Monday 6 May 2024

Flutterflow review

Even if you’re a coding whiz, it’s a good idea to have a few tricks up your sleeve. Especially if those tools help you speed things up. And for the less tech-savvy out there, tools that let you build applications without having to dive deep into coding are a game changer. They are aimed at individuals, entrepreneurs and businesses to help them get their own applications up and running quickly and effectively.

The way this new breed of tools enables anyone to create their own fully functional applications is by offering a drag-and-drop interface. Now, you might think that these are just like any other website builder with a drag and drop editor.

In the case of Flutterflow, it uses Flutter (Google’s open source framework for building cross-platform apps), supports Firebase (Google’s mobile development platform) and you can deploy directly to app stores. Just to name a few of its distinctive features.

As you may have guessed, Flutterflow is a new service launched in 2020 by Abel Mengistu and Alex Greaves, two former Google engineers. They wanted to make it easier for everyone, designers, developers and entrepreneurs alike, to create mobile apps without hassle. Flutterflow now has 400,000 users and thousands of apps in app stores.

Pros and cons of Flutterflow

You have probably heard of the Flutter framework. Flutter is Google’s mobile application development platform. It has changed the way people build web, desktop and cross-platform apps, and many companies rely on it to build scalable and responsive apps.

Flutterflow uses Flutter and allows you to build your own native, high-performance and high-fidelity apps without coding and publish to app stores. It comes with a gallery of pre-built template and with its drag and drop editor, you customise them to make your own app. It’s cool that you can collaborate in real time with your team members and it generates clean Flutter code that can be downloaded or synced with Github. This means you can add any feature you want but can’t find on Flutterflow.

What makes FlutterFlow unique however is its ability to generate clean Flutter code that can be downloaded or synced with Github. This enables teams to add any functionality the platform itself isn’t able to provide. Although it’s early days for FlutterFlow, which began development only about a year ago, they already offer an amazing product.

Pros

  • Forever free plan
  • Collaborate with your team members
  • Generates clean clean Flutter code (and you can add any functionality you need but Flutterflow didn’t provide)
  • Intuitive interface makes learning and using Flutterflow a breeze
  • You can integrate with OpenAI Codex
  • Extensive documentation with tutorials and guides

Cons

  • Can be slow at times
  • As a fresh service, you’ll see bugs here and there but are fixed quickly

Who is Flutterflow for?

If you want to create native apps Flutterflow makes it easy for you thanks to its drag and drop visual interface. You want to create a native app if

  • Your need high-performance features, such as complex graphics, animations, or extensive processing power
  • You want your app to have access to specific device features, like the camera, GPS, or accelerometer, and you want seamless integration with these functionalities
  • You want to allow your app to work offline
  • You want to be able to publish your app to the app stores
  • Supports

Flutterflow is a good place to start regardless of the size of your business or your industry.

How easy is it to use Flutterflow?

Learning and using Flutterflow is a breeze. After your first login, Flutterflow will guide you through the basics.

Take the tutorial and familiarise yourself with what Flutterflow can do

When you start a new application, the first thing you’ll do is create a page. You can choose one of Flutterflow’s templates for common pages like login, and then just apply the theme (styling) and you’re done.

Of course, you can also create a page from scratch. Select the UI element you want and drag and drop it onto your page. Flutterflow will ask you how, or rather where, you want to place your elements. This gives you a high degree of precision and control.

If you’re not sure where to drop your element, check out the widget tree in the design panel on the left

Flutterflow has nice touches such as the ability to create versions and revert to a specific one. Because it’s a collaborative app-building tool, you can leave comments, project suggestions and describe problems for your team members.

Flutterflow templates

When you’re building a website or an app, it’s important to design your app or website so that it’s not only beautiful, but also easy to use. With this in mind, Flutterflow has created a large collection of templates, widgets and user interface elements.

Choose from over 150 templates for a new page

Flutterflow AI Assistant

Similar to Universe‘s AI Builder tool, if you can describe what you want the Flutterflow AI Assistant will build it for you. And then some. You can ask Flutterflow to design the colour scheme for your app, get help with its code copilot for Flutter code, and ask it to help you with your backend structure and database.

Flutterflow integrations

Even with Flutterflow’s large feature set, you may still need something specific. You can extend Flutterflow by using one of the standard integrations, create custom functionality or use OpenAI.

The standard integrations are for when you want to use Github, Google Analytics and the like.

Custom functions are useful because you can automate a repetitive task into a custom function, create a unique UI element or use a specific from pub.dev (Flutter packages).

Another way to create a custom function is to integrate with the OpenAI Codex. I’m sure you have lots of ideas of what you can use OpenAI Codex for.

Flutterflow Customer Support

Use the magnifying glass icon in the bottom right hand corner to get help when you’re logged into your account. Clicking on the magnifying glass will open the help. Any messages from Flutterflow support will also be displayed.

Flutterflow pricing

Flutterflow’s prices are similar to /adalo-reviewAdalo’s, but you can download the Flutter code and you have more options and possibilities.

Fair and transparent prices

Is Flutterflow right for you?

If you need a native app but don’t want to code yourself or wait for your IT team to finish it, Flutterflow is the way to go. It offers a lot of value and is reasonably priced.

As you’ll be using Firebase, it’s up to you to choose your region so you can be GDPR compliant.

With Flutterflow you can build whatever you want. But with power comes responsibility. Be prepared to invest a little time in going through the Getting Started tutorial, as it will help shorten the learning curve.



Original post here: Flutterflow review

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