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Why Google can do more than "just" AI

Hey everyone,

Lately you often read something about $GOOGL (-0.18%) . Especially when it comes to artificial intelligence they are often talked about and of course because of the web - search queries, Chrome as a search engine etc..

However, as an IT specialist and developer with a focus on app development, I've noticed that Google is often forgotten or somewhat overlooked here, even though they also have a strong presence. 💪

The reason: Dart or Flutter

Many of you will never have heard of it - no wonder, the layman hardly ever comes into contact with this stuff. However, there will certainly be some developers who work with it, have worked with it or have dealt with it before.

Flutter is a widely used technology for native development. It can be used to develop apps for iOS and Android. In other words, one app for two operating systems - without having to "extensively adapt" the code. The so-called "write once, run anywhere" principle. Flutter is very popular here and I would estimate that almost everyone has come into contact with a Flutter app - whether consciously or (more likely) subconsciously. 😎

But what I'm getting at is the advantage that Google has with Dart and Flutter as an extension. The language and technology is free to use and very popular. Many developers build apps for Android, which makes the operating system attractive (plus point for Google, as you can become more independent from Apple). There are also many cloud integrations, so Flutter apps often use services from Google Cloud - Google also earns money from this. 📈

Generally speaking, Google doesn't earn money with the product itself - but with everything that goes with it. If you use a Flutter app, the developer may need Google services in the background for their database.

The more apps are built with it, the more attractive Android becomes as an operating system (revenue for Google via ads and Play Store).

$GOOGL (-0.18%) can therefore do much more than just AI and the web. They are also on a great path in app development and offer good competition to other technologies such as Swift (Apple). If they manage to continue innovating here, they can create a strong pillar in the area of apps and end-user operating systems in the long term.

I hope you enjoyed my little digression, which operating system do you use Android warriors or iOS disciples? 😄

13 Comments

X Nguyen@ngoog

I also programmed my app with Flutter and it works well, but the libraries are still limited compared to react native, for example. And the Android Store has changed its guidelines for app publication so much that the barrier to entry is extremely high. It is now easier to publish an app in the iOS Store than in the Google Play Store 🥲

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batic420@batic420

@ngoog I wasn't even aware of the Play Store. I tended to focus more on desktop apps and would have gone in that direction.

It's a shame that you're actually cutting yourself in half with the regulations 🫣

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X Nguyen@ngoog

@batic420 The regulation was definitely overdue because the Google Play Store was really cluttered with apps, they just regulated it too much in my opinion 😂

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X Nguyen@ngoog

But with desktop apps, the AI is already extremely powerful, so creating complete SaaS products in minutes. Have you heard of Lovable?

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batic420@batic420

@ngoog actually not yet, I'll have a look. However, I'm not a fan of writing a few lines and then simply copying and using the resulting code.

The more complex the app, the less useful an AI helper becomes. I also don't really like tools like Claude Code.

Also, what about maintainability? Find a bug in code that you didn't write yourself. 😅

This is going to be fun...

But thank you, I'll definitely have a look at it 😎

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Investor@investingbeginner

Unfortunately Flutter didn't take off as expected, it is being used in some companies but it even still needs alot to beat react native for example

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batic420@batic420

@investingbeginner understand your point. React still is more popular than flutter but I can also see it being used more often in companies (like BMW). We'll see where the future brings us 😄

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SemiGrowth@SemiGrowth

I like Flutter too. However, it seems rather slow to me. And the problem with cross-platform is that there are libraries that are not really cross-platform. I've also had to report a lot of bugs in libraries. I really like the file system. It's quite structured. But I don't see how Google benefits significantly from Flutter. Google is so huge that it feels like nothing has an impact on the numbers (except search, YouTube and Cloud).
Also, it's a real pain to compile a Flutter app for Apple without a Macbook (impossible)

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batic420@batic420

@SemiGrowth I understand your point of view. When it comes to Mac, you always have to fall back on one anyway as soon as you want to build something for iOS, macOS, etc. 😒

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Invest_wise@Invest_wise

Never heard of it.

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Pope Donkey XXI@DonkeyInvestor

@Invest_wise I haven't heard from you yet either. And yet there you are.

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BeachPlease@BeachPlease

It's strange when a software developer talks about AI instead of algorithms xD

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batic420@batic420

@BeachPlease the article is not aimed at techies, why should I use technical terms or go into depth? Moreover, this is not the topic of the article at all, but is only briefly touched on.

In my opinion, everyone knows what I mean by "AI" and can make up their own mind.

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