Binary apps/Flutter

dobey · 8 Jul 2019, 18:02

Is it possible to run binary apps on UT?

I don't quite understand the question. Yes, of course any armhf binary compiled against the appropriate ABIs of Ubuntu 16.04 + UBports repository if using Qt, can be run.

However, in the case of Flutter, you would not build a native application. I'm not 100% sure how it would work, but you'd need to use either the Web or React Native targets, and treat them sort of if they were HTML5 apps instead.

Krille · 9 Jul 2019, 07:48

Very good question... As long as I know, Flutter for desktop is based on GLFW, right? So it is a "normal" x or wayland-app. Maybe it can run with the newest Mir, which should be wayland-compatible.
You can try to package the app as a deb and install it with libertine in the meanwhile.

Flutter is a very interesting framework and in my opinion could be the future for Ubuntu Touch development too.

dobey · 9 Jul 2019, 15:05

@Krille said in Binary apps/Flutter:

Flutter for desktop is based on GLFW, right?

Not exactly. See https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Desktop-shells :

The current Linux shell is a GLFW placeholder, to allow early experimentation. We would like to create a library that lets you embed Flutter regardless of whether you're using GTK+, Qt, wxWidgets, Motif, or another arbitrary toolkit for other parts of your application, but have not yet determined a good way to do that. Our current plan is to support GTK+ out of the box, in a way where adding support for other toolkits is straightforward.

Expect the APIs for the final shell to be radically different from the current implementation.

Looking deeper, it also seems that targets other than Android/iOS are not particularly well supported/documented. So, I think Flutter is not really an option at this time.

Krille · 9 Jul 2019, 19:32

Flutter for Web and for desktop will become a thing in the near future. And then it should be possible to package it. We can expect, that a lot of Android and iOS apps will use Flutter in the future so providing support for Flutter in UT would give us access to a lot of new apps.

jld3103 · 9 Jul 2019, 20:26

I already have an app that runs very well on mobile, desktop and web.

iverve · 2 Nov 2019, 11:25

Flutter is an open-source framework that allows to build Android and iOS application using single code. Flutter is a complete SDK for building cross-platform application and it uses c, c++, DART languages.
You need to know more knowledge than reading on https://i-verve.com/blog/flutter-for-cross-platform-app-development

AppLee · 2 Nov 2019, 16:11

I had a quick look at Flutter, it's full of promises, but it's still another "good idea" from Google.
I may be pessimistic but I think it will finish like GWT ; started well, had some success was never achieved => abandoned

Just my 2 cents
I hope for the best but Google has a tendency to never deliver on its promises.

[Edit] Just found this video lol :face_with_tears_of_joy:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ExpectationVsReality/comments/dqlyuu/google_soli/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

libremax · 8 Jul 2020, 15:45

"Google & Ubuntu Team Up to Bring Flutter Apps to Linux" :

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2020/07/flutter-sdk-linux-desktop

poVoq · 14 Jul 2020, 22:06

Apparently using Mir on Wayland:
http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Flutter-Mir-Wayland-WIP

This sounds like Flutter could become a really nice alternative to qt for app creation on UT, no?

dobey · 14 Jul 2020, 22:27

@poVoq It will not solve system integration issues for things like content-hub, media-hub, or fingerprint reader, on Ubuntu Touch, but it's a start and at least very basic apps should be somewhat usable, but perhaps not much more so than using Web target and just running as an HTML5 app with Flutter.

Josele13 · 10 Mar 2021, 16:46

Today I saw a news about Flutter 2, it has caught my attention that Microsoft is working on it. Canonical is going to use it for apps by default, it seems that it is going to be the universal app, Canonical,Microsoft,Google,Android and iOS

would it be a good idea to have it in Ut even if it's inside Anbox?
Is it possible that android apps won't be used in java because of the new Flutter apps in the near future?

Regards...

https://ubunlog.com/canonical-convierte-a-flutter-en-una-opcion-predeterminada-para-futuras-aplicaciones-de-escritorio/

https://fossbytes.com/canonical-flutter-is-the-default-choice-for-future-ubuntu-apps/

https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-teams-google-improve-apps-surface-duo
https://www.windowslatest.com/2020/09/21/google-flutter-uwp-apps-for-windows-10/
https://flutter.dev/

PhoenixLandPirat · 10 Mar 2021, 16:53

@josele13 flutter support has been talked about for a while, I think the standpoint is still “Flutter will probably work and come with Ubuntu 20.04”

Keneda · 10 Mar 2021, 18:17

@josele13 said in Binary apps/Flutter:

would it be a good idea to have it in Ut even if it's inside Anbox?

If i understand well, it's turning anbox into useless.

Josele13 · 10 Mar 2021, 18:38

@keneda I don't believe that, if the .apk apps are still used...perfect, but the most important OS's have come together to create something new. If Ut can take advantage of it in some way that's great....