What are plugins in Flutter ?
In Flutter, a plugin is a package that adds a specific feature or functionality to a Flutter app. Plugins can be used to access native features of the device, such as the camera or GPS, or to provide access to third-party services, such as Firebase or Stripe.
Plugins are typically created by the Flutter team or by external developers and are distributed via the pub.dev package repository. To use a plugin in your Flutter app, you need to add it as a dependency in your pubspec.yaml file and import it into your code.
Some examples of common tasks that can be accomplished with Flutter plugins include:
- Displaying maps
- Taking photos or selecting images from the device's gallery
- Authenticating users with Google, Facebook, or email/password credentials
- Accessing a cloud database
- Scheduling and displaying notifications
- Displaying web content within the app
- Integrating with payment processing platforms
- Displaying and interacting with SVG images
There are hundreds of plugins available for Flutter, covering a wide range of features and functionality. By using plugins, you can easily add powerful features to your app without having to write a lot of custom code.
Top 10 plugin you should know as a flutter developer
As a cross-platform mobile development framework, Flutter offers a wide range of plugins to help developers build high-quality apps quickly and efficiently. In this article, we'll take a look at some of the best Flutter plugins that every developer should know.
Here are popular plugins that you might find useful when developing a Flutter application:
google_maps_flutter: This plugin allows you to easily integrate Google Maps into your Flutter app. With it, you can display maps, add markers and info windows, draw polygons and lines, and much more.image_picker: This plugin makes it easy for users to select images from their device's gallery or take new photos with the camera. It also supports cropping and resizing images, making it a useful tool for any app that requires image selection or manipulation.firebase_auth: Firebase is a powerful platform for building apps, and thefirebase_authplugin makes it easy to authenticate users in your Flutter app using their Google, Facebook, or email/password credentials.cloud_firestore: If you're building a cloud-powered app, thecloud_firestoreplugin is a must-have. It provides seamless integration with the Cloud Firestore database, allowing you to easily store and retrieve data from the cloud.flutter_local_notifications: This plugin makes it easy to schedule and display notifications within your Flutter app. You can customize the appearance and behavior of the notifications, and even schedule them to be displayed at a later time.flutter_webview_plugin: Theflutter_webview_pluginallows you to display a webview within your Flutter app. This is useful if you need to display web content or if you want to create a hybrid app that combines native and web functionality.flutter_stripe_payment: If you're building an e-commerce app or any other app that requires payment processing, theflutter_stripe_paymentplugin is a great choice. It provides easy integration with the Stripe payment platform, allowing you to accept credit card payments from users.flutter_facebook_login: This plugin makes it easy to sign in users with their Facebook accounts. It supports both the web and mobile Facebook login flows, and it can be easily customized to fit your app's specific needs.- Flutter Share: This plugin enables you to share text, images, and other content from your Flutter app to other apps or services on the device.
Flutter Connectivity: This plugin allows you to detect the device's connectivity status and monitor changes in the device's connectivity.