Google has rolled out a new stable release of Flutter, bringing extensive support for iOS 14 and Android 11. Flutter 1.22 focuses on ensuring that Android 11 and iOS 14 work great with Flutter. Updates for both of these OSes include a lot of under-the-hood work to conform to the latest SDKs.
For iOS 14, this release includes support for the new Xcode 12, new icons, and preview support for the new iOS 14 App Clips feature. For Android 11, the update supports the new types of display cut-outs as well as smoother animation when bringing up the soft keyboard.
In addition to the support for the new mobile OS versions, the update brings a preview of one of the top-requested features for Android: state restoration, a new “universe” of Material buttons, new international and localization support that works with hot reload, a new Navigator, a stable release for Platform Views (the foundation for the Google Maps and WebView plugins), and a switch you can throw in your code to improve scrolling on devices with high frequency displays.
There is also a new tool for dissecting app size and for ensuring that the plugins that you’re building support only the platforms that you want to support.
iOS 14
In the case of iOS 14, there have been quite a few changes to Flutter to ensure that it works the way developers want:
- Xcode 12 requires iOS 9.0 or up, so our default template increases its default from 8.0 to 9.0
- iOS 14 specific crashes and font rendering issues were fixed in Flutter 1.22
- Problems deploying to physical devices were fixed as of Flutter 1.20.4
- A new policy that shows uses notifications when apps access their clipboard caused spurious notifications in Flutter apps, and was fixed as of Flutter 1.20.4
- A restriction disables running debug apps on iOS 14 devices except as part of the debugging process
- A new policy around network security for locally debugged Flutter apps causes iOS 14 to show a one-time confirmation dialog (only during development, not for released Flutter apps)
Android 11
The Flutter framework and engine have been updated to support two new features introduced in the latest version of Android.
Firstly, Flutter now supports exposing the safe insets of Android notches, cutouts and edges of waterfall displays.
By using the MediaQuery and SafeArea APIs, you can ensure that you’re placing active UI and interactive elements in the non-obstructed regions of the device’s display. Also, you’ll want to avoid gesture detectors in the waterfall edge area that may be prone to accidental touches.
Secondly, the animation is synchronized with Android 11 as it displays the software keyboard.
Google has also bundled into Flutter 1.22 a host or “universe” of new Material buttons and a stable release for Platform Views to address concerns that the buttons were difficult to use.
Finally, the Flutter team has announced its Google Maps and WebView plugins are ready for production. The plugins provide Google Maps and WebView widgets for Flutter apps.
The full changelog in Flutter 1.2.2 can be viewed here.
