Android vs Flutter - A Detailed Comparison

About Android and Flutter

What is Android?

Android is an operating system that was launched by Google in 2008 and is intended mainly for touch-based mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. It has become extremely popular worldwide and is used on more than 2 billion devices globally. This high level of usage has resulted in a strong demand for the development of Android applications and many companies look to hire Android developers. This has made it an exciting and high-earning career choice.

Android app development is the process of creating applications that run on the Android operating system. These apps can be developed using programming languages such as Java, Kotlin, or a combination of both. They are designed for a variety of functions, including entertainment, education, productivity, and gaming.

To create these apps, developers utilize a range of tools such as the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) and other development software. Once the app is built and tested, it can be made available to the public through the Google Play Store. Creating Android applications demands a combination of technical knowledge, innovation, and the capability to solve complex problems.

What is Flutter?

Flutter was released in May, 2017 by Google and it enables users to create high-quality mobile, web, and desktop applications using a single codebase. It is an open-source mobile UI framework that uses the Dart programming language, which is optimized for building user interfaces. With Flutter, developers can create visually appealing, natively compiled applications that are highly performant.

Flutter is composed of two essential components:

Firstly, an SDK that provides various development tools necessary to build applications. It also includes tools to translate your code into machine code specific to iOS and Android platforms.

Secondly, a framework that consists of a UI library based on widgets. These widgets are pre-built and customizable UI elements such as buttons, text inputs, and sliders, among others, that you can tailor to fulfill your application's requirements.

The framework offers several powerful development tools, such as hot reload, that allow developers to quickly see the effects of code changes without the need to restart the application. Flutter's cross-platform capabilities and fast development cycle have made it a popular choice for developers looking to create applications for a wide range of industries, including finance, healthcare, and gaming. Overall, Flutter is a powerful and versatile framework that offers a robust set of tools for developers to create high-quality applications for multiple platforms.

Key Features

Android - Key Features

Some of the important features are mentioned here:

Open-source: Android is an open-source platform, meaning the source code of the operating system is freely available to everyone. This enables developers to modify and adapt the system to suit their specific requirements.

Customizability:  Android is highly customizable, allowing users to customize their devices according to their preferences. This high degree of customizability has contributed to the popularity of Android among users who want more control over their devices.

Compatibility:  Android is designed to work with various devices, ranging from simple smartphones to high-end tablets, smartwatches, and televisions. This diversified compatibility has made Android accessible to a large audience, and it is one of the reasons why it is widely used all over the world.

Security:  Security is a critical feature of Android, and it is designed to protect users' data and devices from malicious attacks. Android features app sandboxing, encryption, secure boot, and other security measures that make it a secure platform for users.

Connectivity:  Connectivity is another essential feature of Android, with multiple options available for staying connected and sharing data with others. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, and mobile data are among the connectivity options available on Android devices.

Google Play Store:  One of the significant characteristics of Android is the Google Play Store, which offers access to a vast collection of apps, games, and other digital content. Developers can use the Play Store to deploy their apps, while users can use it to explore and download new apps for their devices. This attribute has played a crucial role in the expansion of the Android ecosystem and the widespread use of the operating system.

Flutter - Key Features

Cross-platform development: Flutter allows developers to create applications for both iOS and Android platforms using a single codebase. This feature saves time and effort as developers do not have to create separate codebases for each platform.

Widgets: Flutter's widgets are the building blocks of the app's user interface, and they are highly customizable. The widgets are pre-built and can be modified to fit the requirements of the application. This feature saves time and effort for developers as they don't need to build the UI components from scratch.

Hot Reload: This feature of Flutter enables developers to make changes to the code and see the changes reflected immediately in the app while it's running. This feature can significantly increase development speed and efficiency.

Open-source: Flutter is an open-source framework, meaning that developers can contribute to the codebase and create plugins and packages to extend its functionality. 

High-performance: Flutter is designed for high performance, providing smooth and responsive user experiences. Flutter's high-performance is achieved through its use of a programming language called Dart, which compiles to native machine code.

Access to native features: Flutter provides access to native features of both iOS and Android platforms, such as camera, GPS, and more. This feature enables developers to create highly functional and engaging applications that can access device-specific features.

