macOS install

Contents
  • System requirements
  • Get the Flutter SDK
    • Run flutter doctor
    • Downloading straight from GitHub instead of using an archive
    • Update your path
  • Platform setup
  • iOS setup
    • Install Xcode
    • Set up the iOS simulator
    • Create and run a simple Flutter app
    • Deploy to iOS devices
  • Android setup
    • Install Android Studio
    • Set up your Android device
    • Set up the Android emulator
    • Agree to Android Licenses
  • macOS setup
    • Additional macOS requirements
    • Enable desktop support
  • Web setup
  • Next step

System requirements

To install and run Flutter, your development environment must meet these minimum requirements:

  • Operating Systems: macOS
  • Disk Space: 2.8 GB (does not include disk space for IDE/tools).
  • Tools: Flutter uses git for installation and upgrade. We recommend installing Xcode, which includes git, but you can also install git separately.

Get the Flutter SDK

  1. Download the following installation bundle to get the latest stable release of the Flutter SDK:

    (loading…)

    For other release channels, and older builds, see the SDK releases page.

  2. Extract the file in the desired location, for example:

                                      $                                                      cd                  ~/development                  $                                    unzip ~/Downloads/flutter_macos_vX.X.X-stable.zip

  3. Add the flutter tool to your path:

                                      $                                                      export                                    PATH                  =                  "                  $PATH                  :                  `                  pwd                  `                  /flutter/bin"

    This command sets your PATH variable for the current terminal window only. To permanently add Flutter to your path, see Update your path.

You are now ready to run Flutter commands!

Run flutter doctor

Run the following command to see if there are any dependencies you need to install to complete the setup (for verbose output, add the -v flag):

This command checks your environment and displays a report to the terminal window. The Dart SDK is bundled with Flutter; it is not necessary to install Dart separately. Check the output carefully for other software you might need to install or further tasks to perform (shown in bold text).

For example:

[-] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices     • Android SDK at /Users/obiwan/Library/Android/sdk          ✗ Android SDK is missing command line tools; download from https://goo.gl/XxQghQ          • Try re-installing or updating your Android SDK,       visit https://docs.flutter.dev/setup/#android-setup for detailed instructions.

The following sections describe how to perform these tasks and finish the setup process.

Once you have installed any missing dependencies, run the flutter doctor command again to verify that you've set everything up correctly.

Downloading straight from GitHub instead of using an archive

This is only suggested for advanced use cases.

You can also use git directly instead of downloading the prepared archive. For example, to download the stable branch:

                          $                            git clone https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git              -b              stable

Update your path, and run flutter doctor. That will let you know if there are other dependencies you need to install to use Flutter (e.g. the Android SDK).

If you did not use the archive, Flutter will download necessary development binaries as they are needed (if you used the archive, they are included in the download). You may wish to pre-download these development binaries (for example, you may wish to do this when setting up hermetic build environments, or if you only have intermittent network availability). To do so, run the following command:

For additional download options, see flutter help precache.

Update your path

You can update your PATH variable for the current session at the command line, as shown in Get the Flutter SDK. You'll probably want to update this variable permanently, so you can run flutter commands in any terminal session.

The steps for modifying this variable permanently for all terminal sessions are machine-specific. Typically you add a line to a file that is executed whenever you open a new window. For example:

  1. Determine the path of your clone of the Flutter SDK. You need this in Step 3.
  2. Open (or create) the rc file for your shell. Typing echo $SHELL in your Terminal tells you which shell you're using. If you're using Bash, edit $HOME/.bash_profile or $HOME/.bashrc. If you're using Z shell, edit $HOME/.zshrc. If you're using a different shell, the file path and filename will be different on your machine.

  3. Add the following line and change [PATH_OF_FLUTTER_GIT_DIRECTORY] to be the path of your clone of the Flutter git repo:

                                      $                                                      export                                    PATH                  =                  "                  $PATH                  :[PATH_OF_FLUTTER_GIT_DIRECTORY]/bin"
  4. Run source $HOME/.<rc file> to refresh the current window, or open a new terminal window to automatically source the file.

  5. Verify that the flutter/bin directory is now in your PATH by running:

    Verify that the flutter command is available by running:

Platform setup

macOS supports developing Flutter apps in iOS, Android, and the web (technical preview release). Complete at least one of the platform setup steps now, to be able to build and run your first Flutter app.

iOS setup

Install Xcode

To develop Flutter apps for iOS, you need a Mac with Xcode installed.

  1. Install the latest stable version of Xcode (using web download or the Mac App Store).

  2. Configure the Xcode command-line tools to use the newly-installed version of Xcode by running the following from the command line:

                                      $                                                      sudo                  xcode-select                  --switch                  /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer                  $                                                      sudo                  xcodebuild                  -runFirstLaunch

    This is the correct path for most cases, when you want to use the latest version of Xcode. If you need to use a different version, specify that path instead.

  3. Make sure the Xcode license agreement is signed by either opening Xcode once and confirming or running sudo xcodebuild -license from the command line.

Versions older than the latest stable version may still work, but are not recommended for Flutter development. Using old versions of Xcode to target bitcode is not supported, and is likely not to work.

With Xcode, you'll be able to run Flutter apps on an iOS device or on the simulator.

Set up the iOS simulator

To prepare to run and test your Flutter app on the iOS simulator, follow these steps:

  1. On your Mac, find the Simulator via Spotlight or by using the following command:

  2. Make sure your simulator is using a 64-bit device (iPhone 5s or later) by checking the settings in the simulator's Hardware > Device menu.
  3. Depending on your development machine's screen size, simulated high-screen-density iOS devices might overflow your screen. Grab the corner of the simulator and drag it to change the scale. You can also use the Window > Physical Size or Window > Pixel Accurate options if your computer's resolution is high enough.
    • If you are using a version of Xcode older than 9.1, you should instead set the device scale in the Window > Scale menu.

