Discover how top Indian companies are effectively overcoming engineering bottlenecks by leveraging the power of Flutter.
The Indian job market is diverse and complex, and recruiting for niche roles can be challenging. In our previous article, we provided insights into recruiting skilled Flutter app developers in India. The article highlighted the popularity of Flutter and its adoption by Indian companies, especially startups. We offered key statistics and insights into the market for Flutter developers in India, discussing the top companies that hired Flutter talent, their compensation ranges, notice periods, and many more. We also talked briefly about how to hire Flutter developers and retain top talent within the company.
In this article, we take a deeper dive to understand how Flutter has helped Indian companies remove engineering bottlenecks and accelerate the development of apps. We'll discuss a few intriguing use cases for Flutter that international and Indian tech companies are using. Finally, we will talk about how to hire top Flutter talent in India.
Dream11, India's largest sports game platform boasting around 50 million registered users, has revolutionized fantasy sports by allowing users to engage in cricket, football, kabaddi, basketball, and hockey. The platform enables users to put their sporting knowledge to the test by creating fantasy teams and competing against others.
About four years ago, Dream11 decided to expand beyond the core fantasy sports platform and build a diverse ecosystem of sports-related apps to further enhance user engagement. This case study delves into how Dream11 embraced Flutter to achieve this ambitious goal.
To make Dream11’s vision of creating a diverse ecosystem of apps a reality, the developers need to amp up the speed at which they are creating apps. This required them to explore new technologies and frameworks that would allow them to build at an accelerated pace. While exploring newer technologies, there were two key challenges that loomed in front of Dream11:
In the face of these challenges, Dream11 needed a solution that would not only accelerate development but also foster collaboration among their diverse team of developers.
Dream11's quest to address the challenges led them to embrace the power of Flutter. Flutter, a versatile UI framework by Google, held the promise of a rapid and efficient development process across both iOS and Android platforms. It was the perfect choice to bring Dream11's dynamic sports app ecosystem to life.
To initiate their solution, Dream11's developers embarked on a small Proof of Concept (POC) mission. The focal point of this endeavor was the creation of the Power Predictor app, an application that allowed users to predict cricket game outcomes. The primary goal was to assess the development time and effort required using the Flutter framework.
The initial step involved crafting an Android version of the app. Despite the developers' diverse backgrounds, they found Flutter's DART programming language to be remarkably intuitive. Flutter's seamless integration with powerful development tools like Android Studio emerged as a game-changer. Features like hot reloading, which enabled instant debugging, and the real-time visualization of code outcomes on emulators or devices streamlined the development process and accelerated progress.
Hot reload, a standout feature of Flutter, expedites experimentation, UI development, feature integration, and bug fixing. This functionality operates by seamlessly integrating revised source code files into the active Dart Virtual Machine (VM). Subsequently, the VM updates classes with the latest iterations of fields and functions. Harnessing this dynamic, the Flutter framework instantaneously reconstructs the widget tree, enabling you to promptly visualize the outcomes of your modifications.
With the Android version successfully developed and operational, the developers shifted their focus to rolling out the iOS app. Traditionally, developing an iOS app requires 2 to 3 weeks due to platform-specific adjustments. However, the magic of Flutter's single code base allowed Dream11's developers to have the iOS version up and running within a mere two days.
To validate the reliability of their creation, the team subjected both Android and iOS apps to rigorous testing. They challenged their colleagues to find vulnerabilities that could crash the apps. To their astonishment, the Flutter-powered apps emerged unscathed from repeated testing of diverse use cases, underscoring Flutter's robustness as the chosen solution.
Flutter proved to be a game-changer for Dream11. A diverse engineering team that was using Flutter for the first time built the Power Predictor app in record time. It exhibited reliable performance with minimal issues. Flutter’s ability to support simultaneous development for Android and iOS platforms with a single code base greatly impressed the team. The success of the Power Predictor app solidified Flutter's standing as a reliable and efficient framework for Dream11's development needs.
With this success, Dream11 started to leverage Flutter for future projects, continuing to expand their ecosystem of sports-related apps and providing a delightful user experience to millions of registered users. In embracing Flutter, Dream11 not only overcame their challenges but also set a remarkable example of how an innovative framework can transform the landscape of app development.
Gojek, a leading technology platform based in Indonesia, has revolutionized various aspects of daily life through its comprehensive range of services. From ride-hailing and food delivery to payments and more, Gojek's impact resonates far beyond conventional boundaries. Notably, Gojek also boasts a remote engineering team in India, reflecting its global outreach and commitment to innovation.
In the face of evolving technologies, the engineering team at Gojek recognized the importance of staying ahead of the curve while considering the implications of every choice. They began by brainstorming on the questions and doubts that often arise while introducing new technologies:
These questions, while stressful, provided the compass for guiding innovation.
"We strive to actively invest in exploring new things, knowing that most of these investments will return nothing." - Keith Adams and Johnny Rodgers' philosophy at Slack
The team understood that not every shiny new technology is worthwhile, yet rejecting all things new isn't the solution either. The solution was to actively explore and experiment with new technologies, and be ruthless in discarding experiments that didn't hold value.
