Kicking things off: Eric Seidel’s keynote
The event started with an inspiring keynote by Eric Seidel, who reflected on the last 10 years of Flutter’s evolution. The keynote was a great reminder of how far Flutter has come—from its humble beginnings to becoming the powerful multi-platform framework it is today. One of the highlights for me was revisiting the early Sky demo (which would eventually become Flutter). It was amazing to see the journey from those initial experiments to today, where Flutter has over 1 million published apps.
Eric’s keynote also touched on how Flutter has been embraced by businesses of all sizes. His final message was clear: Flutter is here to stay and will continue leading in multi-platform development for years to come.
My talk with Gianfranco Papa: Going offline-first with Flutter
One of the most rewarding experiences was presenting alongside Gianfranco Papa, our CTO at Somnio Software, on offline-first development. We wanted to highlight how essential this approach is for modern apps, especially when working with Flutter.
Our goal was to introduce the key concepts of offline-first architecture, like optimistic UI updates, data synchronization, and conflict resolution strategies. We discussed the tools that can help developers implement these features in Flutter, such as Sqflite, Isar, Hive, and CRDT-based solutions. By addressing both the advantages and challenges, we aimed to inspire the audience to consider offline-first approaches early in their app development process, ensuring smoother and more efficient experiences for users.
It was an incredible experience to see how engaged the audience was, and we’re already thinking about more in-depth discussions on the topic in future events.
Background processing with Flutter by Dominik Roszkowski
As someone who’s been working on offline-first apps, Dominik Roszkowski’s talk on background processing immediately caught my attention. Dominik explained that while Flutter’s isolates are useful for background tasks, the real challenge comes when trying to implement more complex, native-level background processing.
His demo showed how to use Kotlin for background processing on Android, and his bold advice was clear: sometimes, it might be better to "write your code natively" to handle background processes efficiently, depending on the platform. This was a valuable reminder that while Flutter is great for multi-platform development, we shouldn’t hesitate to leverage native solutions when necessary.
The Power of Macros in Dart by Gianfranco Papa
Another highlight was Gianfranco Papa’s session on Macros in Dart, which are one of the most anticipated features in the language. His breakdown of how macros will work and their potential to replace some of the code generation tools we rely on (like those used for JSON serialization) was fascinating.
The idea that macros could simplify codebases while reducing the need for repetitive boilerplate code is exciting. It’s clear that once macros are fully integrated, they will be a game-changer for how we write Dart code.
Stop centralizing, Flutter Architecture with Matt Carroll
I’ve always been interested in software architecture, so I couldn’t miss Matt Carroll’s talk on decentralizing Flutter app components. His approach to navigating multi-step forms in a decentralized way was both refreshing and controversial. He suggested using StatefulWidget and a switch statement instead of relying on centralized navigation, which sparked a lot of discussion.
The key takeaway was that simpler architectures can often lead to faster development and fewer complications, a lesson that’s always valuable when managing growing codebases.
My final thoughts: A community that thrives
Overall, FlutterCon USA 2024 was an amazing opportunity to update myself, connect, and share knowledge with the global Flutter community. It was inspiring to see so many talented individuals pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with Flutter and Dart. I’m grateful to my Somnio Software team for the opportunity to represent the company and for the continued support from our leaders, Mauricio Pastorini and Gianfranco Papa.
I’m already looking forward to the next FlutterCon and can’t wait to see what new innovations and ideas will come from this incredible community.
Join the conversation and build the future of apps with us!
At Somnio Software, we specialize in making the most out of cutting-edge technologies like Flutter, AI and many more to build powerful and scalable applications to make your business goals and help you reach your goals. Whether you’re looking to implement offline-first solutions, enhance user experience, explore new architectural strategies, or any customized solution, our team is here to help!
Contact us today to learn how we can transform your dreams into reality.
