flutter_in_app_updater 1.0.0

A unified Flutter plugin to handle native in-app updates (Google Play & App StoreKit) and custom server-driven API checks with forced/soft updates and custom UI support.

flutter_in_app_updater

A unified, lightweight, and highly flexible Flutter plugin for handling app update checks. Supports native store update flows (Google Play In-App Updates for Android and StoreKit for iOS) alongside fully dynamic custom server-driven API checks with forced/soft updates, custom UI support, and debug bypass.

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Features

• 📱 Native Store Support: Integrates directly with Google Play Core (Android) and StoreKit (iOS).
• ⚡ Custom API Check: Compare installed versions against your own server endpoint.
• 🔒 Server-Driven Forced Updates: Lock app usage with forced_update flags directly controlled by your backend.
• 📝 Release Notes / Changelog: Optional dynamic release notes support in update dialogs.
• 🎨 Flexible UI Options: Use built-in default dialogs or pass custom UI callbacks (onUpdateRequired).
• 🛠️ Debug Mode Bypass: Avoid nuisance popups during development with automatic debug detection (bypassInDebug).
• 🛑 Error Handling: Built-in onError catchers for network failures or parsing issues.

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Installation

Add flutter_in_app_updater to your pubspec.yaml file:

dependencies:
  flutter_in_app_updater: ^1.0.0

Then run:

flutter pub get

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Usage

1. Custom Server-Driven API Check

This approach lets your backend or firebase remote config decide when updates are required and whether they are forced or optional.

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:flutter_in_app_updater/flutter_in_app_updater.dart';

void checkForUpdates(BuildContext context) {
  FlutterInAppUpdater.updateViaCustomApi(
    context: context,
    // Provide a callback fetching a JSON payload from your backend
    fetchConfigFromApi: () async {
      // Example API response structure:
      return {
        'min_required_version': '1.2.0',
        'forced_update': true, // Directly controls dismissibility
        'update_url_android': 'https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yourcompany.app',
        'update_url_ios': 'https://apps.apple.com/app/id123456789',
        'release_notes': '• Performance enhancements\n• Bug fixes and stability improvements',
      };
    },
    // Set to false during local development if you want to test dialogs in debug mode
    bypassInDebug: false,
    onError: (error) {
      debugPrint("Update check failed: $error");
    },
  );
}

Custom UI Callback Example

If you want to render your own custom dialog instead of the built-in fallback:

FlutterInAppUpdater.updateViaCustomApi(
  context: context,
  fetchConfigFromApi: () async => fetchAppConfig(),
  onUpdateRequired: (storeUrl, isForced, releaseNotes) {
    showDialog(
      context: context,
      barrierDismissible: !isForced,
      builder: (context) => PopScope(
        canPop: !isForced,
        child: AlertDialog(
          title: Text(isForced ? 'Critical Update Needed' : 'New Version Ready'),
          content: Text(releaseNotes ?? 'Please update to the latest version.'),
          actions: [
            if (!isForced)
              TextButton(
                onPressed: () => Navigator.pop(context),
                child: const Text('Later'),
              ),
            ElevatedButton(
              onPressed: () /* Launch storeUrl */,
              child: const Text('Update'),
            ),
          ],
        ),
      ),
    );
  },
);

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2. Native Store Update Flow

For standard in-app store updates using official store SDKs (Google Play In-App Update API & iOS SKStoreProductViewController):

await FlutterInAppUpdater.updateNative(
  immediateAndroid: true, // Use immediate (blocking) flow on Android
  iosAppStoreId: '123456789', // Your App Store numeric ID
);

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API Reference

updateViaCustomApi Parameters

Parameter	Type	Mandatory	Description
context	BuildContext	Yes	Context required to present the update dialog.
fetchConfigFromApi	Future<Map<String, dynamic>> Function()	Yes	Async callback returning the update configuration map.
onUpdateRequired	Function(String storeUrl, bool isForced, String? releaseNotes)?	No	Custom UI renderer. Overrides default dialog if provided.
onError	Function(Object error)?	No	Callback invoked on API or parsing failures.
iosAppStoreId	String?	No	App Store ID used if update_url_ios is omitted in payload.
bypassInDebug	bool	No	Defaults to true. Ignores update checks during kDebugMode.

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Important Platform Notes

• Android Play Core API: Native updates require your app to be published on a Google Play track (Internal Testing, Closed Testing, or Production). Native updates will return error -6 when tested via local flutter run side-loaded APKs.
• iOS StoreKit: Native modal presentation requires a valid iosAppStoreId.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

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