Google has some great news for Linux developers

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Flutter support comes to Linux and the Snap Store

(Image credit: Pixabay)

Developers using Linux will soon be able to access a range of Google's most useful tools following a new partnership between the two organisations.

Google has revealed it is teaming up with Canonical to bring Linux desktop app support to Flutter, its cross-platform open-source UI framework. 

Google says that 500,000 developers are currently using Flutter, built on its Dart programming language, each month, and that 80,000 apps built on the platform have been published to Google Play so far.

Google Linux

First announced in December 2018 for iOS and Android apps, before expanding to the web, MacOS and Windows, Flutter has seen two million developers use the platform since its initial release.

Canonical is best known as the publisher of Ubuntu, the most popular Linux desktop client, and alpha support for Linux apps using Flutter is available from today.

The companies say that installing Flutter on Linux is a straightforward process, with the Flutter SDK for Linux available now as a snap in the Snap Store. There's no need to install a bunch of development dependencies; simply install the Flutter SDK snap and your favorite IDE and you're ready to go.

Developers will then be able to publish their app’s snap directly onto Canonical’s own online Snap Store.

"Google’s goal for Flutter has always been to provide a portable framework for building beautiful UIs that run at native speeds no matter what platform you target," a blog post written by Google's Chris Sells and Canonical's Ken VanDine said.

"Flutter for Linux from the Canonical team is a giant step forward for our dream of making Flutter the best way to build an app no matter what platform you’re targeting. Targeting the desktop has made the Flutter engine that much more adaptable to a long tail of devices that Google itself can’t support directly but for which we plan to continue to build partnerships and to enable the ecosystem."

"Wherever there are devices that need fast, beautiful apps, that’s where we want Flutter to be."

Via 9to5Google

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Mike Moore
Mike Moore
Deputy Editor, TechRadar Pro

Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK's leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he's not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.