The Software World

Is Flutter Facing its End?

Is Flutter Still Fulfilling its Purpose at Google?

Photo by Federico Di Dio photography on Unsplash

Let me begin by apologizing if the title rubbed you the wrong way. I’ve always been a fan of Google’s products, especially their efforts in mobile development.

When it comes to popular cross-platform mobile development frameworks like Xamarin, React Native, and Flutter, my preference leans strongly towards Flutter. This preference is partly due to Google’s involvement and partly due to the growing popularity of Flutter, as evidenced by recent statistics on Stack Overflow questions asked.

https://insights.stackoverflow.com/trends?tags=react-native%2Cflutter%2Cionic-framework%2Cxamarin

However, there has been an unexpected development recently: Google has laid off teammates from the Flutter and Dart teams (source). This came as a surprise to me and prompted me to ponder the possible reasons behind it.

It doesn’t appear to be a broad restructuring, as it seems to have affected only specific areas. This suggests a prioritization of investments and a gradual divestment strategy, as indicated by Google spokesperson Alex García-Kummert: “As we’ve said, we’re responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead” (source).

Upon further investigation, I discovered that this is not an isolated incident. Google had already laid off part of the Fuchsia team last year (source), that build this Flutter-native operating system. This leads me to believe that these actions are part of a planned strategy.

In light of these recent events and the emerging trend, I find myself increasingly uncertain about Flutter’s future. Allow me to share my perspective, beginning with why Flutter emerged in the first place.

1. Flutter Was Probably Google’s Backup Plan

In 2010, Oracle filed a lawsuit against Google over its use of Java, particularly in Android (source). This legal battle dragged on for years. Despite the ongoing litigation, Android continued to thrive throughout the early 2010s and remains a crucial platform for Google to reach mobile…