ofload / native_updater

Flutter package to embed native in-app updater

native_updater

Flutter package for prompting users to update with a native dialog whether using the app store version or any version at the user's discretion.

When a latest app version is available via user defined logic, a simple alert prompt widget is displayed. With today's modern app stores, there is little need to persuade users to update because most of them are already using the auto update feature. However, there may be times when an app needs to be updated more quickly than usual, and nagging a user to update will entice the update sooner.

The UI comes in two flavors: Material Design for Android and Cupertino for iOS. The UpdateMaterialAlert widget is used to display the native Android alert prompt, and the UpdateCupertinoAlert widget is used to display the native iOS alert prompt.

Installation via GitHub (for test only)

dependencies:
  flutter:
    sdk: flutter
  cupertino_icons: ^0.1.3

  # Add this inside pubspec.yaml
  native_updater:
    git: https://github.com/loadsmileau/native_updater

Setup

Android

Already good to go.

iOS

To be able to show your App Name in the Cupertino Alert Dialog, add the following keys to your Info.plist file, located in <project root>/ios/Runner/Info.plist:

<key>CFBundleDisplayName</key>
<string>YOUR APP NAME</string>

Usage

Just add this code whenever you want to display the update alert, and it will handle the rest.

NativeUpdater.displayUpdateAlert(
  context,
  forceUpdate: true,
);

Or with the optional parameters to customize the alert.

NativeUpdater.displayUpdateAlert(
  context,
  forceUpdate: true,
  appStoreUrl: '<Your App Store URL>',
  playStoreUrl: '<Your Play Store URL>',
  iOSDescription: '<Your iOS Description>',
  iOSUpdateButtonLabel: '<Your iOS Update Button Label>',
  iOSCloseButtonLabel: '<Your iOS Close Button Label>',
  iOSIgnoreButtonLabel: '<Your iOS Ignore Button Label>',
  iOSAlertTitle: '<Your Dialog Title>',
);

Parameters Explanation

Required Parameters

context is the location in the tree where this widget builds.

forceUpdate is to tell whether the alert is forcing an update or not. Set to true if you are forcing an update. Set to false if you are giving an option to update later.

Optional Parameters

appStoreUrl is to launch your App Store URL if you're developing for iOS. Follow this link on how to find your App Store URL.

playStoreUrl is to launch your Play Store URL if you're developing for Android. Follow this link on how to find your Play Store URL.

iOSDescription is to use your custom alert description on UpdateCupertinoAlert. The default is <App Name> requires that you update to the latest version. You cannot use this app until it is updated. or <App Name> recommends that you update to the latest version. You can keep using this app while downloading the update.

iOSUpdateButtonLabel is used to set your custom Update Button Label on UpdateCupertinoAlert. The default is Update.

iOSCloseButtonLabel is used to set your custom Close Button Label onUpdateCupertinoAlert. The default is Close App.

iOSIgnoreButtonLabel is used to set your custom Ignore Button Label onUpdateCupertinoAlert. The default is Later.

iOSAlertTitle is used to set your custom Dialog Title onUpdateCupertinoAlert. The default is Update Available.

Full Example

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

void main() => runApp(MyApp());

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      title: 'native_updater example',
      home: Home(),
    );
  }
}

class Home extends StatefulWidget {
  @override
  _HomeState createState() => _HomeState();
}

class _HomeState extends State<Home> {
  @override
  void initState() {
    super.initState();
    checkVersion();
  }

  Future<void> checkVersion() async {
    /// For example: You got status code of 412 from the
    /// response of HTTP request.
    /// Let's say the statusCode 412 requires you to force update
    int statusCode = 412;

    /// This could be kept in our local
    int localVersion = 9;

    /// This could get from the API
    int serverLatestVersion = 10;

    Future.delayed(Duration.zero, () {
      if (statusCode == 412) {
        NativeUpdater.displayUpdateAlert(
          context,
          forceUpdate: true,
          appStoreUrl: '<Your App Store URL>',
          playStoreUrl: '<Your Play Store URL>',
          iOSDescription: '<Your iOS description>',
          iOSUpdateButtonLabel: 'Upgrade',
          iOSCloseButtonLabel: 'Exit',
        );
      } else if (serverLatestVersion > localVersion) {
        NativeUpdater.displayUpdateAlert(
          context,
          forceUpdate: false,
          appStoreUrl: '<Your App Store URL>',
          playStoreUrl: '<Your Play Store URL>',
          iOSDescription: '<Your description>',
          iOSUpdateButtonLabel: 'Upgrade',
          iOSIgnoreButtonLabel: 'Next Time',
        );
      }
    });
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: Text('Your App'),
      ),
      body: Center(
        child: Text('Testing...'),
      ),
    );
  }
}

Screenshots of Material Alert

An example of a flexible update flow

An example of an immediate update flow

Screenshots of Cupertino Alert

Force Update	Can Update Later

native_updater's Issues

Support for the iOS?

