Swift or Flutter: Which is the Best Choice for iOS App Development?

Swift vs Flutter: Which is better for iOS app development in 2023?

Techno Battle between Flutter vs Swift
Though Google Play has a greater number of applications for download, Apple’s App Store is doing a much better job at monetizing the applications in one or the other way. According to Statista, Apple App Store accounted for more than 20 billion US dollars, Google Play platform struggled with under 15 billion US dollars for the same.

Apple products are now more affordable and there are various finance schemes available. This breaks the norm that most of your customers or app users don’t have an iPhone or iPad. In other words, for your businessthe technology platforms used in applications, now exclusivity plus security is possible if you opt to hire iOS developers.

But then which is better for iOS app development in 2023? The battle of Swift vs Flutter is not new, but today, it has an all-different angle.

As a business owner, you should mind the technology platforms used in mobile app development services you avail because different technologies offer different user experiences. Here you will get to learn about Flutter vs Swift as we compare both of them head-to-head. This process will help you can put forth your view when you hire a mobile app development company.

What is Swift?

Swift is a coding language used to build various applications for Apple products such as iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Apple wearable devices. Apple launched Swift in 2014 to give more power to iOS developers to create intuitive and engaging iOS applications in a faster way without compromising on quality. The Swift language is evolving steadily, and its community is growing immensely. The source code of Swift is made available on GitHub and accessible to all.

Also read: How to hire iOS Developers for your project?

Features of Swift

For most expert developers, iOS app development with Swift is preferred. iOS app developers utilize Swift’s features and facilities to work on predefined scopes and business objectives to craft software tools tailored to buyers’ take hence, Swift’s adaptability also allows programmers to work on top iOS mobile app development trends and implement them in their projects.

Here is the list of the main features of Swift you should know as a buyer –

Performance

The biggest benefit of using Swift for iOS app development is its performance. Swift coding is easy to write and understand and, therefore, iOS mobile app developers can easily view and understand in case they need to work on the project urgently. iOS app developers do not need to bother about several layers of memory management or perplexed objects that otherwise worry them in Objective C. Overall, Swift language is swift!

Security

From a technical perspective, Swift lets iOS programmers create variables as strings and integers along with other important data. That said, the programming language prevents suspicious behavior from occurring in your code. Software engineers opine that Swift makes it sure that variables are initialized before they are utilized and memory cannot be used after it has been deallocated. Moreover, array indices are thoroughly checked to prevent out-of-bound errors.

Features of Swift

Powerful tools

Apple has been always keen to provide robust tools for iOS app developers. Such facilities make the language easier for programmers to learn and use Swift for various iOS app development techniques. Static code, compilers, and analyzers are a few tools to name that make Swift a preferred language for iOS app development.

Adaptability

Unlike other programming or coding languages, Swift is flexible and not restricted to some libraries and frameworks. Programmers can have the freedom for iOS app development to choose specific frameworks to improve or fasten the SDLC to meet the quality of the final product.

Huge support

Swift ecosystem has been supported by several open-source libraries and frameworks that help iOS app developers customize and improve the software tools they build. Reusing features and enhancing the app through the features mentioned above is possible in Swift coding.

Examples of apps built using Swift include –

  • WhatsApp
  • SoundCloud
  • Uber
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Uber

Also read: Client’s guide to mobile app development

What is Flutter?

Developed by the tech giant Google, Flutter is relatively a new framework that is type safe. Hence, you can overcome the myth that Flutter is for Android; in fact, Flutter for iOS app development has been quite popular among certain programmers. It manages to have superior features and provides a glorious user interface structure to build a customized iOS mobile app. The layout rendering is noteworthy, and Flutter is known for its high-performance app functioning.

Flutter is a broad-spectrum programming platform that can be used to build iOS, Android, and even Windows apps. Many consider Flutter app development as the right choice for startup companies because expert app developers can leverage amazing features and facilities of Android SDK having no problem with platform differences.

Here are the benefits of using Flutter for iOS app development –

Benefits of Using Flutter for iOS App Development

Quick time-to-market

Flutter mobile app development for iOS renders a faster interface as compared to any native coding. The hot-reload feature allows programmers to make changes to their codes and check the results instantly, in real time. That said, they don’t need to restart the app or boot the device. This saves an enormous amount of time and as a result, buyers get their products faster.

Multilingually supported

The community of Flutter programmers is growing by leaps and bounds. That said, the support iOS app developers get is instant in case they require any assistance to overcome any code complexity. Another benefit is that Flutter allows you to have a multilingual option in your application; hence, you can reach a global audience through your business apps.

Eye-catching designs

Flutter helps application programmers & designers together to build magnificent user interfaces. The most beneficial selling point of Flutter is its material design widgets. Using such widgets, iOS app developers can craft an app with a modern look that is lite (hence runs faster) on hardware and beautiful on screen.

Excellent performance

Flutter’s performance when used in mobile app development is brilliant. Powered by Dart programming language, Flutter applications can perform much ahead of their times as developers have the freedom to integrate contemporary technologies and tools within the application.

Headless testing

Flutter’s headless testing has been a hallmark feature that most platforms lack. Inside Flutter, the headless testing facilities allow iOS programmers to test the application on devices without having the user interface developed separately; hence, it is considered the most powerful automated testing.

