Nobody is dreaming. Indeed, Google announced Flutter 3.0 with a number of new features and improvements. Or we can say, Google has given a treat to Flutter developers with stable support for macOS and Linux together with support for apple silicon and remarkable refinements for web and mobile.
What started as an open-source, cross-platform UI development framework has become a programmer-friendly toolkit to build beyond iOS and Android apps. Flutter releases have been a roller coaster ride for developers. And the version is all set and equipped with exciting supports to enhance productivity.
Well, that is not all. Flutter 3 feature list has more in store. Before exploring what’s new in Flutter 3.0, a quick reflection on Flutter’s journey is a must.
Throwback to Flutter’s Journey
Flutter is Google’s SDK and UI framework for building high-quality native interfaces for six different platforms using one single codebase. It all started back in 2018 when Google released Flutter 1.0. Ever since Flutter has been immunised with new functionalities with every release; some significant releases of Flutter include:
Dec 2019 Flutter 1.12
May 2020 Flutter 1.17
Aug 2020 Flutter 1.20
Mar 2021 Flutter 2.0
May 2021 Flutter 2.2
Sep 2021 Flutter 2.5
Dec 2021 Flutter 2.8
Feb 2022 Flutter 2.10
Using the amazing cross-platform SDK since its dawn, we take pride in being a leading Flutter app development company. And now, many of the world’s most popular apps and fastest-growing startups are leveraging Flutter.
Among Alibaba and Google itself, SHEIN, BMW, WeChat, ByteDance, and apps from diverse industries have tied their growth with Flutter. Hence, it won’t surprise you much that Flutter published apps have crossed 500,000 counts, doubling in a year.
After a nostalgic overview of Flutter, let us now move to the present and the latest version of Flutter 3.0 and what new it brings.
Flutter 3.0 with stable desktop support
Within three months of Windows stable support for Flutter, it has supplemented developers with another most awaited ability to build production-ready desktop apps. On that note, Tim Sneath cited:
“Adding platform support requires more than rendering pixels: it includes new input and interaction models, compilation and builds support, accessibility and internationalization, and platform-specific integration. Our goal is to give you the flexibility to take full advantage of the underlying operating system while sharing as much UI and logic as you choose.”
To ensure Flutter renders a native-like experience on macOS as well, they have also invested in supporting Intel and Apple Silicon with Universal Binary. Moreover, to offer highly-integrated, best-of-breed development options in Linux, Canonical and Google have collaborated. There are more features attached to this stable desktop support, such as;
- Platform menu bar widget to create platform-rendered menu bars on macOS;
- Support for accessibility services (such as inverted colors and screen readers) on macOS, Linux, and Windows;
- Completed support for international text input across all desktop platforms;
There is also a productivity app for Mac, Superlist, that says all about how Flutter enables building beautiful experiences on the desktop. The app is currently in beta as of this update.
What does Flutter 3 update store for mobile?
The new version of Flutter has brought several exciting updates for mobile app developers, too. For example, you get the support for foldable mobile devices spearheaded by Microsoft with this release. Now Flutter developers can create dynamic and compelling experiences on foldable devices using new widgets and features.
Moreover, for a smoother experience during fast animations (such as scrolling), Flutter 3.0 brings new support for a variable refresh on iOS, reaching 120 Hz from 60 Hz. They have also kept their words shared during the Flutter 2.10 release to end the support for 32-bit iOS devices with iOS 9 and 10.
Flutter updates for Web app development
There are a couple of updates in Flutter for the web as well that include a new API to detect and decode images automatically. The API uses the browser’s built-in image codecs, speeding up image decoding 2X and off the main thread asynchronously.
Flutter 3.0 also presents a new web app lifecycle API. The API offers you the flexibility to take the command of controlling your app’s bootstrapping process from the hosting HTML page.
Flutter Firebase support
It takes a suite of tools to build, release, operate, and maintain apps with diverse functionalities, including authentication, cloud function, data storage, testing, etc. Therefore, Flutter supports a range of services Sentry, AppWrite, and AWS Amplify.
However, as per Slashdata’s developer benchmarking studies, 62% of Flutter developers use Firebase, which is also Google’s product. Hence, to make it a first-class integration, the team announced full support for Firebase plugins for Flutter. So, now you can find source code and documentation from the main Firebase repo and site.
There is also an improvement update to support Firebase’s lightweight and famous real-time crash reporter, the Flutter Crashlytics plugin. It allows you to track, prioritize, and fix stability issues that erode your app quality, saving time from troubleshooting.
Casual Game toolkit in Flutter 3.0
In addition to mobile, web, and desktop, Flutter is now touching a new ground: game development. Furthermore, the all-new open-source Flutter Casual Games Toolkit includes tutorials, best practices, source code, and even a sample Flutter-themed pinball game. In other words, the kit has pretty much everything that game developers will require to get started with Flutter.
Other exciting updates worth your attention
- Flutter 3.0 is all caught up with the Google in-house design language, Material Design 3, allowing Flutter developers to leverage this adaptable, cross-platform design system that comprises features such as dynamic and updated color system, typography, and new visual effects, and more.
- Now you don’t have to extend ThemeData and re-implementing its copyWith, lerp, as Flutter 3.0 also allows you to add whatever you want to the material library’s theme data using ThemeData.extensions.
- Google is also making requesting consent for personalized ads and handling Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) requirements easy for publishers by replacing Consent SDK with User Messaging Platform (UMP) SDK.
Time To Take A Step Closer To Flutter!
Flutter 3.0 release is yet another mark of Google’s success, attracting more businesses to join its club. And that’s the reason the Flutter community is also growing rapidly with the number of Flutter apps.
You cannot find better technology than Flutter if you want to cater to a worldwide audience across multiple platforms with a sublime experience. Though you have to ensure you hire professional Flutter developers to carry out the job.