Flutter 1.12 Welcomes Web Support in Beta Version

Flutter 1.12 Welcomes Web Support in Beta Version

Finally, the web support for Flutter is now in the Beta version. It is much to the relief of developers as it gives them the much-needed freedom to explore their options when it comes to developing Flutter apps that can function on both mobile and web. Thanks to this new update, developers can design and build apps as per their wish. On the other hand, this update also means that it has become essential for developers to learn the singular skill sets of effortlessly functioning across multiple platforms.

Thanks to this update, developers will be able to use the same code, ship features at a fair clip, and ensure consistency in delivering experiences across devices. The portability aspect has also been taken into consideration by ensuring that there is a strong Dart compiler for the web and a Flutter architecture. This makes it easier for the developers to provide scintillating interactive web experiences with the aid of Flutter.

More Than a Simple Preview

At an event organized in the year 2019, i.e.; Google I/O tech preview, Flutter came up with web support, and since then there has been a lot of hard work put in to ensure that there is extended web support in Flutter at both Google and the general public at large.

The Web Support in Beta Version Opens New Doors of Success

Thanks to the release of Flutter 1.12, the web support at Flutter graduated from technical preview to beta. Due to the beta version and the extended web support, it is possible for the new Flutter project to perform well on Android and iOS host apps. Now, it is even possible to add a web/directory including everything that is needed to compile and run the same project code in a browser.

As time goes by, the web support in Flutter 1.12 will stabilize. This will make developers experiment a bit and try new things.

Different Things to Keep in Mind

There are quite a few scenarios that need to be well-thought-out to get the most of the Flutter web app development. With the help of these things, the developers will be able to create rich, interactive web experiences. Here are certain things that you need to keep in mind:

With the help of Flutter, developers can create a solitary app applying the same code for both mobile and web browser experience.

Now, it is possible to embed a rich, data-centric, mini-app within a parent site. And the amazing part is, there is no requirement for navigation services or other app-like functionality.

There is no doubt that the custom mobile runtime of Flutter can come in handy to provide a fantastic user experience. However, there are times when the friction during the app installation process can impede users from getting started. If you can create a Flutter app that consists of lightweight web experience, it can give organizations the best of both worlds. Even though the primary target of the app would be on mobile, a lite web app is a perfect foil when it comes to providing a less feature-rich experience and the related functionality with the help of the same tools, UI components, frameworks, and business logic.

These types of apps are built using Flutter to provide support to the primary mobile app. A prime example of this, if you create a web app using Flutter that allows admin or internal users to manage backend or create content for your existing Flutter app. You can consider this app to provide a distinct experience; however, it leverages the same code from the mobile app.

Let’s now divert our attention to the plugins used in Flutter 1.12.

Flutter utilizes plugins that enable you to speak to native libraries for the platform where you are running on. While running your Flutter app on the web, it is possible to get complete access to prevailing JS libraries. It is possible to create your own plugins. Here are some of the plugins that have been updated:

You can also check out the new platform tagging and filtering features on the pub.dev package repository.

The very first thing that you need to do is to go to the package detail page and provide the information about the platforms supported by the package. This way, it is easy to decipher if a package consists of web support.

( pub.dev package detail page showing SDK and platform compatibility tags)

There are also certain filters present on the search UI, which help you to locate packages that provide web support. This new feature is based on a new platform manifest tags available in Flutter 1.12.

Road to Stability

There are quite a few things that need a lot of progress with beta. Here are some of the things that are continually being worked on to provide an excellent development experience using this breakthrough technology:

Accessibility support has been added to the mobile browsers using the Flutter technology on Android and VoiceOver on iOS. Certain features have already been executed for assertive technologies across platforms. These things include UI traversal & traversal order, UI interaction, including labels, editable, incremental, image, live region, and checkable. In the coming times, Flutter will enable integrating screen reader support for desktop web browsers.

With the evolution of Flutter from mobile-only framework to covering desktop UX idioms, there will be a massive improvement in the Flutter’s support for desktop web browsers. It will ensure a seamless experience for the users. You can also expect support on different browsers like Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari on desktop & mobile browsers.

Final Thoughts

Flutter has gained in prominence as the years have rolled by. The reason being, it requires minimal investment, fewer efforts and is less time-consuming. In the coming time, it will raise a new benchmark for cross-platform development. Hence, this is your chance to try this amazing technology from a reputed Flutter app development company . Act now and reap fantastic rewards shortly!

Originally published at https://myappgurus.com on February 6, 2020.