Why BMW and Toyota Prefer Flutter for Building Automotive Connecting Apps

Cross-platform app development for the automotive industry is a task that needs proper strategy, brainstorming, and creative approaches to make the app successful and reliable. 

Now when we look at the technical side of creating a cross-platform app, we will also get to know how a particular programming language goes well with a particular industry. 

So, here in this blog, we will elaborate more on this while explaining how Flutter has proven to become an ideal framework for the automotive industry.

Now Let’s get started!

Scope & Popularity Stats of Flutter App Development:

Source 

• According to Statista, Flutter is the most popular cross-platform mobile app framework that is used by developers globally. According to this survey, 42% of the developers preferred to use Flutter. 

What is Flutter?

Launched by Google in 2017, Flutter is a cross-platform framework that comes with a variety of tools to create high-quality applications for Android and iOS platforms. It uses Dart as its programming language and a single codebase to create apps that look like native iOS and Android apps. 

Now, let’s have a look at some of its advantages!

Advantages of Flutter:

Single Codebase For Multiple Platforms

Flutter allows developers to write a single codebase for multiple platforms. This advantage of reusability of code provides a huge advantage for mobile app development.  

Availability of Ready-To-Use Widgets

There is no need for additional UI design elements because Flutter has already a ready-to-use collection of widgets. This collection of interactive widgets can be used to create beautiful applications with Flutter. 

Basically, there are two types of widgets in Flutter:

• Stateful Widgets

 The stateful widgets are dynamic and can be used to change the state or appearance. This change happens in response to the events targeted by user interactions or when it receives data. A few examples of stateful widgets are Checkbox, Radio, Slider, and Form.

• Stateless Widgets

These widgets are the opposite of stateless widgets because they can not be altered once they are built. In a nutshell, these widgets are immutable which means any changes in the icon, variables, or retrieving data can not change the state of the app. Some examples of stateless widgets include Icon, IconButton, and Text. 

Native-App-Like Feel

Generally, native apps are better in terms of performance when compared to cross-platform mobile applications.

But when cross-platform development is done by Flutter, the apps built are quite viable and smooth. Its best part is that it does not need a JavaScript bridge to compile the code. As a whole, the apps made with Flutter give a native-like feel. 

Hot-Reload Feature

This hot-reloading feature is one of the main reasons why Flutter has gained huge popularity in a short span of time. This feature is very useful for mobile app developers as it allows them to see the code changes live and works by injecting the updated source code file into the running Data Virtual Machine. Basically, with hot-reload, programmers can make changes in the app, without the need to manually pause or hit a breakpoint. 

But there are some exceptions to this feature as well that should also keep in mind like:

• It will break if the app will remain in the background for too long 
• When a code generates a compilation error. 
• Hot reload changes will not apply to the builder of a CupertinoTabView. 
• It will not work when enumerated types are changed to regular classes or regular classes are changed to enumerated types. 

Support For Desktop & Web

Along with mobile, Flutter also provides support for native Windows, macOS, and Linux to create high-performative desktop apps. It also offers plugin support that can be used for all of these platforms and also Flutter app developers can create their own plugins according to their requirements. 

Ideal For Buiding MVP

A Minimum Viable Product abbreviated as MVP is a significant step in the process of app development, especially for a startup. It is nothing but the most basic or stripped-down version of a product. Basically, these are used to validate a product idea before it gets finally launched in the market. 

Now, One of the main reasons to choose Flutter for MVP application development is its flexibility and scalability. Appealing and fascinating MVPs can be created by using this framework’s built-in widgets and various customization features. 

Top Brands That Trust Flutter For Their Businesses

BMW’s Tie-Up With Flutter

BMW’s mobile app development team for many years focused primarily on the iOS version of their vehicle companion app- the BMW and MINI-connected apps. But in 2018, they realized the dissimilarities between their iOS and Android version apps have expanded to a great extent. Now they need a solution that ensures the same app functionality regardless of mobile OS, BMW, and MINI brand. 

In order to address this problem, the team sets two major goals. 

From the business perspective, they wanted a platform on which they will be able to regularly release their products with the same features and capabilities across all regions and platforms simultaneously. 

Now the question arises that why they only opted for Flutter app development. Because they want to make the app compatible and responsive with all operating systems. But Initially, the team was not satisfied that Flutter was capable enough to scale at which BMW required it to operate that’s why they designed full-proof concepts with each of the other frameworks.

