device_screen_brightness

pub.dev License: MIT

A Flutter FFI plugin for reading and controlling screen brightness on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, and Linux.

All brightness values are normalised to an integer 0–100 regardless of each platform's native range.

Platform support

Platform getBrightness setBrightness increment / decrement streamBrightness Notes
Android ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ App-level & system-level modes (see below)
iOS ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ UIScreen.brightness
macOS ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ DisplayServices + DDC/CI via IOAVService (see below)
Linux ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ sysfs backlight (group video)
Windows ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ Physical Monitor API (dxva2)

Installation

dependencies:
  device_screen_brightness: ^0.3.0

Android — BrightnessMode

On Android, every brightness operation accepts an optional BrightnessMode parameter that controls what brightness is modified:

Mode Behaviour Permission
BrightnessMode.app Changes WindowManager.LayoutParams.screenBrightness on the current Activity. Only affects this app; resets when the Activity is destroyed. None
BrightnessMode.system (default) Writes Settings.System.SCREEN_BRIGHTNESS. Affects the entire device and persists after the app is closed. WRITE_SETTINGS

On iOS, macOS, Linux and Windows the mode parameter is ignored — the system brightness is always used.

System-level brightness — AndroidManifest.xml

If you plan to use BrightnessMode.system (the default), add the following permission to your android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml:

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS" />
    ...
</manifest>

WRITE_SETTINGS is a special permission — it is not granted automatically at install time. Before calling setBrightness with BrightnessMode.system, check and request the permission:

// Check whether the permission has already been granted
if (!DeviceScreenBrightness.hasPermission()) {
  // Opens the system settings screen where the user can grant the permission
  DeviceScreenBrightness.requestPermission();
}

App-level brightness — no permission needed

With BrightnessMode.app no permission is required. The brightness is applied only to the current Activity window and resets when the app is closed:

// Set app-level brightness (no permission needed)
DeviceScreenBrightness.setBrightness(75, mode: BrightnessMode.app);

// Read app-level brightness (falls back to system if not set)
int level = DeviceScreenBrightness.getBrightness(mode: BrightnessMode.app);

Usage

import 'package:device_screen_brightness/device_screen_brightness.dart';

// Read brightness (0–100)
int level = DeviceScreenBrightness.getBrightness();

// Set brightness (0–100)
DeviceScreenBrightness.setBrightness(75);

// Increment / decrement by one platform step (5)
DeviceScreenBrightness.incrementBrightness();
DeviceScreenBrightness.decrementBrightness();

// Stream — emits current value immediately, then on every change (250 ms polling)
DeviceScreenBrightness.streamBrightness().listen((value) {
  print('Brightness: $value');
});

BrightnessMode on Android

// App-level brightness (no permission needed, resets on Activity destroy)
DeviceScreenBrightness.setBrightness(80, mode: BrightnessMode.app);
int appLevel = DeviceScreenBrightness.getBrightness(mode: BrightnessMode.app);

// System-level brightness (requires WRITE_SETTINGS, persists)
DeviceScreenBrightness.setBrightness(80, mode: BrightnessMode.system);
int sysLevel = DeviceScreenBrightness.getBrightness(mode: BrightnessMode.system);

// Stream with a specific mode
DeviceScreenBrightness.streamBrightness(mode: BrightnessMode.app).listen((v) {
  print('App brightness: $v');
});

Permission helpers (Android only)

// Returns true on non-Android platforms
bool granted = DeviceScreenBrightness.hasPermission();

// Opens system settings to grant WRITE_SETTINGS; no-op on non-Android
DeviceScreenBrightness.requestPermission();

Compute variants

Every one-shot operation has a *Compute counterpart that runs on a background isolate:

int level = await DeviceScreenBrightness.getBrightnessCompute();
await DeviceScreenBrightness.setBrightnessCompute(80);
await DeviceScreenBrightness.incrementBrightnessCompute();
await DeviceScreenBrightness.decrementBrightnessCompute();

// Compute variants also accept mode:
await DeviceScreenBrightness.setBrightnessCompute(80, mode: BrightnessMode.app);

Error handling

All failures throw a subclass of DeviceScreenBrightnessException:

Exception When
UnsupportedOperationException Operation not supported on the current platform
InvalidBrightnessValueException Value outside 0–100
NativeBackendException Native OS / driver error
PermissionDeniedException Missing required permission (e.g. WRITE_SETTINGS)
BackendNotAvailableException No brightness backend found (headless, VM, etc.)
BrightnessObservationException Error while observing brightness changes

macOS — Platform support

macOS uses two backends selected automatically at runtime:

Backend 1 — DisplayServices (Apple native displays)

Device Supported
MacBook (built-in display) ✅
iMac (built-in display) ✅
Apple Studio Display ✅
Apple Pro Display XDR ✅

Backend 2 — DDC/CI via IOAVService (third-party external monitors)

Based on the open-source m1ddc project. Sends DDC/CI commands directly to the monitor hardware over the cable.

Connection Supported
USB-C / Thunderbolt / DisplayPort Alt-Mode (Apple Silicon) ✅
Built-in HDMI on M1 / entry-level M2 Macs ❌
Intel Macs (any external monitor) ❌
Displays behind USB hubs that block DDC ❌
Mac App Store (sandboxed) builds ❌

If no backend is available the call throws BackendNotAvailableException.

Linux — Requirements

The sysfs backlight interface (/sys/class/backlight) requires write permission. On most distributions the current user must belong to the video group:

sudo usermod -aG video $USER
# Log out and back in for the change to take effect

If the user lacks write permission, setBrightness throws PermissionDeniedException.

License

MIT

Libraries

device_screen_brightness
device_screen_brightness_bindings_generated