Renowned applications built using Flutter

  • Groupon
  • Alibaba
  • eBay Motors
  • Tencent
  • Philips Hue
  • The New York Times

Okay, so now, who wins in the battle of Flutter vs Swift for iOS applications development?

Swift vs Flutter comparison for iOS app development

To compare Swift and Flutter, let us consider that both platforms are used to build the same application. Hence, the parameters to choose the best iOS app development for a particular platform could be easy to gauge. Here are a few standards considered as comparing factors –

Flutter vs Swift Comparison

Integration and development

When it comes to app development process, Swift would vary from Flutter. The Xcode server offers flawless integration throughout the development cycle. Apple’s efficacy to enhance its applications could face some limitations. Nevertheless, Flutter app development tools have capability to detect, build, test, and package any app. Hence, in integration and development, when comparing Flutter and Swift, Flutter could lead the race.

Accessibility

Often ignored, the accessibility features in the user interface and functionalities of the app would improve the user experience of all users including the specially abled. There is no need to import extra frameworks to accommodate the accessibility features in native iOS applications because Apple’s native tools have such features in their UI kit framework. Apple offers Accessibility API; nevertheless, iOS app developers require to provide precise data to every UI component in the iOS apps deploying the UI Accessibility method.

Flutter, on the other hand, requires a bit of special treatment to be accessible to all. Flutter guide would need additional support to facilitate accessibility; therefore, in this category comparing Swift with Flutter, Swift outperforms Flutter.

Onboarding process

The native iOS app development would require little effort for the onboarding process, and it would execute it with the least configuration. The counterpart, Flutter, asks for more configuration for the onboarding process because still it could be labeled as an evolving technology; thus, on the onboarding test for Swift vs Flutter, Swift has an upper hand over Flutter.

Performance

For an app’s performance, you need to recall the fact that Swift is a native language to build iOS applications for Apple products. It is a default language and, therefore, provides an extra edge in getting realistic features and powerful computing capability.

Flutter, on the counter side, is not weak though. Dart uses its all astounding features to make iOS applications look and feel native-like. But, ultimately, after a neck-to-neck comparison of Flutter and Swift, the latter wins the race.

Learning curve

Learning curve simply means with what ease and how long it takes to learn the present code or code from scratch to build a mobile app customized to buyers’ choice. Though ignored by many, this is a crucial criterion to measure the efficacy of coding language.

Flutter typically outperforms most of the mobile app frameworks used to build software. Flutter possesses useful and comprehensive tutorials and well-written documents that are quite reader-friendly. On the other hand, Swift is typically an iOS programming language that is a bit complex. However, you cannot declare any winner in this category when choosing between Flutter or Swift because it typically depends on a programmer’s cognition and grasping power.

Development cost

iOS application development would cost you more if you go for native app development that is using Swift coding language. This is because when you hire iOS developers who are native coders, their charges could be a bit high compared to that for hiring Android developers.

Nevertheless, if you hire Flutter app developers you can build your own team at quite affordable rates through various hiring models. Even further, these developers shall also help you build Android apps or applications that run on both iOS and Android (cross-platform app development). Ultimately, the cost to build an app shall drastically come down. Undoubtedly, in this category when choosing between Flutter or Swift, Flutter beats Swift.

Development time

Flutter offers the total time it took to build an app through a simple command on the Flutter apk. But, if you talk about the pace, especially for clean builds, Flutter iOS app development may take a bit longer as compared to the native iOS application building. Of course, Flutter increases its pace after the initial stage of clean builds.

The counterpart, the Xcode command line, can also estimate the Swift native iOS app development time. The time is shown once you are done with your app and have executed the build command from the product menu. Swift, for this reason, wins on this parameter. However, considering the case when you need to build apps for both platforms then Flutter will be a better choice to make.

Application size and complexity

Once the same application is built on Flutter and Swift, it is time to compare the size and complexity of the product. The native Xcode and Flutter platform have their own pros and cons as seen earlier. But if we guess the same product on both technologies, a native iOS app measured 25 MB in size whereas the locally created application accounted for more than 50MB file size (though it included some components and other embedded icons).

In the complexity comparison, both applications could run smoothly without any glitches; nevertheless, a seasoned iPhone user shall make out the difference between a native and non-native iPhone application.

So, who is the winner in Flutter vs Swift?

Though there could be convincing reasons why flutter might be the best choice for your next project, here, in this case, iOS app development goes smoother on the native Xcode or Swift programming language. The app looks professional and renders the best features and functionalities that would convey business objectives without any ambiguity. For user experience, native coding has an upper edge over the non-native programming Flutter.

Still wondering which technology is a better choice for your mobile app idea?

FAQs for Swift vs Flutter comparison

Which is better for iOS app development? Swift or Flutter?

Flutter is smooth and capable to render the best features in an application; it is faster too. But when it comes to building an application for iPhones and iPads, Swift wins the race because it is the native and default coding language for iOS app development.

Why use Flutter for iOS app development?

Many startups still prefer Flutter for building iPhone applications as Flutter offers quick app development and also it is easier to go for multiple platforms with a single code. Hence, indirectly, it saves a big chunk of your budget.

Why use Swift for iOS app development?

Swift is a default native coding language to build customized iOS applications meeting enterprise goals. With built-in libraries and other featured components, Swift proves to be a perfect choice for iOS developers as it delivers the best user experience under a professional architecture that’s completely fit for Apple devices.

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