Google releases final developer preview of Flutter

Google's cross-platform mobile UI framework Flutter is one step closer to a stable release with the launch of its final developer preview. Flutter aims to help developers build native app interfaces for both iOS and Android, basically serving as a middleware layer so developers can extend an app's reach to multiple platforms.

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The framework was first announced in February and was declared "production ready" at Google I/O a few months later. Even without an official Flutter 1.0, Google said there are already thousands of Flutter-based apps appearing in the Apple and Google Play stores, including some of the largest apps on the planet by usage, such as Alibaba, Tencent Now, and Google Ads.

The theme for this release is pixel-perfect iOS apps, Google said. The latest release also reduces the package size of Flutter apps by up to 30 percent on both Android and iOS, and brings support for executing Dart code in the app's background.

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"While we designed Flutter with highly brand-driven, tailored experiences in mind, we heard feedback from some of you who wanted to build applications that closely follow the Apple interface guidelines," Google said in a blog post. "So in this release we've greatly expanded our support for the "Cupertino" themed controls in Flutter, with an extensive library of widgets and classes that make it easier than ever to build with iOS in mind."

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