Google Announces Flutter 3.0

At its Google I/O conference today, Google announced the availability of Flutter 3.0, the latest version of its cross-platform UI framework. This is the big one, in that Flutter can now be used to build production quality apps across Android, iOS, Web (desktop), Linux, Windows desktop, and macOS.

“We’re delighted to announce the launch of Flutter 3 as part of the Google I/O keynote,” Google’s Tim Sneath announced. “Flutter 3 completes our roadmap from a mobile-centric to a multiplatform framework, with the availability of macOS and Linux desktop app support, along with improvements to Firebase integration, new productivity and performance features, and support for Apple Silicon.”

Here’s a quick peek at the most important updates:

macOS and Linux support. Google moved past mobile by adding web (desktop) and Windows support to Flutter, and now it can create Mac and Linux apps too. On macOS, Flutter supports both Intel and Apple Silicon natively. And the Linux support came via collaboration with Ubuntu maker Canonical, which is now using Flutter for key new shell experiences, apps, the installer, and firmware updates.

Firebase support. Flutter now offers first-class integration with Firebase, Google’s comprehensive suite of build, release, and operation tools.

Improved fundamentals. Flutter 3.0 offers improved performance, better Material You support, and new Dart language features.

Casual Games Toolkit. To make it easier for casual game developers to use Flutter and its hardware-accelerated graphics support to make games, Google is now offering a Casual Games Toolkit, which provides a starter kit of templates and best practices along with credits for ads and cloud services. To show what’s possible, it created a web-based pinball game using Flutter and Firebase.