Flutter Desktop Support: Building Cross-Platform Desktop Apps

Introduction

Flutter’s journey from a mobile-focused framework to a truly cross-platform solution has reached an exciting milestone with stable desktop support. As of Flutter 2.5 released in September 2021, developers can now build and deploy applications to Windows, macOS, and Linux from the same codebase that targets iOS, Android, and the web.

For Australian development teams and startups, this expansion represents a significant opportunity. Rather than maintaining separate codebases for mobile and desktop applications, a single Flutter project can now serve all major platforms. This guide walks through the current state of Flutter desktop support, practical considerations for development, and strategies for successful deployment.

Current State of Flutter Desktop

Plat

form Stability Levels

Understanding the maturity of each desktop platform is crucial for planning:

macOS (Stable): Apple’s desktop platform reached stable status in Flutter 2.0 in March 2021. The macOS support benefits from shared foundations with iOS, making the development experience familiar for teams already building iOS apps with Flutter. Performance is excellent, and the ecosystem of plugins supporting macOS is growing steadily.

Windows (Stable): Windows desktop support became stable in Flutter 2.10, released just recently. This is significant given Windows’ dominant market share in enterprise and consumer desktop computing. Flutter apps on Windows use Win32 APIs for window management and rendering, providing native performance and integration.

Linux (Stable): Linux support also reached stability in Flutter 2.10. While Linux desktop represents a smaller user base, it’s important for certain segments including developer tools, enterprise applications in Linux-based environments, and embedded systems with Linux interfaces.

What Stable Means

Stable designation indicates that the Flutter team considers the platform ready for production use. Breaking changes will be handled through proper deprecation cycles, and the core functionality is tested and reliable. However, stable does not mean that every plugin or package supports desktop platforms, an important consideration we will address later.

Setting Up Your Development Environment

Prerequisites by Platform

For macOS Development:

• macOS 10.14 (Mojave) or later
• Xcode 12 or later with command line tools
• CocoaPods for plugin dependencies
• Flutter SDK 2.0 or later

# Enable macOS desktop support
flutter config --enable-macos-desktop

# Verify setup
flutter doctor

For Windows Development:

• Windows 10 or later (64-bit)
• Visual Studio 2019 or later with Desktop development with C++ workload
• Flutter SDK 2.10 or later

# Enable Windows desktop support
flutter config --enable-windows-desktop

# Verify setup
flutter doctor

For Linux Development:

• A 64-bit Linux distribution (Ubuntu, Fedora, etc.)
• Clang, CMake, GTK development libraries, pkg-config, and Ninja build system
• Flutter SDK 2.10 or later

# Install required packages on Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install clang cmake ninja-build pkg-config libgtk-3-dev

# Enable Linux desktop support
flutter config --enable-linux-desktop

# Verify setup
flutter doctor

Creating a Desktop-Enabled Project

New Flutter projects created with recent SDK versions include desktop support by default when enabled in your configuration. For existing projects, you can add desktop support:

# Navigate to your project
cd my_flutter_app

# Add desktop platforms
flutter create --platforms=windows,macos,linux .

This command adds the platform-specific directories (windows/, macos/, linux/) to your existing project without affecting your current code.

Desktop-Specific Development Conside

rations

Window Management

Desktop applications require window management capabilities not present in mobile apps:

Window Sizing and Positioning: Users expect to resize, minimise, maximise, and position desktop windows. Flutter provides basic window support, but for advanced control, packages like window_manager provide additional functionality:

import 'package:window_manager/window_manager.dart';

void main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();

  await windowManager.ensureInitialized();

  WindowOptions windowOptions = WindowOptions(
    size: Size(1200, 800),
    minimumSize: Size(800, 600),
    center: true,
    title: 'My Desktop App',
  );

  windowManager.waitUntilReadyToShow(windowOptions, () async {
    await windowManager.show();
    await windowManager.focus();
  });

  runApp(MyApp());
}

Multiple Windows: Some desktop applications require multiple windows. While Flutter’s native multi-window support is still evolving, solutions exist for creating additional windows for specific use cases.