Create and run a simple Flutter app

To create your first Flutter app and test your setup, follow these steps:

  1. Create a new Flutter app by running the following from the command line:

  2. A my_app directory is created, containing Flutter's starter app. Enter this directory:

  3. To launch the app in the Simulator, ensure that the Simulator is running and enter:

Deploy to iOS devices

To deploy your Flutter app to a physical iOS device you'll need to set up physical device deployment in Xcode and an Apple Developer account. If your app is using Flutter plugins, you will also need the third-party CocoaPods dependency manager.

  1. You can skip this step if your apps do not depend on Flutter plugins with native iOS code. Install and set up CocoaPods by running the following commands:

                                      $                                                      sudo                  gem                  install                  cocoapods

  2. Follow the Xcode signing flow to provision your project:

    1. Open the default Xcode workspace in your project by running open ios/Runner.xcworkspace in a terminal window from your Flutter project directory.
    2. Select the device you intend to deploy to in the device drop-down menu next to the run button.
    3. Select the Runner project in the left navigation panel.

    4. In the Runner target settings page, make sure your Development Team is selected under Signing & Capabilities > Team.

      When you select a team, Xcode creates and downloads a Development Certificate, registers your device with your account, and creates and downloads a provisioning profile (if needed).

      • To start your first iOS development project, you might need to sign into Xcode with your Apple ID. Xcode account add Development and testing is supported for any Apple ID. Enrolling in the Apple Developer Program is required to distribute your app to the App Store. For details about membership types, see Choosing a Membership.

      • The first time you use an attached physical device for iOS development, you need to trust both your Mac and the Development Certificate on that device. Select Trust in the dialog prompt when first connecting the iOS device to your Mac.

        Trust Mac

        Then, go to the Settings app on the iOS device, select General > Device Management and trust your Certificate. For first time users, you may need to select General > Profiles > Device Management instead.

      • If automatic signing fails in Xcode, verify that the project's General > Identity > Bundle Identifier value is unique. Check the app's Bundle ID

  3. Start your app by running flutter run or clicking the Run button in Xcode.

Android setup

Install Android Studio

  1. Download and install Android Studio.
  2. Start Android Studio, and go through the 'Android Studio Setup Wizard'. This installs the latest Android SDK, Android SDK Command-line Tools, and Android SDK Build-Tools, which are required by Flutter when developing for Android.
  3. Run flutter doctor to confirm that Flutter has located your installation of Android Studio. If Flutter cannot locate it, run flutter config --android-studio-dir <directory> to set the directory that Android Studio is installed to.

Set up your Android device

To prepare to run and test your Flutter app on an Android device, you need an Android device running Android 4.1 (API level 16) or higher.

  1. Enable Developer options and USB debugging on your device. Detailed instructions are available in the Android documentation.
  2. Windows-only: Install the Google USB Driver.
  3. Using a USB cable, plug your phone into your computer. If prompted on your device, authorize your computer to access your device.
  4. In the terminal, run the flutter devices command to verify that Flutter recognizes your connected Android device. By default, Flutter uses the version of the Android SDK where your adb tool is based. If you want Flutter to use a different installation of the Android SDK, you must set the ANDROID_SDK_ROOT environment variable to that installation directory.

Set up the Android emulator

To prepare to run and test your Flutter app on the Android emulator, follow these steps:

  1. Enable VM acceleration on your machine.
  2. Launch Android Studio, click the AVD Manager icon, and select Create Virtual Device…
    • In older versions of Android Studio, you should instead launch Android Studio > Tools > Android > AVD Manager and select Create Virtual Device…. (The Android submenu is only present when inside an Android project.)
    • If you do not have a project open, you can choose Configure > AVD Manager and select Create Virtual Device…
  3. Choose a device definition and select Next.
  4. Select one or more system images for the Android versions you want to emulate, and select Next. An x86 or x86_64 image is recommended.
  5. Under Emulated Performance, select Hardware - GLES 2.0 to enable hardware acceleration.

  6. Verify the AVD configuration is correct, and select Finish.

    For details on the above steps, see Managing AVDs.

  7. In Android Virtual Device Manager, click Run in the toolbar. The emulator starts up and displays the default canvas for your selected OS version and device.

Agree to Android Licenses

Before you can use Flutter, you must agree to the licenses of the Android SDK platform. This step should be done after you have installed the tools listed above.

  1. Make sure that you have a version of Java 8 installed and that your JAVA_HOME environment variable is set to the JDK's folder.

    Android Studio versions 2.2 and higher come with a JDK, so this should already be done.

  2. Open an elevated console window and run the following command to begin signing licenses. 
                                      $                                    flutter doctor                  --android-licenses
  3. Review the terms of each license carefully before agreeing to them.
  4. Once you are done agreeing with licenses, run flutter doctor again to confirm that you are ready to use Flutter.

macOS setup

Additional macOS requirements

For macOS desktop development, you need the following in addition to the Flutter SDK:

  • Xcode
  • CocoaPods if you use plugins

Enable desktop support

At the command line, perform the following command to enable desktop support

                          $                            flutter config              --enable-macos-desktop

For more information, see Desktop support for Flutter

Web setup

Flutter has support for building web applications in the stable channel. Any app created in Flutter 2 automatically builds for the web. To add web support to an existing app, follow the instructions on Building a web application with Flutter when you've completed the setup above.

Next step

Set up your preferred editor.