The inception of Gojek's venture with Flutter can be attributed to this very principle. Around the close of 2020, the engineering leaders within Gojek initiated a discourse centered on enhancing the quality of Gojek's mobile applications and refining the process of their construction. This resulted in the creation of a comprehensive document that systematically evaluated user-centric priorities, gathering consensus from business, product, and engineering authorities. Notably, among the approved projects, one entailed the exploration of Flutter, a cross-platform framework.
Exploration - The Flutter Experiment
Initially, the team aimed to validate if Flutter could deliver benefits without requiring a complete rewrite of their apps. They tested Flutter by embedding a Flutter-built screen into the existing Gojek app for restaurant listings. After about two months of work, the results were positive. It was interesting to note that two of the three engineers who were working on this project were new to Flutter.
Building Momentum
The Gojek team encountered the challenge of infrastructure barriers for teams interested in trying Flutter. To overcome this, they initiated the development of the Asphalt Aloha design system in Flutter. This endeavor not only tackled barriers but also paved the way for further adoption.
Holy Grail for Adoption - Lowering the Barrier to Entry
To make it easier for teams to experiment with Flutter and try it out for something real, the Gojek team built a UI library, created a Flutter developer community, and organized meet-ups. They emphasized the importance of communication channels and social systems in driving technology adoption, highlighting the need for a holistic approach.
Conclusion
Gojek's experience with Flutter highlights the importance of a methodical and well-balanced approach to adopting new technologies. Their systematic evaluation, experimentation, and emphasis on communication channels showcase how organizations can effectively navigate the evolving tech landscape, driving innovation while minimizing risks.
In the fast-paced world of finance and trading, providing a seamless and robust mobile trading platform is crucial. Zerodha, India's largest retail stockbroker by volume, understands this all too well. With a vast user base of millions of people, Zerodha's flagship trading platform, Kite, has become a lifeline for many, enabling them to participate in India's capital markets efficiently. However, as the user base grew and the demand for a reliable mobile trading experience increased, challenges started to emerge.
As the engineering team at Zerodha faced the challenge of maintaining and enhancing the mobile trading platform, they embarked on a journey to find the best solution. The initial version of Kite was a native Android app, followed by a cross-platform version using React Native. However, as the app's complexity and user demands grew, these solutions revealed their limitations.
The team needed a framework that could provide a native experience, streamline development efforts, and offer the flexibility to adapt to changing requirements. Enter Flutter, a relatively new player on the scene. Despite being in its alpha stage, Flutter caught the team's attention with its promise of a native UI with a "just works" experience.
The decision to consider Flutter wasn't made lightly. The team, consisting of just two mobile developers, meticulously weighed the pros and cons, considering factors like development time, performance, and maintainability. They also acknowledged that betting on bleeding-edge technology could be risky, but they were drawn by Flutter's potential to address the challenges they were facing.
Zerodha's journey with Flutter began in 2018 when they decided to rewrite their mobile trading platform, Kite. The first step was to replace the native Android app, which was becoming increasingly challenging to maintain. Flutter's architecture, simplicity, and fast development cycle appealed to the team. Despite Flutter being in its alpha phase, they decided to take the calculated risk and explore its potential.
The transition to Flutter wasn't without its hurdles. The team had to adapt to a new language, Dart, and deal with the early version's limitations. However, as they became more familiar with Dart and Flutter's documentation, their confidence grew. They found that Flutter's UI building capabilities and Hot Reload feature significantly boosted development efficiency.
During the transition, Zerodha leveraged its experience with code generation, resulting in a smoother migration of state management behavior from the React Native app to Flutter. The team also customized UI elements to suit their needs, taking full advantage of Flutter's capabilities.
The results were impressive. Kite 3.0, the Flutter-powered version of Zerodha's mobile trading platform, was released in early 2019, replacing both the native Android and React Native apps. The new app provided a seamless trading experience and addressed several issues that plagued the previous versions.
With Flutter, Zerodha achieved a truly native UI that rivaled the user experience of native apps. The platform's performance, responsiveness, and stability improved significantly, allowing users to trade with confidence. While challenges such as graphics glitches and biometric authentication were addressed, the engineering team remained committed to refining their app to provide the best possible experience for their users.
Collectively, these stories underline the profound impact that Flutter has had on diverse industries, highlighting its role in accelerating development, reducing complexity, and fostering innovation. As Zerodha, Gojek, and Dream11 continue to thrive and evolve, their adoption of Flutter serves as a testament to its ability to revolutionize user experiences and drive success in the modern digital landscape.
As a result, the demand for Flutter developers has surged significantly. Hiring managers are actively seeking professionals who are well-versed in Flutter's unique framework, its widgets, and its rich ecosystem. The ability to build cross-platform apps with a single codebase while ensuring performance and aesthetics is a skill that has become highly sought after in the job market. In the subsequent section, we will analyze the skills that managers are looking for in Flutter developers.
Hiring Flutter developers in India can be a strategic move to tap into the country's vast talent pool of skilled developers. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you navigate the process effectively:
Here is a list of companies that hire top Flutter talent in the country:
We conducted an in-depth analysis of Job Descriptions from leading product companies in India and around the world. Our aim was to comprehend the essential skill traits that hiring managers prioritize when seeking their next Flutter developer. The following compilation highlights the skills that consistently emerged across all the job descriptions:
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