If your business is the size of Wendy’s, with thousands of physical locations and millions of digital users, your mobile experience isn't just another product—it's the front door of your business. Brian Abston, Senior Director of Digital Technology at The Wendy’s Company, knows this well. With over two decades in software development and platform architecture, Brian helped lead a major shift at Wendy’s: replacing their fragmented mobile infrastructure with a powerful, unified Flutter app.
In our recent Build to Succeed podcast episode, he shared a behind-the-scenes look at Wendy's mobile transformation. Here we dive into the journey, lessons, and lasting impact of one of the most ambitious mobile replatforming efforts in the QSR space--and why Flutter became the tool of choice.
The Hidden Cost of Maintaining Two Native Apps
Before the transformation, Wendy’s maintained two separate native codebases for iOS and Android. Over time, those codebases were passed between different development partners, leading to inconsistencies, technical debt, and declining team confidence. The apps lacked automated testing, were difficult to scale, and required double the effort to deliver every new feature.
And the limitations weren’t just technical. Teams were split across platforms, QA was duplicative, and product releases were increasingly difficult to synchronize. It wasn’t just slowing down engineering, it was hurting business momentum.
The Solution: Betting on Flutter
Faced with the option to either refactor the legacy apps or start fresh, Brian took a calculated risk. He initiated a six-month proof of concept using Flutter, bringing on two Flutter developers to build a working prototype alongside the existing native teams.
The impact was undeniable: what had taken weeks in native was achieved in days. Developer onboarding was faster. Components were reusable. Most importantly, the business saw real progress.
“Building a functioning app is easy. Getting it production ready is hard. Scaling it for 40 million users is another thing entirely,” Brian reflected.
Flutter enabled Wendy’s to combine their mobile teams into one unified group, streamline QA, and drastically improve design consistency through a shared design system.
Why Flutter Made It Work
Flutter brought several key advantages to Wendy’s mobile journey:
- One Unified Codebase: Write once, run anywhere for both iOS and Android.
- High-Velocity Turnaround: Faster feature development cycles and shorter time to market.
- Robust Tooling: Hot reload, easy testing, and high test coverage out of the box.
- Strong Partner Ecosystem: Rapidly growing support for integrations and third-party SDKs.
- Improved Developer Experience: Easier onboarding, modern language (Dart), and consistent patterns.
Managing Risk with Feature Flags and Automation
Mobile apps at this scale can’t afford downtime or failed releases. Brian's team implemented automated pipelines, feature flagging, and staggered rollouts. This approach enabled faster experimentation while minimizing risk. If an issue appeared in production, they could isolate it without affecting all users.
The team also leaned heavily into testing, reaching nearly 100% test coverage, and built a new design system that ensured UI consistency and faster iteration.
Discover how we achieve full code coverage at VGV, and why 100% matters.
Business Outcomes: From Recovery to Acceleration
The impact went beyond engineering. Business stakeholders who had grown skeptical of the app’s reliability saw a clear turnaround. Wendy’s could now deliver promotions, loyalty features, and seasonal campaigns with confidence.
The team’s delivery cadence shifted from one release a month to multiple per sprint. They weathered critical integration deadlines, successfully rebranded with minimal effort, and built a platform that could scale well beyond its original intent.
“We think of all our 6,000 stores as data centers we have to be able to communicate with. There’s some uniqueness to that; it requires a lot of custom development,” Brian explained.
What Tech Leaders Should Know Before Rebuilding An App
Brian offers simple, seasoned advice for other digital leaders:
- Start small: A proof of concept can build the case for change.
- Build trust: Results, not promises, are the best persuasion.
- Find a champion: Having leadership support is critical.
- Focus on fundamentals: Clean architecture, automated testing, and developer experience matter.
A Model for Modern Mobile Success
Wendy’s Flutter journey isn’t just a tech story—it’s a blueprint for digital transformation at scale. It shows what’s possible when a team commits to modern tools, smarter workflows, and a shared vision. From engineering efficiency to business agility, the impact is clear: one codebase, countless wins.
Start your Flutter journey with confidence. Get in touch with our team today!
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