app_updater 2.1.0

A comprehensive Flutter package to check for app updates and display platform-native dialogs. Supports iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Linux with release notes, analytics, GitHub releases, Firebase [...]

Changelog

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.

2.1.0

New Features

• Private GitHub Repository Support: Check for updates from private GitHub repositories
  • New githubToken parameter for simple token-based authentication — just pass your GitHub PAT
  • New githubHeaders parameter for custom HTTP headers (GitHub Enterprise, advanced auth)
  • githubToken sets the Authorization header automatically; githubHeaders can override it
  • Fully backward compatible — public repositories continue to work without any changes

Use Cases

• Internal / enterprise Flutter apps using private GitHub repositories
• Closed-source applications distributed outside Play Store / App Store
• GitHub Enterprise environments requiring custom headers

Example

// Simple — just pass your token
final appUpdater = AppUpdater.configure(
  githubOwner: 'mycompany',
  githubRepo: 'private-app',
  githubToken: 'ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxx',
);

// Advanced — full header control
final appUpdater = AppUpdater.configure(
  githubOwner: 'mycompany',
  githubRepo: 'private-app',
  githubHeaders: {
    'Authorization': 'token ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxx',
    'Accept': 'application/vnd.github+json',
  },
);

2.0.0

New Features

• Release Notes Display: Automatically fetch and display release notes/changelogs in update dialogs

  • Fetches from App Store (iOS/macOS), Flathub (Linux), GitHub Releases, and custom endpoints
  • New showReleaseNotes parameter in showUpdateDialog() (enabled by default)
  • Release notes are displayed in a scrollable container within the dialog

• Update Frequency Control: Prevent checking for updates too frequently

  • New checkFrequency parameter in AppUpdaterConfig (e.g., Duration(days: 1))
  • checkForUpdate(respectFrequency: false) to bypass frequency check
  • Automatically tracks last check time in preferences

• Background/Silent Checking: Check for updates without blocking the UI

  • New startBackgroundChecking(Duration interval) method for periodic checks
  • New stopBackgroundChecking() method to cancel background checks
  • New updateStream to listen for update notifications
  • New performBackgroundCheck() for single background check
  • New dispose() method to clean up resources

• Force Update by Minimum Version: Require users to update if below a version

  • New minimumVersion parameter in AppUpdaterConfig
  • Support for minimumVersion in custom JSON/XML endpoints
  • New requiresForceUpdate getter on UpdateInfo
  • Automatic isPersistent: true behavior when force update is required

• Update Urgency Levels: Communicate update importance to users

  • New UpdateUrgency enum: low, medium, high, critical
  • Dialog icon and color automatically change based on urgency
  • Support for urgency field in custom endpoints and Firebase Remote Config

• Analytics & Callbacks: Track user interactions with update dialogs

  • New onAnalyticsEvent callback in AppUpdaterConfig
  • New UpdateAnalyticsEvent class with toMap() for analytics services
  • Predefined event names: dialogShown, updateAccepted, updateDeclined, etc.
  • Track impressions and dismissals via UpdatePreferences

• GitHub Releases Support: Check for updates from GitHub releases

  • New githubOwner and githubRepo parameters in AppUpdaterConfig
  • New githubIncludePrereleases to include beta/prerelease versions
  • Automatically fetches version, release notes, and download URL
  • New GitHubRelease class for release metadata

• TestFlight Support (iOS): Support beta updates via TestFlight

  • New testFlightEnabled parameter in AppUpdaterConfig
  • New testFlightUrl for custom TestFlight URLs
  • New openTestFlight() method to open TestFlight
  • New getTestFlightUrl() method

• Firebase Remote Config Integration: Dynamic version control via Firebase

  • New firebaseRemoteConfigEnabled parameter
  • New FirebaseRemoteConfigSettings class for key configuration
  • New firebaseConfigFetcher callback to fetch values
  • Support for all update parameters (version, minimumVersion, urgency, etc.)

• Localization / i18n: Built-in support for translations

  • New UpdateStrings class with all dialog text
  • New strings parameter in AppUpdaterConfig
  • Message placeholders: {currentVersion}, {latestVersion}
  • Includes all button text, titles, and error messages

• Enhanced UpdateInfo: More metadata about updates

  • New releaseNotes property for changelog text
  • New urgency property for update priority
  • New minimumVersion property
  • New isMandatory property
  • New releaseDate property
  • New updateSizeBytes and formattedUpdateSize properties
  • New requiresForceUpdate computed property
  • New copyWith() method

Improvements

• Enhanced UpdatePreferences: New preference methods

  • getLastCheckTime() / setLastCheckTime() for frequency control
  • shouldCheckForUpdate(Duration) for frequency checking
  • getUpdateImpressions() / incrementUpdateImpressions() for analytics
  • getUpdateDismissals() / incrementUpdateDismissals() for analytics

• Better Custom Endpoint Support: Extended JSON/XML schema

  • Support for releaseNotes / release_notes / changelog fields
  • Support for minimumVersion / minimum_version fields
  • Support for urgency field (low, medium, high, critical)
  • Support for mandatory / force_update fields

• Improved Dialog UI: Visual enhancements

  • Urgency-based icon and color theming
  • Release notes section with scrollable content
  • Update size display when available
  • Better handling of long content

• Code Quality: Internal improvements

  • Comprehensive documentation comments on all public APIs
  • Better async/await handling with mounted checks
  • Proper resource cleanup with dispose() method

Breaking Changes

• None - all existing APIs remain backward compatible

1.1.2

• Maintenance release with dependency updates.

