What Actually Improved
List performance is the most noticeable real-world gain. FlashList on the New Architecture handles 10,000-item lists without the stuttering that plagued mid-range Android devices on the legacy bridge architecture.
Cold start on mid-range Android dropped from approximately 2.1 seconds to 1.4 seconds across our benchmark applications. Native module calls that previously required complex workarounds now work cleanly through TurboModules.
What Did Not Change
JavaScript is still JavaScript. Heavy synchronous computation on the main thread still causes UI jank. The New Architecture makes the bridge fast — it does not eliminate the need to move expensive operations off the main thread. We have seen several developers assume the New Architecture fixed performance problems that were actually application architecture problems.
When We Still Choose Flutter
Custom shader animations, complex canvas drawing operations, and applications targeting desktop alongside mobile remain Flutter’s domain. The single rendering engine guarantee is genuinely valuable when your UI cannot use any native platform components.