Flutter 3 is the final step in moving from a mobile to a multi-platform framework that supports macOS and Linux desktop apps, Firebase integration, productivity features, and can also be combined with Apple Silicon. We'll find out what's interesting in the new version under the cut.

Path to Flutter 3

Flutter is designed to revolutionize the app development process by combining an iterative web development model with hardware-accelerated graphics rendering and pixel control previously only used in the gaming industry. In the 4 years since the start of Flutter 1.0 beta testing, new framework features and widgets have been added to this foundation, an extensive package library, as well as work on deeper integration with the underlying platforms and improved performance of many tools.

As Flutter has improved, more and more users have begun to create applications based on this product. To date, the number is 500,000. According to public user feedback and data from research companies such as data.ai, Flutter is used in many development segments: from social networks and instant messengers (WeChat), to financial and banking applications (Betterment and Nubank ); from marketplaces like SHEIN and trip.com to lifestyle apps like Fastic and Tabcorp; from companion applications to government applications such as the Brazilian government.

According to the developers, Flutter helps you build beautiful apps faster for more platforms. In one of the user studies:

• 91% of developers confirmed that Flutter reduces the time it takes to create and publish an application;

• 85% of developers using Flutter were able to create more beautiful applications;

• 85% made their app compatible with more platforms than before.

In a blog post, Sonos highlighted the second benefit:

“It would not be an exaggeration to say that with Flutter we have reached a level that we did not even dream of before. The ease with which new user interfaces can be created is important to our designers so that our team can devote more time to finalizing the technical component of the product. If that's important to you as well, we recommend giving Flutter a try."

Flutter 3

With Flutter 3, it's possible to build apps for six platforms on a single codebase, developers get unparalleled performance, and startups can instantly implement new ideas and bring them to market.

In previous releases, web and Windows support was added to support for iOS and Android, and now Flutter 3 also supports app development for macOS and Linux. Just pixel rendering is not enough to provide platform support: new input and interaction models, compilation and build support, accessibility and internationalization, and platform-specific integration are needed. The goal is to provide the flexibility to take full advantage of the underlying operating system while adapting the user interface and logic to the extent that the user needs.

Development for macOS focuses on support for Intel and Apple Silicon, as well as Universal Binary, which allows applications to package executables that run natively on both architectures. And Linux, Canonical and Google have developed a highly integrated development environment together.

The Superlist app is an example of how you can create great desktop apps with Flutter. Superlist is designed for effective collaboration: creating lists and setting tasks that allow you to take a fresh look at personal planning. The application team chose Flutter for its ability to create modern and memorable applications; their progress is proof that Flutter was a good choice.

Flutter 3 also improves some basic elements, improves performance, and adds support for Material You.

In addition to the changes mentioned above, this version of Flutter is fully compatible with Apple silicon devices. Flutter has been compatible with M1-based Apple devices since its release, and Flutter now takes full advantage of Apple Silicon's Dart support, allowing much faster compilation on M1-based devices and universal binaries support for macOS apps.

With this release, work on Material Design 3 has been completed and developers can now take advantage of an adaptable, cross-platform design system that offers dynamic color schemes and updated visual components.

Flutter runs on Dart, a high-performance, portable language for multi-platform development. This work cycle includes new Dart language features that reduce boilerplate and make it easier to read, experimental support for RISC-V, an updated code quality control tool (linter), and new documentation. All the details of Dart updates can be found in the dedicated blog.

firebase and flutter

Of course, creating an application is not limited to creating a user interface framework. Developers need a comprehensive set of tools to help them build, release, and manage applications for authentication, data storage, cloud functionality, and testing. Flutter is supported by a large number of services: Sentry, AppWrite, AWS Amplify and many others.

Comparative research among developers conducted by SlashData shows that 62% of Flutter developers use the Firebase system in their applications. Version 3 took this into account and updated the Firebase plugins for Flutter to version 1.0, which includes the addition of improved documentation and tools, as well as new widgets such as the FlutterFire UI, which provide developers with a reusable user interface for authentication screens and profiles.

Now we can say that the Flutter/Firebase integration is complete. This means that the source code and documentation are hosted in the main repository and on the Firebase site, Firebase support for Flutter will continue in parallel with Android and iOS.

In addition, it is worth noting that in the new version, support for Flutter applications has been significantly improved with the help of Crashlytics, a popular real-time crash reporting service. With the Crashlytics Plugin for Flutter, you can track critical bugs in real time using the same set of features available to other iOS and Android developers. Access to important alerts and metrics will help keep your application as stable as possible. The updated Crashlytics analysis pipeline helped improve Flutter's crash clustering, as well as speed up the process of sorting, prioritizing, and troubleshooting. Finally, the plugin installation process has been simplified so that it only takes a couple of steps to get Crashlytics up and running, directly from your Dart code.

Flutter Casual Game Creation Kit 

For most developers, Flutter is a framework for building apps. But there is also a growing community of casual game developers who, along with open source game engines, need the hardware-accelerated graphics support provided by Flutter. To make it easier for developers to get started, a casual game creation toolkit has been created that includes a starter set of templates and recommendations, as well as credits for advertising and cloud services.

Although Flutter is not designed to create complex 3D games, some game creators use it to develop non-game user interfaces, such as PUBG Mobile, which has hundreds of millions of users.