Input Handling

Desktop input patterns differ significantly from mobile:

Keyboard Navigation: Desktop users expect comprehensive keyboard navigation including tab focus, keyboard shortcuts, and arrow key navigation. Flutter’s Focus and FocusTraversalGroup widgets enable proper keyboard navigation:

FocusTraversalGroup(
  policy: OrderedTraversalPolicy(),
  child: Column(
    children: [
      FocusTraversalOrder(
        order: NumericFocusOrder(1),
        child: TextField(decoration: InputDecoration(labelText: 'First Name')),
      ),
      FocusTraversalOrder(
        order: NumericFocusOrder(2),
        child: TextField(decoration: InputDecoration(labelText: 'Last Name')),
      ),
    ],
  ),
)

Mouse and Hover States: Desktop interfaces rely heavily on hover states for discoverability. Flutter’s MouseRegion widget enables hover detection:

MouseRegion(
  onEnter: (_) => setState(() => isHovered = true),
  onExit: (_) => setState(() => isHovered = false),
  child: Container(
    color: isHovered ? Colors.blue.shade100 : Colors.white,
    child: Text('Hover over me'),
  ),
)

Right-Click Context Menus: Desktop applications commonly use right-click context menus. Flutter does not provide these natively, but packages like context_menus fill this gap:

ContextMenuArea(
  builder: (context, position) => [
    ListTile(
      leading: Icon(Icons.copy),
      title: Text('Copy'),
      onTap: () => handleCopy(),
    ),
    ListTile(
      leading: Icon(Icons.paste),
      title: Text('Paste'),
      onTap: () => handlePaste(),
    ),
  ],
  child: YourWidget(),
)

Menu Bars and System Integration

Desktop applications typically include menu bars and integrate with system features:

Application Menu Bar: On macOS especially, users expect a proper menu bar. Flutter’s PlatformMenuBar widget enables native menu creation:

PlatformMenuBar(
  menus: [
    PlatformMenu(
      label: 'File',
      menus: [
        PlatformMenuItem(
          label: 'New',
          shortcut: const SingleActivator(LogicalKeyboardKey.keyN, meta: true),
          onSelected: () => createNewDocument(),
        ),
        PlatformMenuItem(
          label: 'Open',
          shortcut: const SingleActivator(LogicalKeyboardKey.keyO, meta: true),
          onSelected: () => openDocument(),
        ),
      ],
    ),
  ],
  child: MyApp(),
)

System Tray: Some desktop applications run in the system tray. Packages like system_tray enable this functionality:

final systemTray = SystemTray();

await systemTray.initSystemTray(
  title: 'My App',
  iconPath: 'assets/app_icon.ico',
);

systemTray.registerSystemTrayEventHandler((eventName) {
  if (eventName == 'click') {
    windowManager.show();
  }
});

Responsive Design for Desktop

Adapting Mobile UI for Larger Screens

A mobile-first Flutter app will run on desktop, but providing an optimal experience requires adaptive design:

Layout Breakpoints: Define breakpoints for different screen sizes and adapt layouts accordingly:

class ResponsiveLayout extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return LayoutBuilder(
      builder: (context, constraints) {
        if (constraints.maxWidth > 1200) {
          return DesktopLayout();
        } else if (constraints.maxWidth > 800) {
          return TabletLayout();
        } else {
          return MobileLayout();
        }
      },
    );
  }
}

Navigation Patterns: Mobile apps typically use bottom navigation or drawers. Desktop apps often use side navigation rails or top navigation bars:

class AdaptiveNavigation extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    final isDesktop = MediaQuery.of(context).size.width > 800;

    if (isDesktop) {
      return Row(
        children: [
          NavigationRail(
            destinations: [
              NavigationRailDestination(icon: Icon(Icons.home), label: Text('Home')),
              NavigationRailDestination(icon: Icon(Icons.settings), label: Text('Settings')),
            ],
            selectedIndex: selectedIndex,
            onDestinationSelected: (index) => handleNavigation(index),
          ),
          Expanded(child: content),
        ],
      );
    } else {
      return Scaffold(
        body: content,
        bottomNavigationBar: BottomNavigationBar(
          items: [
            BottomNavigationBarItem(icon: Icon(Icons.home), label: 'Home'),
            BottomNavigationBarItem(icon: Icon(Icons.settings), label: 'Settings'),
          ],
          currentIndex: selectedIndex,
          onTap: handleNavigation,
        ),
      );
    }
  }
}

Information Density: Desktop users typically prefer denser information layouts compared to touch-optimised mobile interfaces. Consider smaller tap targets, more compact spacing, and displaying more content simultaneously when screen space permits.

