Hey guys, multi-platform applications have now become mainstream, where a single codebase can be used across multiple platforms, such as Web, Windows, Android, iOS, and even Linux.
One of the popular tech stacks is Flutter, backed by Google itself. Like others, Flutter is one of the multi-platform languages that has long been used in enterprise applications. It has proven to be reliable and can be used on both Android and iOS.
Yes, the problem is that learning this tech requires more power than usual. Your PC or laptop will need to install several Flutter components, including Android Studio, Android SDK, and others.
Maybe in the past, Android Studio could be tweaked a bit to run on a 2GB laptop, but now it’s not really recommended, bro lol.
So how do you develop Flutter applications or at least learn to drag and drop even if your PC or laptop is on the potato side?
Flutter
Actually, multi-platform languages can generally be run on Web apps, but there might be some specific functions that you need to test on Android or iOS platforms.
For iOS, clearly you need a MacBook to connect to your iPhone, while for Android, you can use a Windows device that connects to your Android device or via a virtual machine.
Usually, Flutter projects, especially for Android development, require better performance for a comfortable coding experience here, both for faster compile times and to connect to devices, whether virtual or physical.
How to Code Flutter on a Potato PC (Firebase Studio)
There are a few solutions you can try to learn how to develop applications based on Flutter. One of them is using Firebase Studio.
Firebase Studio is an online IDE that provides IDE services for coding in almost every programming language, including Flutter.
If you’ve ever heard of or tried remote play like Stadia, GeForce Now, or Xbox Cloud Gaming, Firebase Studio gives you a similar experience, but in the coding world.
So you can still code as usual, but the resources used come from the Cloud. Firebase Studio is also very lightweight — you no longer need to install various dependencies; the project is ready to cook right away.
For Flutter in Firebase Studio, you’ll get access to VS Code or Google’s version called IDX, along with Android and Web emulators.
How to Code Flutter in Firebase Studio:
- Open the Firebase Studio page > Get Started > Log in with your account
- From here, simply add a workspace > then select Flutter
- Type the workspace name you want > next, then wait for the process to finish
- Firebase Studio will provide a starter Flutter project, and you’re good to code
- To try running your app, there’s a play logo button here and a preview to display the web and Android view
And check whether your PC feels faster than usual. In Firebase Studio, you can also import existing projects from Git, which is pretty easy — just connect Git to Firebase Studio using the available button.
Oh, Firebase Studio is still in preview, so there may still be bugs during development, but overall, Firebase Studio is already very usable for developing Flutter applications.
Yes, at least for those of you who are struggling to learn Flutter, it’s a bit of a relief because you can start learning to code Flutter even if your PC or laptop struggles when running Flutter natively.
And yes, Firebase Studio is already integrated with AI Gemini, so you can start prototyping quickly just by typing — aka vibe coding (lol)..
Okay, hope this helps, bro — happy coding!