However, all other frameworks failed to meet their presumptions except Flutter. This is the whole reason why they choose Flutter. 

What was the outcome of this tie-up?

In October 2019, they selected a group of engineers to discuss how to proceed with Flutter. Now after less than a year, they launched the My BMW App in July 2020. This app established itself in 47 countries on 5 continents as a universal interface between mobile phones, vehicles, and the digital world. Now BMW’s customers can enjoy a seamless user experience regardless of the platform they will use to access the app. 

Toyota’s Tie-Up With Flutter

At Toyota, every aspect of the driving experience is highly considered, right down to the screen and infotainment systems on the dash. While Toyota’s in-vehicle technology was always developed by their in-house development team. They reached out for Flutter app development services when they get to know that Flutter is going to support embedded devices. 

Toyota’s customers always expect the same level of performance in their infotainment systems as they do from the driving experience. Now, how Toyota used Flutter to achieve this? So they are using Flutter’s high-performing rendering engines, features like AOT compilation, hot-reload, and embedder API to develop their Linux-powered infotainment systems. 

Toyota Motor North America’s chief engineer, Daniel Hall said that “Flutter’s open-source principles and high-growth developer community have been critical to our success.”

What was the outcome of this tie-up?

By using Flutter’s SDK, they got several in-house tools to improve their overall development process. Also, Flutter helped them to create design tools that generate code to run and validate software immediately, without confusing middle tiers. 

A Complete Guide To Create The Most Reliable Flutter App

Determine Your Goals

The first step in choosing the ideal Flutter app development path is that you are clear about your goals and requirements. You can ask yourself a few questions about your app’s objectives and niches such as what is the exact need of your users, what will be the main functionalities, etc. It is important that you decide all the things before you reach a final conclusion. 

Make A Proper Strategy

Now before you finalize the app features you need to understand your app requirements and make a proper strategy according to the same. Because when you start developing your application, you are not only the first one to think about it, there are millions of existing applications in the market. 

Therefore in order to make your application stand out from others, you need to conduct a competitive analysis. 

Additionally, you can conduct social media marketing and campaigns to get insights about users’ likes and dislikes. Also, you can hire a marketing team to get the best results. 

Finalize Your App Features

Now it’s time to choose the app features that are perfect and attract the user’s attention. One thing you should consider is that instead of choosing very complex features you should focus on integrating features that bring value to your users. 

Generally, many businesses commit the mistake of choosing unnecessary features for the sake of competition but in return, it will result in a bad user experience and all their valuable investment goes in vain. 

Choose The Right Development Path

Deciding on the right development approach is as important as the above steps. That’s why you should choose the one according to your app’s needs and requirements. 

Moreover, both outsourced development teams and in-house development teams have their own advantages and disadvantages. So you can choose the one according to your specifications. Although, you can also opt for our best Flutter app development services to make the most of your investment and get the most prominent Flutter application. 

Go For Beta Testing 

Now that you have reached this step in the process of development seems like a big accomplishment. After that, all you have to do is create a sample version of your app and check how your audience is reacting to it and what is their feedback. 

Always consider your audience’s feedback whether it will be positive or negative as this feedback is very important to enhance your app and make it look professional in the development market. 

Now the sample version of the app is all set to undergo different types of testing to check if there are any bugs and errors in that. 

Deploy The App

Here comes finally the time for app deployment. Now you should carefully plan this stage as this is the final stage and no mistakes can be encountered here. 

How DianApps Can Help You To Develop An Efficient Automotive App By Using Flutter. 

We are a leading mobile and web development company that will help you to develop a top-notch automotive app by integrating Google’s revolutionary framework, Flutter.  

Our team of experienced Flutter app developers will help you to develop an automotive app according to your requirements. Our best development services will help you take your business to the next level of success and fame. 

So what are you waiting for? We are available 24*7 for your assistance. Get in touch with us now to make the most of your investment!

Conclusion

To conclude, Flutter is a reliable and trustworthy platform that will help your automotive business succeed and meet your customer’s expectations and demands just like it did for BMW and Toyota. 

As a leading Flutter app development company, we recommended you choose Flutter for your next automotive project. 

We hope you find this blog informative and brought you valuable insights that will help you in your future projects.