1.1.1

• Fixed an issue where the "Do Not Ask Again" preference was not being saved correctly on some platforms.
• Improved version comparison logic to handle edge cases with pre-release versions.
• Updated dependencies to their latest versions for better compatibility and security.

1.1.0

• Removed outdated migration section from README.
• Documentation cleanup.

1.0.9

• Fixed App Store & Play Store version scraping to handle recent changes in store layouts.
• Improved compatibility with latest Flutter stable release.
• Minor performance optimizations in version checking logic.

1.0.8

• Fixed a bug where the "Do Not Ask Again" preference was not being respected on some platforms.
• Improved error handling when fetching version info from custom endpoints.
• Updated documentation with examples for new features introduced in 1.0.7.

1.0.7

Breaking Changes

• Replaced checkAppUpdate() function with AppUpdater class for better architecture.
• New class-based API: Create an AppUpdater instance and call methods on it.
• Converted to pure Dart package (removed unnecessary native code).

New Features

• Full Desktop Support:

  • macOS App Store version checking and store opening.
  • Microsoft Store version checking and store opening.
  • Linux Snap Store version checking and store opening.
  • Linux Flathub version checking and store opening.

• Platform-Specific Dialog Styles:

  • UpdateDialogStyle.adaptive - Automatically selects the best style for the current platform.
  • UpdateDialogStyle.material - Material Design 3 style (Android).
  • UpdateDialogStyle.cupertino - Native iOS/macOS style with SF Symbols.
  • UpdateDialogStyle.fluent - Fluent Design style (Windows).
  • UpdateDialogStyle.adwaita - GNOME/Adwaita style (Linux).

• Persistent Dialogs:

  • isPersistent: true - Creates a non-dismissible dialog for critical/forced updates.
  • User cannot dismiss with back button or tap outside.

• "Do Not Ask Again" Feature:

  • showDoNotAskAgain: true - Shows option to never show update dialog again.
  • Uses SharedPreferences to remember user's choice.
  • UpdatePreferences.clearAll() - Reset all stored preferences.

• Skip Version Feature:

  • showSkipVersion: true - Shows option to skip the current version.
  • Won't show dialog again for the skipped version.
  • UpdatePreferences.clearSkippedVersion() - Clear skipped version.

• Custom Update Endpoints:

  • customXmlUrl - Fetch version info from custom XML endpoint.
  • customJsonUrl - Fetch version info from custom JSON endpoint.

• New AppUpdater Class:

  • AppUpdater.configure() - Factory constructor with individual parameters.
  • AppUpdater(config) - Constructor with AppUpdaterConfig object.
  • checkForUpdate() - Check for updates without showing dialog.
  • showUpdateDialog() - Show update dialog with custom options.
  • checkAndShowUpdateDialog() - Combined check and show dialog.
  • openStore() - Open the appropriate app store.
  • getStoreUrl() - Get the store URL for the current platform.

• New UpdatePreferences Class:

  • isVersionSkipped(version) - Check if a version is skipped.
  • skipVersion(version) - Skip a specific version.
  • isDoNotAskAgain() - Check "do not ask again" preference.
  • setDoNotAskAgain(value) - Set "do not ask again" preference.
  • clearAll() - Clear all update preferences.
  • clearSkippedVersion() - Clear only the skipped version.

• New AppUpdaterConfig Class:

  • Configuration object for AppUpdater with all platform IDs.
  • iosAppId - iOS App Store app ID.
  • macAppId - macOS App Store app ID.
  • androidPackageName - Android package name (auto-detected if not provided).
  • microsoftProductId - Microsoft Store product ID.
  • snapName - Snap Store package name.
  • flathubAppId - Flathub app ID.
  • linuxStoreType - Choose between LinuxStoreType.snap or LinuxStoreType.flathub.

• UpdateInfo Class: Returns detailed update information including currentVersion, latestVersion, updateUrl, and updateAvailable.

Improvements

• Improved dialog UI with icons and better styling for each platform.
• Better mounted checks to prevent BuildContext issues.
• Added toString() method to UpdateInfo for easier debugging.
• Proper semantic version comparison instead of simple string comparison.
• Platform-appropriate dialogs (Cupertino for iOS/macOS, Material for others).
• Cached PackageInfo for better performance.
• Better error handling with debug logging.
• Added pub.dev topics for better discoverability.

Dependencies

• Updated to latest dependency versions:
  • package_info_plus: ^9.0.0
  • flutter_lints: ^6.0.0
  • url_launcher: ^6.3.1
  • shared_preferences: ^2.3.4
• Updated minimum SDK requirement to Dart 3.5.0 and Flutter 3.22.0.

1.0.6

• Bug fixes & improvements.

1.0.5

• Dependencies update.

1.0.4

• isDismissible parameter added.
• noUpdateCallback parameter added.

1.0.3

• Documentation update.

1.0.2

• Documentation update.

1.0.1

• Documentation update.

1.0.0

• Initial release.
• Prebuilt adaptive dialogs.
• Customizable adaptive dialogs.