Hi,
I have a web design/development background (PHP-JS-SQL-HTML-CSS) and I started learning Flutter at the beginning of this year. So far I have built and published five apps on Google Play (relatively simple content apps).
I am not sure if I like or dislike Flutter, as I can't compare it to any other thing. Surely it's a lot different than what I'm used to as a web dev. The thing is, the more apps I build, the more tedious it gets to update, monitor, or fix package/dependancy related issues.
Yesterday, I stumbled into a Flutter related crash that happened across 3 of my apps with 4 users and 2 devices (those are lost users, and possibly more as I have crashlytics optional via a confirmation), which after exhaustive research I concluded is not fixable by my end, so I went ahead and excluded those 2 devices from supported devices list.
Which sped me to ask here...
I can't suppress the inner voice that keeps telling me to go with or at least give a try to native Android development.
- I read Kotlin is more preferrable over Java, shall I go with Kotlin? Also, Kotlin or Kotlin Multiplatform? I eventually want to publish on iOS too, but not having any iOS devices to test with, that may take some time to come to fruition.
- How, where do I start learning? I open https://developer.android.com/ and find it, especially the header navigation menus to be overwhelming, without a clear path to start with towards learning the basics, like a structured tutorial.
- I'm used to VS Code, can I continue using it, or do I have to use Android Studio?
- So far my apps are relatively simple, I am using the following Flutter packages, will I have a difficult time recreating these functionalities in native?
firebase_core, firebase_analytics, firebase_crashlytics, flutter_tts, in_app_purchase, in_app_review, package_info_plus, share_plus, shared_preferences, url_launcher, flutter_launcher_icons, flutter_native_splash
- I read native development lacks the "hot reload" of Flutter, is there any way to quickly preview the edits I make, like changing text or color?
- Any tips, warnings or wisdom from developers who build with both Flutter and native?
Thank you very much.
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