in_app_update_flutter

A Flutter plugin for in-app updates on both iOS and Android.

On iOS, it presents the App Store product page using SKStoreProductViewController (StoreKit), keeping users inside the app during the update flow. On Android, it integrates with Google Play's In-App Updates API to support both immediate (blocking) and flexible (background) update flows.

Features

  • iOS: Show the App Store update prompt using SKStoreProductViewController without navigating users away from the app
  • iOS: Native Swift implementation with zero AppDelegate configuration required
  • iOS: Supports both Swift Package Manager (SPM) and CocoaPods
  • Android: Check update availability and metadata via the Play Core API
  • Android: Immediate update flow — full-screen, blocking prompt the user must accept
  • Android: Flexible update flow — background download while the user continues using the app
  • Android: Install state stream for monitoring flexible update download progress
  • Works on Flutter with a simple, unified API

Installation

Add the package to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  in_app_update_flutter: ^2.0.0

Then run:

flutter pub get

iOS Usage

Pass your numeric App Store ID to showUpdateForIos. The ID can be found in your App Store Connect URL or the app's public App Store link.

import 'package:in_app_update_flutter/in_app_update_flutter.dart';

await InAppUpdateFlutter().showUpdateForIos(appStoreId: '1234567890');

How to find your App Store ID:

  1. Open your app's App Store URL — for example: https://apps.apple.com/app/id1234567890
  2. The numeric portion after id is your App Store ID.

iOS notes:

  • Requires iOS 12.0 or later
  • Does not work on simulators
  • Not supported in TestFlight builds — test on a real device using a development or App Store build

Android Usage

Android uses Google Play's In-App Updates API. The typical flow is:

  1. Call checkUpdateAndroid() to retrieve update availability and metadata.
  2. Based on the result, start either an immediate or flexible update.

Immediate Update

An immediate update presents a full-screen prompt that the user must complete before continuing. Use this for critical updates.

import 'package:in_app_update_flutter/in_app_update_flutter.dart';

final plugin = InAppUpdateFlutter();

final info = await plugin.checkUpdateAndroid();

if (info.updateAvailability == UpdateAvailabilityAndroid.updateAvailable &&
    info.isImmediateUpdateAllowed) {
  final result = await plugin.startImmediateUpdateAndroid();
  // result is UpdateResultAndroid.success or UpdateResultAndroid.userCanceled
}

Flexible Update

A flexible update downloads in the background while the user continues using the app. When the download completes, call completeUpdateAndroid() to apply the update.

import 'package:in_app_update_flutter/in_app_update_flutter.dart';

final plugin = InAppUpdateFlutter();

final info = await plugin.checkUpdateAndroid();

if (info.updateAvailability == UpdateAvailabilityAndroid.updateAvailable &&
    info.isFlexibleUpdateAllowed) {
  await plugin.startFlexibleUpdateAndroid();

  plugin.installStateStreamAndroid.listen((state) {
    if (state.installStatus == InstallStatusAndroid.downloaded) {
      plugin.completeUpdateAndroid();
    }
  });
}

AppUpdateInfoAndroid fields

Field Type Description
updateAvailability UpdateAvailabilityAndroid Whether an update is available
availableVersionCode int? Version code of the available update
updatePriority int Developer-assigned priority (0–5)
clientVersionStalenessDays int? Days since the update became available
isImmediateUpdateAllowed bool Whether immediate update is allowed
isFlexibleUpdateAllowed bool Whether flexible update is allowed
installStatus InstallStatusAndroid Current install status

Example

A complete working example is available in the example/ directory.

cd example
flutter run

License

MIT License

Contributing

Pull requests and feedback are welcome. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

Libraries

in_app_update_flutter