Swift and Flutter are two of the most desirable technologies for companies considering developing iOS apps. Can challengers win with original technology?
Wondering how you choose the best application? – Then you’re at the right place!
According to Statista, mobile apps generated $512 billion in worldwide revenue in 2024. Play Store and App Store, featuring around 2.9 and 2.3 millions apps each, have got more potential to get a business huge recognition that it deserves.
This article compares the solutions of two giants: Google’s Flutter Platforma and Apple’s Swift language.
Below is a deep comparison between these platforms – get into the details and choose the right one for your mobile app development!
What is Swift?
Swift is the language that is used by Applet, but developers can also use it to create apps for iOS devices. Starting in 2024, you can now also use it to develop Android and Windows apps.
Swift launched in 2014 and has gone through many updates and improvements. The last stable version, 5.10, was released in March 2024.
What is Flutter?
According to the Flutter documentation, it is a cross-platform UI toolkit that aims to enable code reuse across operating systems like iOS and Android.
This free, open-source platform is based on the object-oriented programming language Dart.
Dart and Flutter, both are the developments of Google that was released to the developers in 2011 and 2015.
Flutter lets you create two versions of your app at once. Since Flutter is not platform-dependent, it uses a single code to run on iOS and Android.
Though Swift is a programming language itself, Flutter comes with its language (Dart) and features compatible widgets that help develop apps.
Let’s have a comparison of both of these viable platforms!
User interface
Of course, since Swift is the native iOS language, implementing the functionality of the native iOS interface is no problem. The UX will be as close to iOS as possible.
However, you must build every feature from scratch and every part of the user interface.
There are many UI elements available to you with Flutter. First of all, just mention materials and gadgets from Cupertino.
Usually, you don’t need support from Swift. But as far as the user point of view is concerned, UI’s that are developed using Flutter are loved more by the people.
Coding speed
Swift is a great and fast iOS app development company in the USA. They are looking forward to building an iOS app for their clients—from scratch! This generally works fine, but code changes take longer to reflect.
However, Swift developers claim that it offers faster build times, especially regarding the initial build of the app.
On the other hand, Flutter comes with tons of widgets and libraries, as well as navigation and testing tools that increase coding speed.
Since flutters comes in handy with inbuilt UI elements, Flutter developers doesn’t have to sweat enough while working on the UI part of the app.
Plus, Flutter’s Hot Reload shortens the time it takes to see the latest code changes, which means changes are faster.
Also, the same app written in Flutter often requires fewer lines of code than the version written in Swift.
Productivity
Productivity should be a top priority for every iOS app development company in the USA! The language that provides developers with a lot of processing power is equivalent to more productivity. Saying that, in this case Swift might be the better choice when it comes to squeezing the platform for maximum productivity.
However, Flutter was not far behind. First, Dart uses a garbage collector. Second, it is an AOT compilation (frontend), which allows fast communication with devices.
Unless you need to make the most of the iOS platform, Flutter works pretty well, just like the original Swift.
Community and support
The Swift core community gathers around Swift.org, as mentioned earlier. There are over 830 Swift contributors on GitHub and about 2,600 thread views. You can also find over 284,000 questions marked as “fast” on Stack Overflow.
The numbers for Flutter look similar. It has been seen by 3,400 on GitHub with 770 contributors. The number of questions marked “shaky” on Stack Overflow is less than 70,000, so there may be fewer problems with Flutter.
The Flutter community gathers around Google Groups and other forums (such as the Slack Flutter community). Also, being an open-source solution, Flutter is more community-friendly.
Stability
Although both technologies are relatively young, they do not pose many stability problems. In theory, Swift, as a native technology, should be more stable and reliable than Flutter on iOS.
However, this only happens if you find and hire a reputable Swift developer who can make the most of Apple’s solutions.
Platform maturity
These platforms are somewhat new, but that doesn’t mean they’re immature. Apple leveraged its years of experience with Objective-C before releasing Swift and has introduced many improvements since then.
Google also pooled its expertise for several years before releasing Flutter.
Development costs
Experienced developers also charge the same price. If you only consider iOS apps, the price difference won’t be that big. However, Flutter lets you create versions of Android at the same time.
Final Word!
Aspiring developers are wondering whether to learn Flutter or Swift, and companies should pay close attention to those choices.
The more people know and use a particular technology, the easier it will be to find talent for your project.
According to a 2024 Stack Overflow survey, Swift is popular with 6.1% of professional developers, while Dart, the language behind Flutter, only scores 3.7%.
However, keep in mind that Flutter lets you develop iOS and Android apps simultaneously. Try both, and then choose one that profoundly achieves your set benchmark!