Hi,

Can we use this package for the ios platform as well?

Thanks for the help in advance.

Force update does not really force an update.

Users can easily dismiss the dialog box.
Now since this is a native window, you may not have the ability to change the UI.
Although be any chance is it possible to notify the user's choice by a callback?

Dialog not shown when App on Playstore

I'm very appreciate your work for in app update.
But one thing I notice that update dialog not shown when an app is already on play store even the version number and code is different.
I used latest native_updater version 0.1.0
Please look into this.

No implementation found for method checkForUpdate on channel in_app_update

No implementation found for method checkForUpdate on channel in_app_update
I'm getting the error above, does anyone know how to fix it? Thanks

Null check operator used on a null value

_CastError: Null check operator used on a null value
File "native_updater.dart", line 79, in NativeUpdater._showCupertinoAlertDialog
File "native_updater.dart", line 58, in NativeUpdater.displayUpdateAlert

Why is playStoreUrl removed?

Error: No named parameter with the name 'playStoreUrl'.

If I go and look at your latest PR there I see that you completely removed this prop.
Nothing is written about it, just deleted.

Project dependencies needs to be updated

The project breaks on newer flutter versions. I did a PR to fix that.

Works good, would be very helpful if there was customizing option for android similar to iOSDescription etc. Is there any barrier for implementing that?

Error while compiling

/flutter/.pub-cache/hosted/pub.dartlang.org/in_app_update-2.0.0/android/src/main/kotlin/de/ffuf/in_app_update/InAppUpdatePlugin.kt: (226, 26): Type mismatch: inferred type is String? but String was expected

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

How can I catch the event if the user has closed the forced update alert?

Hi, I am using forced update, but when I press the close icon my app it reopens, and i get :
PlatformException (PlatformException(Update failed, 0, null, null))

I am running in debug mode on my physical device.

how get http statusCode?

Hi, in example you describe that I need to get http status code by a requisition. You would send us a example? Or send to us a link thet document this process?

/// For example: You got status code of 412 from the /// response of HTTP request. /// Let's say the statusCode 412 requires you to force update int statusCode = 412;

thanks

native_updater package is not working building apk with --split-per-abi

In my project, I test in debug and building apk with flutter build apk command, and this package work for them, but if I build it with —split-per-abi, it doesn't work. What could I do on this ?

The class should have more customization options

The class should let the user define all it's text.

I've created the PR #22 to help with this problem

Migrate to null-safety

The class should show the error to the user and not in the debug console

It would be nice to have an alert showing to the user what went wrong.

NativeUpdater.displayUpdateAlert default call update does not work

Using it like this:
NativeUpdater.displayUpdateAlert(
context,
forceUpdate: true,
);

It displays the alert popup box but clicking update button does not affect anything. Tested with different iOS versions on physical devices and full production AppStore versions.

Add support for checking for versions

It would be awesome if the library could also support a basic update check, using the "standard" APIs, i.e. google play and the iTunes store. To support this, the following would have to be done.

• use https://pub.dev/packages/package_info to get the version name/code
• use the version code provided by in_app_update for android
• use the itunes API to get the newest ios version (See https://pub.dev/packages/upgrader#itunes-search-api for a package that can do that)
• provide a checkForUpdates method (or similar), something like the following:

enum UpdateLevel { skip, optional, required }

NativeUpdater.checkForUpdates(
  BuildContext context, {
  UpdateLevel Function(int, int) androidCompareVersion,  // compare version code aka. build number
  UpdateLevel Function(String, String) iosCompareVersion,  // compare version string
  // other parameters from displayUpdateAlert, except forceUpdate, which is replaced by the UpdateLevel result
});

We need two methods for comparing, because on android, the version code / build number is used by google play, while on iOS the actual public version string is used.

Unhandled Exception: MissingPluginException

(No implementation found for method getAll on channel plugins.flutter.io/package_info)