Plugin Compatibility

Checking Desktop Support

Not all Flutter plugins support desktop platforms. Before adding a dependency, verify platform support:

1. Check the plugin’s pub.dev page for platform compatibility indicators
2. Review the plugin’s documentation for desktop-specific setup instructions
3. Test functionality on each target platform

Common Plugins with Desktop Support

Many popular plugins now support desktop platforms:

• path_provider: File system paths (full desktop support)
• shared_preferences: Key-value storage (full desktop support)
• url_launcher: Opening URLs in browser (full desktop support)
• sqflite: SQLite database (macOS and Linux, Windows via sqflite_common_ffi)
• file_picker: File selection dialogs (full desktop support)

Handling Missing Plugin Support

When a plugin lacks desktop support, you have several options:

Platform-Specific Implementation: Use conditional imports to provide desktop-specific implementations:

import 'mobile_implementation.dart'
  if (dart.library.io) 'desktop_implementation.dart';

Find Alternatives: Search pub.dev for desktop-compatible alternatives to mobile-only plugins.

Contribute: Consider contributing desktop support to open-source plugins your project depends on.

Building and Distribution

macOS Distribution

Development Build:

flutter build macos

Distribution Options:

• Mac App Store: Requires Apple Developer Program membership and review process
• Direct Distribution: Notarise your app with Apple for users to run without security warnings
• Enterprise Distribution: For internal company applications

Code Signing is required for distribution outside the App Store to avoid security warnings:

# Sign with Developer ID
codesign --deep --force --verify --verbose --sign "Developer ID Application: Your Name" build/macos/Build/Products/Release/YourApp.app

Windows Distribution

Development Build:

flutter build windows

Distribution Options:

• Microsoft Store: Submit through Partner Center
• Direct Distribution: Provide installer or portable executable
• Enterprise Distribution: MSI packages for managed deployment

Creating an Installer: Tools like Inno Setup create professional Windows installers:

[Setup]
AppName=My Flutter App
AppVersion=1.0.0
DefaultDirName={autopf}\MyFlutterApp
OutputBaseFilename=MyFlutterAppSetup

[Files]
Source: "build\windows\runner\Release\*"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: recursesubdirs

Linux Distribution

Development Build:

flutter build linux

Distribution Options:

• Snap Store: Create snap packages for Ubuntu and other distributions
• Flatpak: Universal Linux packaging format
• AppImage: Portable single-file distribution
• Distribution Repositories: Submit to individual distribution package repositories

Performance Considerations

Desktop Performance Characteristics

Flutter’s performance on desktop is generally excellent, but differs from mobile:

CPU Utilisation: Desktop CPUs are typically more powerful but may have different characteristics (fewer cores optimised for single-thread performance versus many efficient cores on mobile).

Memory Usage: Desktop applications can typically use more memory than mobile apps, but users still expect efficiency.

Graphics: Desktop GPUs vary widely from integrated graphics to high-performance dedicated cards. Test on representative hardware.

Optimisation Strategies

Reduce Redraws: Use RepaintBoundary widgets to isolate frequently updating sections and prevent unnecessary repaints of static content.

Efficient Lists: For large data sets, use ListView.builder or similar builders that create items on demand rather than all at once.

Profile on Target Platforms: Performance characteristics vary by platform. Use Flutter’s DevTools to profile on each target platform and address platform-specific issues.

Conclusion

Flutter desktop support opens significant opportunities for Australian development teams to create truly cross-platform applications. A single codebase can now serve mobile, web, and desktop users, dramatically reducing development and maintenance costs for businesses with multi-platform requirements.

While desktop development introduces considerations not present in mobile development, such as window management, keyboard navigation, and platform-specific distribution, Flutter’s architecture makes addressing these needs straightforward. The growing ecosystem of desktop-compatible plugins and community resources further reduces the barriers to successful desktop development.

For teams already using Flutter for mobile development, adding desktop support is a natural extension. For teams evaluating cross-platform frameworks, Flutter’s desktop capabilities add compelling value to an already strong proposition.

---

Considering Flutter for your cross-platform application? Contact Awesome Apps to discuss how we can help you reach users on mobile and desktop platforms with a unified codebase.