Flutter App Development: pros, cons, and How to Use Flutter - SCAND

However, 2025 brings new challenges and opportunities: increased competition, technological changes, and shifting business priorities are forcing developers and companies to question whether Flutter is still the platform of choice for new projects. … ### What’s New in 2024-202525Flutter has matured considerably over the past year. The main update is the switch to Impeller, a new graphics engine that is now used by default on iOS and Android (starting with API 29). It replaced Skia and finally solved one of the major developer pain points: performance sags and lags when rendering complex animations. With Impeller, the interface became noticeably smoother and more responsive — especially on less powerful devices. … ### Large cross-platform mobile app sizezeOne of the most discussed drawbacks of Flutter is the size of the final application. Even with extensive optimization efforts, the minimum APK or IPA file size is still larger than native apps. This can be a critical factor for emerging markets and devices with limited storage, especially if download speed and minimum size are important. ### Limited support for platform-specific featuresesAlthough Flutter allows access to native APIs through platform channels, this still requires additional effort and knowledge of the relevant native technologies (Kotlin, Swift, Objective-C). For some specific features — like Bluetooth LE, AR, biometrics, or native notifications — you either have to use third-party packages or write a custom implementation, which reduces the efficiency of the “single code”. … ### Web and desktop maturitytyFlutter is actively developing Web and Desktop support, but in 2025 they are still inferior to native solutions in terms of stability and performance. In practice, bugs, browser incompatibilities, input and rendering delays can occur. This is especially critical for complex interfaces and interactive applications. Flutter is not always suitable for production-level Web applications. ### Fragmentation riskskAs the ecosystem grows and becomes more complex, so does the risk of fragmentation. Some popular packages, especially those created by the community, become obsolete or unsupported. In addition, updates to the Flutter SDK itself can sometimes break backward compatibility, requiring code rework or alternatives. This can slow down development and cause technical debt when scaling a project. … |**Use Flutter when…**|**Avoid Flutter when…**| |--|--| |Need cross-platform with unified UI and business logic|The minimum APK/IPA size is important| |Need to quickly launch an MVP or test an idea (Proof of Concept)|The app includes heavy graphics, AR/VR, or advanced native effects| |Requires quick UI updates and rapid iteration|Need to maximize native performance, especially on iOS| |The application does not require complex native integration|Specific platform APIs or chips are actively used| |The team already has experience with the Dart/ Flutter framework|No resources to learn Dart or support unstable packages| … ### Complex native integrationonIf your project requires deep work with Bluetooth, camera, AR/VR, real-time geolocation, or complex native graphics, Flutter may not be the best choice. While FFI and Interop are actively developing, they are still inferior to native capabilities in terms of usability and flexibility. … ### Ecosystem limitations and dependency on third-party packagesesAlthough there are thousands of libraries in pub.dev, not all of them are equally reliable and supported. Sometimes there is no stable package for critical tasks, and writing your own solution from scratch can be too time-consuming. Also, Flutter SDK updates can suddenly break existing dependencies.