widget_kit

A small library for interfacing with the very limited parts of WidgetKit that are accessible through platform channels. API based on flutter_widgetkit. iOS and macOS only.

Introduction

The only parts of WidgetKit that can be accessed through Flutter are the following methods:

This means that this library is not for creating widget user interfaces. This library facilitates some interaction with WidgetKit timelines and basic means for passing arbitrary data to the underlying platform via UserDefaults and app groups. Retrieving that data and applying it to a Widget UI has to be done on the platform level; this is not possible through Flutter.

UserDefaults is used as data can be shared across the iOS app and the widget extension with the use of app groups. This way, data can be set from the main application (Dart) and retrieved in the widget extension (Swift). Again, presentation logic has to be written using Swift/SwiftUI.

Usage

UserDefaults

import 'package:widget_kit_plugin/widget_kit_plugin.dart';

void foo() {
  // Save some data to user preferences.
  await UserDefaults.setString('key', 'value', 'group.tv.gameflow');

  // Check if key is present.
  await UserDefaults.contains('key'); // true

  // Retrieve (typed) value.
  await UserDefaults.getString('key'); // 'value'

  // Remove pair.
  await UserDefaults.remove('key'); // true
}

WidgetKit

import 'package:widget_kit_plugin/widget_kit_plugin.dart';

void bar() {
  // Reload all timelines
  await WidgetKit.reloadAllTimelines();

  // Reload specific timeline
  await WidgetKit.reloadTimelines('foo');
}

Creating a Widget Extension

TODO(arnemolland): document widget extension process

While this section is lacking written docs, check out the example app for a reference implementation.