title: Choosing when and where to save data locally
body: <p>User data can be <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/q/41369633/65886">saved multiple ways</a> with Flutter. In my case, I'm saving a simple <code>List</code> of objects. The objects have just a handful of <code>String</code> attributes. I load the data and convert it to a <code>List</code> of objects (from a Json string) when the main <code>Scaffold()</code> object is created.</p>
  <p>First, when should data be saved? When the main <code>Scaffold()</code> object is being disposed? Every time the object list's state changes?</p>
  <p>Second, every tutorial says use shared_preferences when you're saving a small amount of data locally and something like a local file when you've got more data (I don't need a database). In deciding between these methods, how much is a &quot;small amount&quot; of data? Is a Json string that's a few hundred characters long still a small amount? A few thousand characters?</p>