Performance Comparison

Android Performance

The performance of Android depends on a lot of factors. As numerous types of devices run on Android, their performance can differ widely. Nonetheless, Android has been making a considerable amount of effort to improve its performance and offer users a smooth experience.

The hardware on which Android runs is a crucial factor that affects its performance. Devices with better hardware components, like faster processors and more RAM, usually provide better performance than devices with less advanced specifications. On the other hand, devices with less advanced hardware specifications can still perform well if the software is optimized correctly.

Another essential element of Android's performance is the software it uses. With every new version, Android has implemented various improvements and optimizations that improve its performance. For instance, better memory management, smoother scrolling, and faster app launching times are some of the performance enhancements that Android has introduced.

Overall, Android has become faster and smoother in recent years due to improvements in both its software and hardware. These improvements have helped make Android devices perform better than before. With further advancements in hardware and software, we can expect even better performance from Android in the future.

Flutter Performance

Flutter is a framework known for its high performance and speed. This is achieved through several techniques and features, such as the use of the Dart language, which compiles to native machine code, resulting in faster app startup times and reduced memory usage.

Flutter's architecture is designed to enable smooth and fast animations & transitions, with the help of its own graphics engine, Skia, optimized for mobile devices. This provides a consistent and high frame rate for graphics rendering, delivering a smooth and responsive user experience.

Flutter's widgets are also built for high performance, optimized for fast rendering and updating, while still allowing for highly customizable UI components that can be tailored to specific needs.

Another feature contributing to Flutter's performance is its "Ahead of Time" (AOT) compilation, which compiles code ahead of time to reduce app launch and loading times.

In summary, Flutter's high performance is characterized by its speed and smoothness, which is achieved through the use of the Dart language, optimized graphics engine, highly customizable widgets, and AOT compilation.

Popularity over the years

Android

Android is one of the most popular operating systems in the world, powering millions of devices globally. According to Statista, as of March 2023, Android holds a market share of more than 70% in the global mobile operating system market.

Since it was first introduced in 2008, Android has been continuously gaining popularity. Although it initially faced strong competition from other mobile operating systems like iOS and BlackBerry OS, its market share gradually increased over time. This was mainly due to its open-source characteristic, its ability to be customized, and its compatibility with a wide range of devices.

Flutter

During the Mobile World Congress in February 2017, Google first introduced Flutter while it was still in its alpha stage and accessible to a limited number of developers.

After Google released Flutter's first stable version in May 2018, the framework became available to all developers. This led to a significant increase in its popularity as it became a practical option for developing production-level applications. Consequently, companies such as Alibaba, Philips Hue, and Reflectly started using Flutter to develop their apps.

Flutter experienced continued growth in popularity in 2019, and GitHub recognized it as the fastest-growing open-source project. During this time, companies such as BMW, Grab, and Tencent adopted Flutter for developing their applications. Moreover, Google launched Flutter for web, which enabled developers to create web applications using Flutter.

Flutter's popularity continued to rise in 2020 as it became the preferred choice for many developers, mainly due to its cross-platform compatibility, hot-reload feature, and user-friendly interface. As a result, companies such as Nubank, Realtor.com, and WeChat used Flutter to create their applications.

Flutter attained the position of the second most widely used cross-platform mobile development framework after React Native. Additionally, Google launched Flutter 2.0, which featured new capabilities like sound null safety, better performance, and support for desktop and embedded devices.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages of Android

Open-Source Platform: Android's source code is open to developers, offering greater flexibility and customization opportunities.

Customizable Interface: Android allows users to personalize the look and feel of their device, making it more unique and tailored to their preferences.

Google Play Store: Android's app store, Google Play Store, offers a vast selection of apps and games, allowing users to access a diverse range of content.

Integration with Google Services: Android seamlessly integrates with Google's services, including Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Drive, making them easier to use and access.

Multitasking: Android allows users to run multiple apps at once, improving productivity and convenience.

Regular Updates: Android frequently releases updates that improve performance, security, and features, ensuring users have an up-to-date and secure device.

Disadvantages of Android

Security Concerns:  Despite efforts to enhance its security features, Android is still vulnerable to malware and hacking. Many hackers find loopholes and try to hack devices.

Bloatware:  Some Android devices come with pre-installed apps, known as bloatware. These apps occupy storage space on the device and cannot be removed easily, causing inconvenience and a cluttered user experience.

