How To Convert Android App To Flutter?

Published on September 27th, 2024

When it comes to Android apps or projects, maintaining a separate codebase gets difficult and time-consuming. If that’s the case with you, converting your Android app to Flutter can be a significant move. It helps you save your time and leverage cross-platform development. The benefits include:

• Reach a broader audience
• Reduce development costs
• Improve user experience 

While you can convert any existing app to Flutter easily, you need to be careful of the unique challenges that come with converting your Android app specifically.

For this, you need to thoroughly understand the architecture, widgets, and plugins of Flutter. You should also have the right strategies to address differences in design patterns, platform-specific features, and data storage between Android and Flutter.

In this article, we will take you through each step to convert Android app to Flutter.

We have also published a practical guide on “how to convert APK to Flutter code” earlier. Let’s get started with Android to Flutter migration.

Steps To Convert Android App To Flutter 

The process involves several steps, from setting the environment to migrating features. Here’s the detailed process:

Set Up The Flutter Environment

• Download and install the Flutter SDK from the official site.
• Set up Flutter IDE using Android Studio or Visual Studio Code. Install Flutter and Dart plugins for your selected IDE.
• Run flutter doctor command in the terminal to check if the setup is correct.

Create A Flutter Project 

• Create a new Flutter project using the command.

• Navigate into the project directory:

Review The Android Code 

• Explore the current Android app’s structure. Determine the key features, business logic, and UI components.
• Pay special attention to any platform-specific code, such as accessing Android services or APIs.

Also Read: How to Convert Your Existing Mobile App to Flutter Easily?

Move Business Logic 

• Convert your Java/Kotlin code to Flutter’s language, Dart. Reuse any backend-related logic (API calls, data processing, etc.) by adapting it to Dart.
• Migrate services, models, and utilities to Flutter by rewriting them in Dart.

UI Conversion 

• Rebuild the user interface using the widget system of Flutter. Interestingly, Flutter uses a widget-system architecture for UI development.
• Rebuild your UI layouts using Container, Column, Row, and other widgets.
• If needed, apply custom themes and styles through Flutter’s theming system.

Handle Platform-Specific Features  

• Use platform channels for features like location, push notifications, or camera to communicate between Flutter and native Android.
• Replace certain functionalities with Flutter plugins like google_maps_flutter, firebase_messaging, or camera. 

Testing And Debugging

• To launch the app on both Android and iOS emulators, run the flutter run command.
• Use Flutter’s debugging tools to fix any issues.

Optimize and Finalize

• Optimize the app’s performance by reducing unnecessary rebuilds and using const constructors where possible.
• Finally, test the app thoroughly across different devices and platforms.

Read More: How To Convert iOS App To Flutter?

Alternative Scenarios – Working With APK Files

In some cases, developers do not have the access to original source code and can only have the APK file. This can usually happen when working with legacy apps where the original files are unavailable. In such cases, converting APK files to Flutter code is the solution.

However, converting an APK file to Flutter code is complicated, as APK files are already compiled and packaged. To recreate the app in Flutter, you will need to reverse engineer the APK and use its components.

If that’s your situation, you can follow our practical guide on “how to convert APK to Flutter code”. We have explained the process stepwise in detail, from extracting APK content to recreating functionality in Flutter.

By following these steps, you can convert Android app to Flutter seamlessly and with minimal friction.