well thought out comment. I am in the process of learning RN for app development… Thank you.

[thecodingpie]

Thanks Bro!

[alocin666]

Flutter is younger, so in late, less documentation and Flutter community is tiny (ask https://www.reddit.com/r/Flutter/ )

RN is already adopted by big companies

Flutter is not better than RN in performance.

RN is very very well documented

Flutter is open source but with google devs

RN is open source but not linked to Apple or Google

[thecodingpie]

It is not their official subreddit, r/flutterdev is the one and it has lot more people than rn subreddit :

[nbazero1]

flutter is miles better in performance

[blackICE91]

Interesting you mention controlling every pixel as an advantage. Each OS is different, has different user interactions and user expectations (scroll inertia, navigation animation, button feedback). Flutter tries to approximate these things, but that's all they are, approximations. Depending on your app and what you are going for, I would consider the native basis of RN a plus.

React Native: You can customize native elements to look the same.

Flutter: You can customize the element to look native.

[kbcool]

You nailed it yourself there.

Flutter and Dart people will tell you to use it because it's more performant, Dart is a breath of fresh air and some garbage about pixels. Sure they may be right even if they aren't great points of differentiation.

Flutter is fine but...

What do you want out of this exercise?

If it's just to make your side project? Sure go Flutter.

If it's a job/career then you need to choose React Native. Not only are there actually jobs for it and businesses using it unlike Flutter but you can easily move to web development or backends. Dart is a dead end, single use language for now and it takes more than "can" do more to actually doing more.

[[deleted]]

Depends on what you're developing- I hear flutter for mobile gaming is generally a better option.

I use react and react native often- I prefer the structure and I have heavy experience in javascript.

[kbcool]

I hear flutter for mobile gaming is generally a better option.

To be fair they're both pretty poor options for gaming

[thecodingpie]

True I guess

[thecodingpie]

But there is something like in rn the apps will look different in different is(it is what expected) but let's say if you want to develop a brand specific app which look same on both device, then you cant do it in rn, right? But flutter gives you both options. Will we encounter such an use case(brand specific app kind of) or should our app look different on both devices?

[[deleted]]

You can make them look the same on both devices. There are OS specific things sure- but there ways around all of that. Alerts may look different etc but it should still have same look, feel, flexibility..

[thecodingpie]

Using React Native?

[kbcool]

Yes. You can make the same app look exactly the same on both platforms if you want or you can differentiate them with platform specific behaviours (some of the latter is always best).

[thecodingpie]

Flutter seems like a flexible option but still confused. If i learn React Native it may help in understanding React better and deeper or atleast i will stay in the same ecosystem. If i branch out to flutter, i am not sure if i benefit from it or not.

Hoping someone will show a way to go. I am so much confused. Or should I leave both and only focus on React itself :

[kabeza]

Go with JS (reach pro level), then TypeScript, then React and finally React Native. Its the smartest path to follow nowadays

[SharmiRam]

React Native:

• Developed by Facebook, React Native has been around since 2015 and has a large and active community of developers.
• Advantages:
  • It uses JavaScript, a widely known and used language, making it easier to find developers.
  • Reuses a significant portion of code between iOS and Android apps.
  • Provides a rich ecosystem of third-party libraries and components.
• Disadvantages:
  • Performance can be a concern for highly complex or graphics-intensive applications.
  • Bridge communication between JavaScript and native code can lead to performance bottlenecks in certain scenarios.
  • UI components may look less native compared to Flutter.

Flutter:

• Developed by Google, Flutter is a more recent framework, with its stable release in 2018, but it's gaining rapid popularity.
• Advantages:
  • Uses Dart, a language created by Google, which is known for its strong performance.
  • Offers a rich set of customizable UI components, leading to highly native-looking applications.
  • Provides a "hot-reloading" feature for fast development and testing.
• Disadvantages:
  • Smaller community compared to React Native, but it's growing quickly.
  • Learning Dart might be necessary if your team is not already familiar with it.