Advantages of Flutter

Cross-Platform Compatibility: Flutter enables developers to create apps that work seamlessly on various platforms, such as iOS, Android, web, and desktop, which reduces development time and costs by using a single codebase.

Rapid Development: Flutter's "hot-reload" feature enables developers to see code changes in real-time, saving time by eliminating the need to rebuild the entire app.

Customizable Widgets: Flutter provides customizable widgets that enable developers to create unique and visually appealing user interfaces that can be customized for different platforms.

Growing Community: Flutter has a rapidly growing community of developers and contributors that provide resources and support to help developers learn and use Flutter more effectively, constantly improving and expanding its features and functionalities.

Disadvantages of Flutter

Limited Libraries: Although Flutter has a vast collection of built-in widgets and libraries, it still lacks some important libraries compared to other popular frameworks. This may restrict developers from including certain features in their apps.

Steep Learning Curve: Flutter has a unique architecture and requires developers to learn Dart programming language. This can take some time to master, especially for developers who are not familiar with object-oriented programming.

Limited Native Functionality: Flutter's cross-platform compatibility has certain limitations as it may not have access to all the native features and functions that are available on each platform. This may restrict the ability to create apps with native-like functionality on certain platforms.

Large File Sizes: Flutter apps can have larger file sizes compared to other frameworks due to the inclusion of many widgets and libraries. This can result in slower downloads and take up more storage space on users' devices.

Use Cases

Android - Use Cases

Some of the important features are mentioned here:

Open-source: Android is an open-source platform, meaning the source code of the operating system is freely available to everyone. This enables developers to modify and adapt the system to suit their specific requirements.

Customizability:  Android is highly customizable, allowing users to customize their devices according to their preferences. This high degree of customizability has contributed to the popularity of Android among users who want more control over their devices.

Compatibility:  Android is designed to work with various devices, ranging from simple smartphones to high-end tablets, smartwatches, and televisions. This diversified compatibility has made Android accessible to a large audience, and it is one of the reasons why it is widely used all over the world.

Security:  Security is a critical feature of Android, and it is designed to protect users' data and devices from malicious attacks. Android features app sandboxing, encryption, secure boot, and other security measures that make it a secure platform for users.

Connectivity:  Connectivity is another essential feature of Android, with multiple options available for staying connected and sharing data with others. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, and mobile data are among the connectivity options available on Android devices.

Google Play Store:  One of the significant characteristics of Android is the Google Play Store, which offers access to a vast collection of apps, games, and other digital content. Developers can use the Play Store to deploy their apps, while users can use it to explore and download new apps for their devices. This attribute has played a crucial role in the expansion of the Android ecosystem and the widespread use of the operating system.

Flutter - Use Cases

Cross-platform development: Flutter allows developers to create applications for both iOS and Android platforms using a single codebase. This feature saves time and effort as developers do not have to create separate codebases for each platform.

Widgets: Flutter's widgets are the building blocks of the app's user interface, and they are highly customizable. The widgets are pre-built and can be modified to fit the requirements of the application. This feature saves time and effort for developers as they don't need to build the UI components from scratch.

Hot Reload: This feature of Flutter enables developers to make changes to the code and see the changes reflected immediately in the app while it's running. This feature can significantly increase development speed and efficiency.

Open-source: Flutter is an open-source framework, meaning that developers can contribute to the codebase and create plugins and packages to extend its functionality. 

High-performance: Flutter is designed for high performance, providing smooth and responsive user experiences. Flutter's high-performance is achieved through its use of a programming language called Dart, which compiles to native machine code.

Access to native features: Flutter provides access to native features of both iOS and Android platforms, such as camera, GPS, and more. This feature enables developers to create highly functional and engaging applications that can access device-specific features.

Which is better - Android or Flutter

Both Android and Flutter are excellent choices for mobile app development, but they have their own strengths and weaknesses. Android is a well-established platform with a vast user base and a vast developer community, while Flutter offers ease of development, hot reloading, and cross-platform compatibility.

Regarding their interdependence, Android and Flutter are independent of each other. Choosing between Android and Flutter depends on your business needs, development requirements, and target audience. It's crucial to weigh the pros and cons of both technologies before making a final decision.