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Flutter vs Native iOS: When to Choose What

Flutter iOS Mobile Development Technology Choices

The Question I Get Asked Most

“Should I build my app in Flutter or native iOS?”

After building Mizzle in native SwiftUI and Ellie in Flutter, I’ve experienced both approaches extensively. Here’s my honest take on when to use each.

Spoiler: There’s no universal answer. It depends on your specific situation, team, and goals.

What I’ve Built

Before we dive in, here’s my experience with each:

Native iOS (SwiftUI)

  • Mizzle - Weather app with custom animations
  • Several client projects - Various iOS apps
  • SwiftSky - Open source library
  • Personal experiments - Prototypes and demos

Flutter

  • Ellie - Language learning platform (iOS + Android)
  • Internal tools - Cross-platform utilities
  • Client work - Mobile apps for startups

Both have a place in my toolkit. Neither is universally better.

When to Choose Flutter

1. You Need iOS + Android (And Have Limited Resources)

Flutter wins when: You have a small team and need both platforms.

With Ellie, we’re a team of 3 developers. Building separate iOS and Android apps would have required:

  • 2x the development time
  • 2x the maintenance burden
  • Careful synchronization of features
  • Duplicate bug fixing

Flutter let us ship to both platforms with one codebase. The math is simple:

Native:

  • iOS app: 400 hours
  • Android app: 400 hours
  • Total: 800 hours

Flutter:

  • Shared app: 500 hours
  • Platform-specific code: 50 hours
  • Total: 550 hours

That’s 45% time savings. For a small team, that’s the difference between shipping and not shipping.

2. You’re Building a Utility/Productivity App

Flutter excels at: Apps where functionality > platform feel.

Apps like:

  • Todo lists
  • Note-taking apps
  • Finance trackers
  • Learning platforms
  • B2B tools

Users care more about the features than whether it feels “perfectly iOS-native.”

Ellie fits this perfectly. Users want:

  • Effective learning algorithms ✅
  • Engaging content ✅
  • Progress tracking ✅
  • Cross-device sync ✅

They don’t care if the navigation transitions are exactly like iOS Mail app.

3. Your Team Has Web Experience

Flutter is easier for web developers because:

  • Declarative UI (similar to React)
  • Component-based architecture
  • Hot reload workflow
  • Flexbox-like layouts

If your team knows React, they’ll pick up Flutter faster than SwiftUI.

4. You Want Rapid Prototyping

Flutter’s hot reload is magical for experimentation.

Change code → See it instantly. No recompile. No restart.

For Ellie’s onboarding flow, I iterated through 15 different designs in a single afternoon. With native iOS, that would’ve taken days.

5. You Need Custom, Complex UI

Flutter’s painting model gives you pixel-perfect control.

Everything in Flutter is a widget. You can customize anything:

  • Custom animations
  • Complex layouts
  • Unusual interactions
  • Platform-agnostic designs

This is harder in native iOS where you’re working within Apple’s frameworks.

When to Choose Native iOS (SwiftUI)

1. You’re Building an iOS-Only App

Native wins when: You only target iOS and want the best experience.

For Mizzle, I only cared about iOS. Using Flutter would’ve been:

  • Extra complexity for no benefit
  • Larger app size
  • Less integrated with iOS features
  • Harder to achieve “native feel”

If you’re iOS-only, use iOS tools.

2. The App is “Delightful” Over “Functional”

Native iOS excels at: Apps where feel > features.

Apps like:

  • Social media clients
  • Creative tools
  • Weather apps
  • Photo/video editors
  • Lifestyle apps

Users have high expectations for how these apps feel. Every animation, gesture, and transition matters.

Mizzle needed:

  • Perfect spring physics
  • Smooth scrolling
  • Native gestures
  • System integration
  • “It just feels right”

Flutter can do this, but you’ll fight the framework more.

3. You Need Deep iOS Integration

Native gives you immediate access to:

  • Latest iOS features (day 1 availability)
  • WidgetKit and app extensions
  • Shortcuts and Siri
  • CarPlay, WatchOS
  • ARKit, Core ML
  • System-level integrations

With Flutter, you either:

  • Wait for plugin support
  • Write native plugins yourself
  • Work around limitations

For Mizzle, I needed:

  • iOS 14 widgets (released same day as iOS 14)
  • Apple Watch complications
  • Siri shortcuts
  • WeatherKit integration

All available immediately in Swift. Some still don’t have great Flutter support.

4. Performance is Critical

Native is faster for:

  • Complex animations (60fps+)
  • Large list rendering
  • Image processing
  • Games
  • Graphic-intensive apps

Flutter is fast, but native is faster. For most apps, it doesn’t matter. For some, it’s critical.

Mizzle renders 200+ rain particles with smooth animations. In SwiftUI with Canvas and Metal, this is trivial. In Flutter, I’d need to optimize more carefully.

