“The new app platform is built on three pillars: user-friendliness, safety, and reliability. It provides a consistently designed set of functions spanning all brands based on feedback and our customers’ usage behavior.”
Dr. Nicolai Kraemer, Vice President of Offboard Platform BMW Group, cited after developing a Flutter app.
The My BMW app was released in 47 countries as a universal interface, ensuring seamless user experiences across their smartphones, vehicles, and the digital world!
Using Flutter for Automotive app development, Daniel Hall, Chief Engineer at Toyota Motor North America, appreciated,
“Flutter’s open source principles and high-growth developer community have been critical to our success.”
Both giants have proven the potential of developing a Flutter app for the Automotive Industry.
Flutter has been the topic of discussion ever since its arrival. Firstly, for being a Google baby, next, for its offerings to the community, and lastly, because of its growing community. Not to mention, it has been in the talk of automotive businesses’ app development plans as they want to develop Flutter apps like BMW and Toyota.
The point here is not the adoption, but why has Flutter’s adoption in different industries expedited? Let’s find out.
Flutter has mesmerized the markets!
Flutter has left behind React Native and Kotlin in every aspect, be it popularity, offerings, or technological platform liking. It has surpassed everyone’s expectations by providing an extensive range of widgets, libraries, and other needed functions.
Flutter is used by 46% of software developers to create cross-platform applications!
From small startups to gigantic enterprises, everybody has started benefiting from the Flutter community. With Flutter, it has become quite easy to build striking, high-performing, and scalable applications for iOS or Android. So it is now quite obvious that this framework would be everybody’s favorite.
What compelled an automotive tycoon like BMW to choose the Flutter?
BMW’s mobile app team focused on the iOS version of their BMW & MINI Connected app, but in 2018 they noticed the growing disparities between the iOS and Android versions. To provide equal functionality to all users regardless of mobile OS and brand, they needed a cost-effective solution.
Flutter seemed to satisfy the need after testing various proofs-of-concept with various other frameworks. Flutter provided the opportunity for a single codebase across platforms. After exploring other cross-platform frameworks, BMW found that Flutter was the only one capable of delivering a responsive app.
Toyota’s side of the story for Flutter Love!
Toyota, another big name in the automotive industry, uses Flutter to power its in-vehicle infotainment systems. Aiming to provide the best digital experience for their customers, Toyota integrated Flutter’s Embedded API and developed their Linux-powered infotainment.
Flutter’s rendering engine and AOT compilation will offer the consistency and performance Toyota desires for its in-car solution. Toyota can easily integrate Flutter apps into their automotive-grade Linux-powered infotainment systems with the Embedder API.
Toyota’s development team went further and created custom tools to optimize the Flutter development experience, taking advantage of Dart language and the Flutter SDK. Thanks to Flutter’s declarative UI and code as configuration methods, the result was a more streamlined design-to-code process.
Toyota’s adoption of Flutter is due to its open-source nature and expanding developer community. The ability to hot-reload and distribute to multiple platforms also makes Flutter a good investment for Toyota in improving its in-vehicle user experience. Toyota is excited to be a part of the open-source Flutter community.
In conclusion, Toyota’s decision to use Flutter to revamp their in-vehicle infotainment systems is a step towards delivering the premium and intuitive user experience their customers expect.
The above-mentioned points clarify why top brands prefer Flutter over any other framework. But that’s not all. There are a few more reasons why Flutter is well-accepted universally.
What makes Flutter for the Automotive Industry the best choice?
Native-app-like feel:
The Cross-platform app development segment always struggled to provide native experiences. However, with the arrival of Flutter, it’s no more a hassle.
Flutter is designed with user experience in mind, and its performance is critical to delivering a smooth and seamless app. In most cases, Flutter app performance is comparable to that of a native app, and in some instances, it can even surpass native app performance in complex UI animations.
Flutter follows a unique approach to app development which eliminates the need for an intermediate code representation. The apps are compiled directly into machine code.
This further reduces the possibility of potential bugs in the process, improving the application performance and speeding up the release.
Additionally, the Dart programming language and the custom widgets add to the application’s performance and efficiency.
Flutter’s own rendering engine:
Flutter is a game-changer in the world of app development. Its framework allows developers to write code with ease, freeing up their creativity to focus on delivering the best possible product.
With Flutter, developers can write once and deploy anywhere, as the framework has its own rendering engine, Skia, which operates on a canvas provided by the platform. This means that you can release the UI built in Flutter on any platform with ease.
Flutter’s powerful engine streamlines the development process, making it faster and more efficient for developers. The engine also enables developers to quickly and easily deploy their final product to the market, saving time and resources.
Altogether, Flutter’s combination of a powerful engine and an easy-to-use framework makes it an ideal choice for developers looking to streamline their development process and create high-quality, performant apps.
Single code for all platforms:
Flutter is a versatile app development framework that enables developers to create apps for multiple platforms using a single codebase. The framework’s built-in design elements and widgets allow for platform-agnostic development, resulting in consistent, cross-platform applications.”
Hot Reload:
The hot reloading feature in Flutter allows developers to make changes to the source code and see the results immediately in the running app, saving time and reducing the hassle of the complex compilation process. This convenience has been a major factor in Flutter’s growing popularity, with Google crediting the hot reloading feature for its increased momentum in the app development community.
