restart_app 1.7.0

A Flutter plugin that helps you to restart the whole Flutter app with a single function call by using native APIs.

restart_app

Restart your Flutter app with a single function call. Works on Android, iOS, web, macOS, Linux, and Windows using native APIs on each platform.

Quick start

Add the dependency:

dependencies:
  restart_app: ^1.7.0

Import and call:

import 'package:restart_app/restart_app.dart';

final restarted = await Restart.restartApp();

Returns true if the restart was initiated. Returns false on failure (permission denied, missing executable, no launchable activity).

Parameters

Parameter	Platform	Description
webOrigin	Web	Custom origin URL for the reload. Defaults to window.origin. Supports hash strategy (e.g. '#/home').
notificationTitle	iOS	Title of the local notification shown after exit.
notificationBody	iOS	Body of the local notification shown after exit.
forceKill	Android	When true, fully terminates the process after launching the new activity. Defaults to false.

Platform behavior

Platform	Mechanism	Limitations
Android	Relaunches the main activity via PackageManager. Supports Android TV and Fire TV via leanback launcher fallback. With forceKill: true, kills the process after launch for a clean cold start.	None
iOS	Schedules a local notification, then exits via exit(0). Tap the notification to reopen. Not a fully automatic restart.	Requires notification permission. Apple's App Store guidelines discourage exit().
Web	Reloads the page using window.location.	None
macOS	Launches a new instance via NSWorkspace and terminates the current process.	Sandboxed (Mac App Store) builds cannot launch new instances of themselves. Returns false in this case.
Linux	Replaces the current process via execv. Fully automatic.	None
Windows	Launches a new instance via CreateProcess and terminates the current process.	MSIX-packaged (Microsoft Store) apps cannot be relaunched via CreateProcess.

iOS

Notification content

Customize what's shown after the app exits:

Restart.restartApp(
  notificationTitle: 'Update applied',
  notificationBody: 'Tap to reopen the app.',
);

Notification permission

The plugin requests notification permission at the moment of restart. If not already granted, iOS shows the system prompt right before exit, which feels abrupt.

Request permission earlier in your app's lifecycle. The permission_handler package works well for this.

If notification permission has been denied, restartApp() returns false.

Provisioning profiles

restart_app uses local notifications only, not push notifications. It adds no push-related entitlements to your app.

If you see "requires a provisioning profile with the Push Notifications feature" when exporting an IPA, another dependency is the cause (commonly firebase_messaging). Add the Push Notifications capability to your distribution provisioning profile.

Linux

Command-line arguments

By default, the restarted process launches without the original command-line arguments. To preserve them, call restart_app_plugin_store_argv in your linux/main.cc before running the Flutter engine:

#include <restart_app/restart_app_plugin.h>

int main(int argc, char** argv) {
  restart_app_plugin_store_argv(argc, argv);
  // ... rest of main()
}

Most Flutter apps don't rely on command-line arguments, so this step is optional.

Background isolates

Restart.restartApp() uses a platform channel and must run on the main isolate. Calling it from a background isolate throws:

Bad state: The BackgroundIsolateBinaryMessenger.instance value is invalid
until BackgroundIsolateBinaryMessenger.ensureInitialized is executed.

Send a message from your isolate to the main isolate instead:

// Main isolate: listen for restart signals
final receivePort = ReceivePort();
receivePort.listen((message) {
  if (message == 'restart') {
    Restart.restartApp();
  }
});

// Spawn the isolate with the SendPort
await Isolate.spawn(myIsolateFunction, receivePort.sendPort);

// Background isolate: signal instead of calling restartApp() directly
void myIsolateFunction(SendPort sendPort) {
  // ... your background work ...
  sendPort.send('restart');
}

Requirements

Dart SDK: >=3.4.0 · Flutter: >=3.22.0

Author

Created by Soroush Yousefpour