The first stable version of Flutter was released on 4th December 2018 – Flutter 1.0, at Flutter Live event. Release of Flutter 1.0 was life ushering in the new era in the field of cross-platform app development. Flutter has been giving a tough competition to React Native and more and more businesses are choosing Google’s Flutter over Facebook’s React Native because of the two main benefits: It takes lesser time to create a mobile app and it costs less too.

Well, these two qualities are good enough to attract businesses towards Flutter; so, if you are going to hire a Flutter developer, this is the correct time. However, in this blog, we are going to talk about how Flutter 1.7.8 is a treat for cross-platform mobile app developer community.

Flutter is created by Google, so you can imagine the pace with which Flutter has grown in past 7-8 months. And you can also imagine, how fast it is going to evolve further. Here are all the things that a developer needs to know about Flutter 1.7.8.

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  1. AndroidX Support for new apps

As a developer, all you need to do is, add “–android” flag to the Flutter app development project to get access to the AndroidX Support Library created by Jetpack Team. IT is an open-source support library which is stable and reduces the need for integration with Android framework. This allows the developers to create and update apps without hindering the backward compatibility feature. This is one of the reasons we might see more and more Android apps created using Flutter, in the future. This is a major news for any Flutter development company in the world. Read more about how to migrate a Flutter plug-in to Android X, on Flutter’s official website.

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  2. New APIs and Widgets

Flutter is out with a goal to become the prime cross-platform app development platform, that’s what the list of latest APIs and Widgets suggests. Flutter is constantly adding APIs and Widgets that enables the developers to envision innovation in their both iOS as well as Android apps. The new ‘RangeSlider’ Widget is one of the coolest additions. ‘RangeSlider’ is a control feature that enables the user to select a range of points between minimum and maximum ends. Also, ‘SnackBar’ Widget for Android and for iOS, the widget for Cupertino is updated with better CupertinoDateTimePicker and CupertinoPicker widgets.

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  3. Both 64-bit and 32-bit Support

From 1 August 2019 onwards, while publishing the app on Google Store, all the apps that targets ‘AndroidPie’ would need to submit a 64-bit version along with 32-bit version. And as a proactive measure, Flutter has allowed the developers to create both 64-bit and 32-bit Android app bundles, through this latest version. In a single submission, the developers can now fulfil the needs of APK files for 64-bit as well as 32-bit devices.

One of the leading Flutter app development company in India – Iconflux is pleased to announce the Flutter app development services with the latest version of Flutter. If you wish to browse through some of the themes for Flutter on the IConflux Flutter Thematics app. Download Now!

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  4. OpenType Typography Support

The Rich Typography support is way better now with the Flutter 1.7.8 version. Text is one of the most important part of the overall user experience and text rendering has got a major upgrade on Flutter. Now developers can use different set of numbers, custom ligatures, symbols and old-style letters through different style sets. Also, the text selection and editing on iOS, regardless it is Material or Coupertino Design, has been improved to a great extent. Now you can get multiple stylistic sets in one font, for both iOS and Android. It is slated to make the UX of Flutter apps, even better.

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  5. Resolution of Reported Issues

Of course, this is one the chief reason for any upgrade – to resolve the technical issues reported by the users. This version is providing 1114 merged PRs and 1398 user reported issues have been resolved in the latest Flutter 1.7.8. These issues pertain to severe crash, amination, scrolling, images, fundamental functions, tooling, typography and accessibility.

You can see the list of issue resolved in this version here.

Meanwhile, Flutter is already working on Flutter engine and framework to support turning on web and desktop targets. Also, the work on accessorial USB HID codes is on and soon you can expect the Game Controller support on Flutter, for Android. IConflux is one of the leading Flutter app development company in India which offers the best and cost-effective Flutter app development services, at a super-fast pace. You can download the Flutter Thematics app created by IConflux now and see if they are perfect for your next project, or not. Or you can contact us though our website or mail us on [email protected].