5. You’re Building for the Long Term

Native iOS is more stable over time:

  • Backed by Apple (won’t disappear)
  • Huge ecosystem
  • Abundant talent pool
  • Well-established patterns

Flutter is great, but it’s younger:

  • Breaking changes more frequent
  • Smaller talent pool
  • Less predictable future
  • Fewer established best practices

For a 5-10 year project, native is safer.

The Honest Comparison

Development Speed

Winner: Flutter (for cross-platform)

  • Hot reload is incredibly fast
  • One codebase for both platforms
  • Rich widget library

App Performance

Winner: Native iOS (slightly)

  • Direct platform access
  • More optimized
  • Better for complex animations

But Flutter is close enough for most apps.

Developer Experience

Winner: Tie

  • Flutter: Hot reload, great tooling, clear error messages
  • SwiftUI: Xcode previews, Instruments, first-party support

UI/UX Quality

Winner: Native iOS (for iOS apps)

  • Automatically feels native
  • Latest iOS features
  • System integration

Winner: Flutter (for custom designs)

  • Complete customization
  • Cross-platform consistency

Maintenance

Winner: Flutter (if cross-platform)

  • One codebase to maintain
  • Fixes apply to both platforms

Winner: Native iOS (if iOS-only)

  • Simpler stack
  • Fewer dependencies

Learning Curve

Winner: Flutter (for web devs) Winner: SwiftUI (for iOS devs)

App Size

Winner: Native iOS

  • Mizzle (SwiftUI): 8 MB
  • Similar Flutter app: 15-20 MB

Flutter apps are larger due to the framework.

Hiring Developers

Winner: Native iOS

  • More iOS developers available
  • Well-established skill set

Flutter talent is growing but still smaller.

My Decision Framework

Here’s how I decide for new projects:

Choose Flutter If:

if (needsAndroid && resourcesLimited) {
  return "Flutter"
}

if (teamKnowsWebNotMobile) {
  return "Flutter"
}

if (utilityAppNotDelight) {
  return "Flutter"
}

Choose Native iOS If:

if (iOSOnlyForever) {
  return "SwiftUI"
}

if (delightAndFeelCritical) {
  return "SwiftUI"
}

if (needsLatestIOSFeatures) {
  return "SwiftUI"
}

if (complexAnimations60FPS) {
  return "SwiftUI"
}

The Hybrid Approach

Some teams use both:

  • Core app in Flutter
  • Platform-specific features in native
  • Platform channels for communication

This works but adds complexity. Only do this if you have a good reason.

What About React Native?

I haven’t used React Native extensively, so I can’t fairly compare. But here’s what I hear:

Pros:

  • Huge ecosystem
  • Web tech (JS/React)
  • Massive community

Cons:

  • Performance issues
  • Dependency hell
  • Bridge overhead
  • Less “native” than Flutter

If you’re choosing between React Native and Flutter, I’d lean Flutter for new projects. But if your team is heavily invested in React, RN might make sense.

My Personal Preference

For client work: Flutter

  • Clients usually want iOS + Android
  • Budget constraints
  • Time to market matters

For personal projects: SwiftUI

  • I enjoy the iOS ecosystem
  • Building for delight, not just function
  • Fun to use latest iOS features

For open source: SwiftUI

  • iOS community is where I’m active
  • More familiar with the ecosystem

Common Myths Debunked

Myth 1: “Flutter apps don’t feel native”

False. With care, Flutter apps can feel great. But it requires effort to match platform conventions.

Myth 2: “SwiftUI is too buggy”

Partially true. Early SwiftUI (iOS 13-14) was rough. Modern SwiftUI (iOS 16+) is solid.

Myth 3: “Flutter is just as fast as native”

Mostly true. For most apps, you won’t notice a difference. For some edge cases, native is faster.

Myth 4: “You can’t build complex apps in Flutter”

False. Google Ads, Alibaba, and BMW use Flutter for production apps.

Myth 5: “SwiftUI means you can’t support older iOS”

True. SwiftUI requires iOS 13+. If you need iOS 11-12, use UIKit.

The Future

Flutter is growing:

  • Web support improving
  • Desktop support added
  • Google’s investment
  • Growing ecosystem

SwiftUI is maturing:

  • More stable each iOS release
  • Feature parity with UIKit
  • Better tooling
  • Apple’s primary framework

Both have bright futures. Neither is going away.

Conclusion

There is no universally better choice.

  • Need both iOS and Android? Flutter.
  • iOS-only with focus on feel? SwiftUI.
  • Small team with tight budget? Flutter.
  • Building for long-term iOS? SwiftUI.
  • Team knows web tech? Flutter.
  • Need latest iOS features? SwiftUI.

The right choice depends on your constraints, team, and goals.

I use both. I enjoy both. I recommend both (in different situations).

The best framework is the one that helps you ship great software to your users.

What’s your experience with Flutter vs native? I’d love to hear from you on Twitter.