I am on a crusade to see if #nocode tools are really mature enough (yet) to build a full app.
so … in my downtime, while Helen Jones was working on her jigsaw, I signed up for an account with FlutterFlow.
I chose FlutterFlow because I strongly believe #Flutter is the future of cross-platform development. (Something for another post)
Overall the experience has been positive, it’s really easy to:
1οΈβ£ Create navigation between screens and on-screen
2οΈβ£ Set up an entire authentication flow using their templates
3οΈβ£ Create, Read, Update, Delete data within your screens
There’s a lot of power in FlutterFlow but is it possible for someone WITHOUT an IT background to pick it up and build an app?
Probably Not (yet).
The challenges I faced were around:
1οΈβ£ Testing the app. It’s still slow to make a change and test it out. This is partly the IDE, but also partly that Flutter is a big beast with many dependencies.
2οΈβ£ Deployment is so hard. A non-IT person would give up at this stage. To do a build and test on a real device (Android or iOS) is crazy hard. Again, not really FlutterFlow’s problem, but to be true “No Code” they need to solve this.
3οΈβ£ Knowing how to structure (and secure) your queries and collections still needs an experienced brain otherwise you will build an app that’s expensive, slow and insecure.
So … right now, at the end of 2021, I don’t think no-code tools mean that anyone can pick them and get going.
I love the way FlutterFlow is maturing and I do think, one day, we might see citizen developers using tools to create full-blown apps.
Does FlutterFlow save me time?
You bet!
I have done 100% code development with Flutter before and creating the UI is painful. FlutterFlow will definitely save you time, but I would like to see that Dev to Test cycle time slashed.
In case you’re interested.. the app I am playing with is to convert the Collab365 Daily Digest to a mobile app that works cross-platform.