Google’s Support:
As we all know, Flutter is Google’s baby. So you can expect immense support and have it’s back no matter what. This tech giant has crossed all expectations and will continue to do so with the help of Google.
Ready-to-use widgets:
One of the strengths of Flutter is its collection of ready-to-use widgets that provide the building blocks for creating beautiful and functional user interfaces. The widgets are designed to be fast, responsive, and customizable, and they handle a lot of the heavy lifting for you so that you can focus on writing the logic of your app.
Some of the most commonly used widgets in Flutter include Text, Container, Image, RaisedButton, and Scaffold, which provide basic UI elements like text, containers, images, buttons, and screens.
Quick Code Compilation:
Flutter app development is also famous for its fast and efficient development process. The Hot Reload feature lets developers see the impact of changes made in the code instantly without needing to rebuild the entire app. This saves valuable time and allows for rapid iteration during the development process.
With Flutter, developers can make changes and see the results in real time, making it easier to catch bugs and fix them quickly. The feature supports a wide range of development tasks, such as adding new features, fixing bugs, and making UI tweaks, which helps to speed up the development process.
Additionally, the collaboration between developers, designers, and testers is seamless with Flutter, leading to a faster and more efficient development cycle. This is a significant advantage over traditional native app development, where testing and debugging can be a time-consuming and laborious process.
How to develop a Flutter app for the Automotive Industry?
Want to revolutionize your customer experience by developing a Flutter app like BMW and Toyota? If so, grab the pen and paper and note what you must do. This section will discuss steps to follow to make a Flutter app like Toyota.
So, let’s get started…
Get to know your competition & List out what you need:
First things first, take some time to study and understand your competitors in the automotive industry, for example, BMW and Toyota. Take a look at their existing apps and pay attention to the features and functionalities that stand out.
For instance, smart e-mobility services, extensive navigation, and map features to pre-plan trips are some of My BMW’s unique features. On the other hand, in the Toyota app, customers love remote start/stop, lock/unlock, and find a parked vehicle functionality.
Studying existing applications and their functionality will streamline your next step. However, do not forget about your target customers. Make sure you create buyer personas to identify your potential app users’ problems and make the app user-friendly.
Decide on the App features:
Now that you have your requirements, it’s time to decide on the specific features your app will have. Focus on the ones that align with your business goals and will be valuable to your users. You are making a Flutter app like BMW, but you cannot copy their functionality altogether, right?
If you have buyer personas, filtering out the practical features specifically for your customers will be easier. Alternatively, you can list the essential features to build the first version of your app.
Think about features like vehicle information, booking services, test drive requests, service reminders, and anything else that is relevant and useful for people interested in cars.
Bring your app to life visually:
After curating a definite feature list, it’s time you start illustrating your app’s look and feel. The best practices to visualize your app like a real product are Wireframing and Prototyping. Wireframing is about creating sketches or digital mockups that show layouts of different screens.
Using these wireframes, you can design your app and add interfaces via prototyping. A prototype is a clickable version of your app and the best way to develop a Flutter app like Toyota. You can interact with it and get a feel of the app. However, the backend is yet to develop, and the database isn’t connected, either. So, it won’t function like a full-fledged app.
Still, it’s the best way to test and iterate design at early stages, preventing costly mistakes. You can also gather feedback and make sure the user experience is smooth and easy to understand. You can also hire a professional designer to get you to help you create an interactive prototype and attention-grabbing design.
Find skilled Flutter app developers and get started:
Now that you have your design ready, hypothetically, brace yourself to hire Flutter developers. If you don’t know how to hire Flutter developers, we have addressed that in this linked guide. Basically, you want to look for professionals who have experience with Flutter and understand the automotive industry.
Whether you hire a remote team or dedicated developers, you must work closely with them to turn your design into a fully functioning app. Make sure to establish communication effectively and provide feedback throughout the development process.
Test, Improve, and Repeat:
Once the initial development is completed, it’s time to test your app. Minor bugs can cause big trouble. Hence, you need to look for potential bugs or issues that need fixing. Since you are creating a cross-platform app using Flutter, ensure the app works well on different devices and operating systems.
You can even involve real users in the testing process by letting them try out a beta version and gathering their feedback. Use this feedback to make improvements and iterate on the app until it’s working smoothly.
Launch your app and make some noise:
Once you’re confident in the app’s performance and usability, it’s time to release it to the world. Develop a strong marketing strategy to create awareness and generate interest among your target audience.
Utilize social media, automotive forums, and partnerships with dealerships or automotive events to promote your app. Meanwhile, keep an eye on user feedback and continue updating the app with new features and enhancements to keep users engaged and satisfied.
There you have it! Now you are powered to start creating a Flutter app similar to BMW and Toyota. Also, calculate how much would it cost to develop a Flutter app for your automotive business.
Conclusion:
Flutter has become a popular choice for creating visually appealing and fast user interfaces in the world of automotive app development. And why not? The cutting-edge technology offers a rich development environment that is ideal for creating innovative applications for the automobile industry.
Besides, with Flutter’s powerful features and capabilities, it’s no wonder that major players in the automotive industry, like BMW and Toyota, have chosen to use Flutter for their app development needs. We know your app could be the next sensation in the industry.
Flutter is an apt choice if you want to take your automotive app to the next level. Its powerful features and intuitive development environment empower you to deliver amazing automotive apps that captivate and engage your users.
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