The perplexity between frameworks "Swift vs React Native vs Flutter" is endless.
Undoubtedly, all the three frameworks possess their own perks to develop apps. But the main answer lies within your requirements and the budget with the app. Only then you can decide which framework works best for you.
On the contrary, businesses are going digital. So an upsurge in iOS app development also comes along. With that, the mobile commerce and ecommerce industry are also on a continuous rise.
Get to know which framework best suits your project requirements for your iOS app development. There is no doubt that all these frameworks are the best in their way, narrowing it down to get a clear picture of the project-specific requirements.
Let us move on with the tabular comparison followed by individual comparison of the three frameworks.
Quick General Comparison: Swift Vs React Native Vs Flutter
| Point | Swift | React Native | Flutter |
| Release Year | 2014 | 2015 | 2018 |
| Developed By | Apple | ||
| Programming Language | Objective C and C++ | Javascript | Dart |
| Framework/Libraries | In-built as well as third-party integration | Third-party libraries | In-built app components |
| Budget | Expensive | Less expensive | Comparatively budget-friendly |
Before getting into the definitions of all three platforms, it's better to get a clear idea of the basics.
Swift iOS App Development
Swift programming is a prevalent language that is fast, safe and type-safe. You can start developing apps by downloading and installing the developer tools and in-built frameworks. Apart from the mobile apps, Swift is also useful in developing web and desktop apps. Whichever digital device it is, unless there is an Apple OS in it, you can build it with Swift. Xcode, which supports Swift, is used to develop any softwares from Apple hardware.
Apps developed on Swift
- Uber
- Khan Academy
- Accenture
- Lyft
- Slack
React Native iOS App Development
Choose React Native when you want to develop a cross-platform app. Cross-platform usually refers to iOS and android app development that utilizes reusable components.
React native is built on javascript modules, and those created for mobile apps can also be used in the react JS web apps. Cross-platform apps help maintain the apps repetitively, and it uses the bridging concept to enable communication between javascript and native languages.
Apps developed on React Native
- UberEats
- Tesla
- Wix
- Airbnb
- Walmart
- Bloomberg
Flutter iOS App Development
Like React Native, Flutter is also open source and cross-platform, which helps build iOS and Android apps from the same codebase. Flutter utilizes an OOPS language called DART. Furthermore, as everything is in-built in a flutter, it does not use the native components to communicate with them as, by default, it has support for native features.
Apps developed on Flutter
- Reflectly
- Google Ads
- Hamilton
- Postmuse – Instagram photo editing app
- Xianyu by Alibaba
- KlasterMe
- Lunching
Pointwise Comparison: Swift Vs React Native Vs Flutter
Now that we have understood all three frameworks and their workings, it’s time to bifurcate them further and look at which framework does exactly what.
Read along to compare each of the significant differences one by one!
App Reloading
Swift programming allows app reloading while adding functionalities by using non-native solutions.
React Native consists of the hot-reloading feature, allowing refreshing changes in cross-platform apps. It also uses virtual DOM, making it possible to modify only the latest updated changes.
Flutter also uses the hot-reloading functionality, and it is comparatively fast to reflect changes in your codebase.
User Interface
Swift can create high performance and customized apps for the iOS native platform. The only constraint is that it is costlier when compared with flutter and react native.
In React Native, you can create persuasive UI components with near-native performance. It also has various inbuilt functionalities to access native features. But replicating complex native UIs gets intricating sometimes.
Flutter holds within itself the UI package through which developing applications gets easy using native UI functionalities.
App Size
The app size of Swift programming is relatively small compared to other platforms as it uses its built-in hardware and OS functionalities.
React Native has a comparatively larger app size than Swift as it utilizes third-party libraries.
Flutter has the largest size when we talk about app size. Why? Because of the big size of the flutter engine.
Which is the ideal programming language? - Swift Vs React Native Vs Flutter
There is no way to say a particular platform is better. If we talk about Swift Vs React Native, Swift is expensive and does not have the same codebase, and react native holds the same code base and is relatively cheaper. So it will depend on your project requirement again.
comparing react native and flutter, both are budget-friendly and hold the same code base to develop cross platform apps.
Still, whenever it comes to iOS app development, it is recommended to always keep up to date with the latest trends. However, it isn't easy to keep the users engaged with your app. And for that reason, you need to add new features and develop a user-engaging app repetitively.
However, using any of these frameworks are a great way to develop a fast and responsive app for your iOS app development.
Top comments (2)
It's a nice overview, however the "iOS App Development Frameworks" is half of what people want. People want 1 solution to write for multiple platforms. So perhaps do edit this to have more insights on how all 3 behave on android as well.
Also perhaps some info of the ease of development?
This article certainly provides a detailed comparison between Swift, React Native, and Flutter. In addition to this, I recently came across an insightful analysis titled "Flutter vs. React Native: Which Framework Wins in 2023?". This resource delves deeper into the comparison of Flutter and React Native, offering further details that could enhance our understanding of these two frameworks. With the tech landscape continually evolving, it's crucial to stay informed and understand the changes.