Google has recently released Flutter 1.20. The latest version of the open-source UI software development kit features a flurry of improvements and new capabilities. Flutter continuously updates the platform to make it faster, better designed, and more productive. The updates are available to every platform Flutter supports. Whether you use Flutter at your Android app development company or for freelancing, these updates will make your projects better.
To make the development framework faster, Flutter has introduced multiple performance improvements. The updates cover everything from the lowest levels of the rendering to the Dart language in which Flutter is written. Besides, Flutter has made UI enhancement to make Flutter apps more beautiful. This is a significant update for Flutter app development and related areas. The UI enhancements include support for autofill, new mouse cursor support, a new responsive license page.
Flutter 1.20 also ensures that developers get even more productive. The new version has updated the Flutter extension for Visual Studio Code. It brings Dart DevTools into your IDE. Using these capabilities, you can automatically update your import statements as you move your files around a new set of metadata.
Flutter’s Growth in India & elsewhere in the world
Flutter is increasingly becoming popular among Android app developers and UI designers worldwide. The popularity of Flutter apps, too, is rapidly surging. As of this new release in August 2020, there are over 90,000 Flutter apps in the Google Play store. Flutter is reporting striking growth in the Indian app development market. India is now the No. 1 region for Flutter developers.
Performance Improvements in Flutter 1.20
With every update, Flutter tries to decrease the size and latency of apps. This helps app developers to significantly improve performance and user experience. Here are some key performance improvements introduced in Flutter 1.20.
• To decrease the size of apps, this release fixes a tooling performance issue with icon font tree shaking. It makes font tree shaking the default behavior for non-web apps.
• Icon font tree shaking removes the icons that you’re not using in the app. Thus, it reduces the size of your app.
• Flutter 1.20 also reduces jank in the initial display of your animation using a warm-up phase.
• The new version also refines mouse support as part of desktop form-factors optimization. Flutter has refactored the mouse hit testing system to provide architectural advantages.
• Flutter has also added support for mouse cursors along with this enhanced mouse hit testing.
• The new release of Flutter is built on Dart 2.9. This version of the Dart programming language offers a state-based and a two-pass UTF-8 decoder.
• The decoder features decoding primitives optimized in the Dart VM, taking advantage of SIMD instructions.
Autofill for Flutter App Development
Flutter received a flurry of requests to support the underlying Android and iOS support for text autofill. The new release features autofill. You don’t have to request users to re-enter data that the operating system has already collected.
A Widget for Common Interactions
Flutter 1.20 features a new widget, called the InteractiveViewer. The widget is designed to build common interactivities into your Flutter app. These could include pan, zoom, and drag-and-drop. If you want to use this feature in your Flutter app development project, the new version also adds more drag-and-drop capabilities. If you want to know where the drop happened on the target widget, the DragTarget on AcceptDetails method provides the info.
A New Responsive License Page
The latest version of Flutter also provides you with a new responsive license from the AboutDialog. With this update, you can not just match the material guidelines, but you can also easily navigate on all devices. This would enhance Flutter apps since every app should be showing the licenses for the packages they’re using.
Improved Material Slide, RangeSlider, TimePicker & DatePicker
Flutter 1.20 also includes a host of updated widgets to match the latest Material guidelines. These widgets include Slider and RangeSlider. Flutter has updated the DatePicker to include a new compact design and support for date ranges. Besides, the design of the TimePicker has been revamped.
Wrapping Up
In addition to all the above-discussed features and capabilities, Flutter has added a of host other updates. They range from network tracking to import statements to tooling updates. All these new capabilities will dramatically improve your development experience with Flutter.
The latest version also makes the user experience better for Flutter apps. For instance, size reduction and design improvements are likely to impress app users. Flutter has also announced that the platform will soon launch updates like null safety, and new versions of Ads and Maps, among other things. At Android Developer India, we use the latest capabilities of Flutter to build fast and flawless apps for our clients. You can hire Android app developers from us to build custom Flutter apps. Follow our blogs to stay informed about all things app development.
FAQs
Q. What is Flutter for mobile app development?
Flutter is an open-source software development kit created by Google. Flutter is used to develop apps for operating systems including Android, iOS, and Mac. Flutter is user friendly and easy-to-learn.
Q. Is Flutter good for iOS app development?
Flutter offers an array of advantages for mobile app developers and business owners. With Flutter, you can build a beautiful, high-performance iOS app that meets your requirements.
Q. How much does it cost to build a Flutter app?
The costs of developing a Flutter app depend on several factors. Design complexity, development time, type of features, etc. play an important role in calculating the costs. Android Developer delivers flawless Flutter apps at a competitive price.
Q. How long does it take to develop a Flutter app?
There’s no predefined time for developing a Flutter app. It varies widely depending on the features of the app and its design. The best way to know an estimated time is to consult development experts. We flawless Flutter apps in the shortest development time possible.
