A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the bare-essential, stripped-down version of a product. Its purpose is to determine the value of a product idea. In the world of mobile apps, the concept of MVP is popular to validate a product idea. This concept means a simple/straightforward version of the app is put out to a selected pool of users.
The feedback from these beta users is used to improve the app. MVPs save time and money. They also help in creating a better product. One popular software for developing app MVPs is Flutter. The Flutter platform and developing a Minimum Viable Product within it is a very hot topic of discussion in the world of mobile apps.
If you want to know why you should choose Flutter for MVP application development, see this list of amazing apps developed using Flutter.
In this article, I examine concepts around the topic of Flutter for MVP development. You will also get the answer for “Why build an MVP with Flutter?” here. But first, let’s understand why creating an MVP app is standard practice.
Why Create An MVP: Reasons It Is A Standard Practice
The creation of MVPs is a standard practice in the world of apps. There are three major reasons for this:
Reason #1: Reduction Of Development Costs
Developing an MVP is cheaper than developing a full-scale app. This is because MVP development happens in a smaller time window and with less effort. Cross-platform app development with Flutter ensures that apps are created for both Android and IOS simultaneously.
Reason #2: Easier To Develop And Faster
App development firms prefer to develop MVPs because it’s easier and faster. MVPs comprise the bare bones of the app without bells and whistles. Today, they are regarded as the essential first step in app development.
Reason #3: It Is Great For Testing An App’s Effectiveness/Value
The nature of competition in the app world is intense. It makes no sense to expend a lot of time and effort on an app only to see it fail. Instead, the MVP is the way to confirm the worth of an app without spending too many resources on it. In other words, the MVP is great for testing an app’s effectiveness/value.
Often, business decision makers may be biased toward their idea. Everyone thinks their app idea is the next million-dollar one. Rationally, however, there is no way to know for sure whether the app will succeed or fail. The middle path is to create an MVP for the app and test it. This way I know for sure whether the central app idea is a winner.
Perhaps the ideal solution for creating an MVP is to build an MVP with Flutter. Let's examine the features that make Flutter for MVP development the ideal choice.
Note: Flutter 3.0 comes with many new features that extend the power of Flutter. Check out the new features in Flutter 3.0 here.
How Flutter Fits In App Development: Its Importance
Flutter is a breakthrough app development platform. Google introduced Flutter to the world in 2018. In a short span, the battle of Flutter vs React Native for MVP has tilted in Flutters’ favor. Statista reports Flutter has surpassed React Native to become the number #1 framework for app development.
Flutter uses the Dart programming language. It can develop applications for mobile, web, and desktop. Because I was a Java developer, I found it easy to master. Programmers with a background in C will prefer it as well. Its power and versatility are the reasons companies like Google Ads, Groupon, Alibaba, and Tencent prefer it.
Because of its innovative features, many developers prefer to build an MVP with Flutter. Some of these features are:
Feature #1: Hot Reload
Due to the hot reload feature, changes developers make are instantly reflected in the emulator - on your screen. This makes the process of developing apps with good UX and UI easier. If something I code isn’t right, I know it instantly due to the hot reload feature. This makes Flutter and MVP a match made in heaven!
Feature #2: Reduced Coding
Because Flutter uses the highly efficient coding language Dart, it is extremely easy to use the Flutter platform for a Minimum Viable Product. Dart is an object-oriented language that requires less coding effort.
Feature #3: Widgets
Flutter comes with readymade widgets. These look native to both IOS and Android. You can customize these widgets per your requirement.
Feature #4: Cross Platform
Flutter is a cross-platform app development platform. You just need to code once and you can use that code for Android and iOS apps both.
In the first section, I outlined the reasons to use an MVP. In the second section, I spoke on the benefits of Flutter. Now let's see how the concepts of an MVP and Flutter app coding overlap. We examine why you should choose Flutter for MVP development and why I did so.
Reason Flutter Is The Ideal Choice For MVP Development
1: Cost Effective
For new users in the mobile app space, the cost is an important factor. Flutter lets you develop user-friendly apps fast and in a very cost-effective manner. One reason it is cost-effective is that it is a cross-platform app development platform. With one codebase, you can create apps for both iOS and Android. Creating one codebase for use in two platforms lowers costs substantially.
2: Flexibility
Google is well-known for flexible UIs that enhance the customer experience. It brings this experience to Flutter as well. One of the best reasons for choosing Flutter for MVP application development is its flexibility and scalability. Developers can easily code feature-rich and flexible user interfaces using this platform.
Appealing MVPs can be easily created using the in-built widgets for material design. The default animations and Cupertino also enable the creation of a superb MVP with Flutter. The rich customization features allow developers to modify and customize MVPs superbly.
3: Quick Development
Developers who choose Flutter for MVP development can reduce the turnaround time considerably. Flutter allows for increased collaboration within teams. Developers, QA, and designers can quickly collaborate to increase the quality of the MVP. Due to the hot reload feature, developers can quickly fix bugs and add new features.
4: Native Performance
Businesses with large budgets spend extravagantly to build native apps. In a small business, however, app budgets are tiny. Small businesses need a solution, wherein they can build hybrid apps without compromising performance, and giving the app users a great experience. Flutter does all of these. Flutter apps run with natively compiled code with no mediator interference. So when you build an MVP with Flutter, it provides a native experience.
5: Attract Investors
Startups need to attract sizable cash investments to get their business off the ground. They need to attract investors for this purpose. The interactive designs and enriched UI features that come with Flutter are great for attracting investors and customers. Every element in Flutter is treated as a widget. The SDK supports the material design and Cupertino.
The support for a wide range of widgets and customization options is another attractive feature of Flutter. I can easily build smooth, attractive animations due to the support for 2D GPU accelerated APIs. Simultaneously this allows for the creation of a rich UX and UI. You can develop user-friendly and easy-to-use apps due to the customized theme design option.
All these features together mean that Flutter complements MVP development in a way that attracts investors to your app business.
6: Minimal Resources Required
Flutter comes integrated with Firebase. This means Flutter developers have to do no server-side programming. When I build an MVP with Flutter, the time to market is reduced. Moreover, Firebase integration means the addition of several features to your app like cloud storage, crash reporting, cloud functions, real-time database, hosting, authentication, analytics, etc.
Miscellaneous Benefits of MVP in Flutter
- No powerful machinery is required for Flutter development
- Seamless setup arrangement possible for developers
- Massive community support as Flutter is backed by Google
- Minimum learning curve
- Constant additions made to the platform If you want to know more, check out this helpful article on everything you need to know about your Flutter development project.
Conclusion
Over the years I have watched Flutter evolve in usability and power. The future of this cross-platform, single codebase app development platform appears bright. SoluteLabs uses Flutter to develop apps with quality UI, UX, and great functionality.
If you want to build an app with flutter, look no further. Schedule a meeting to talk to our team today. Let's make an app of your dreams.
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