Google today made the first Release Preview of Flutter available to developers. Flutter is a set of tools that can help developers create user interface designs that work on Android and iOS. Flutter has been in beta testing since February and saw its last major update in May. Google says Flutter is quick and easy to use, and can be put to use by experienced and novice developers alike. It includes frameworks for windows, widgets, animations, and image libraries. It includes a GPU-accelerated renderer and native ARM code runtime. It supports accessibility features, right-to-left text, localization, and internationalization. On iOS, it support inline video, additional image formats, and background processes. Flutter Release Preview 1 introduces a handful of new features, such as support for hardware keyboards, barcode scanners, and video recording. The team behind Flutter says it is focusing on improving the video player package with broader format support and better reliability. It has also extended Firebase support to include dynamic links for handling links across platforms. Last, Flutter now has instructions for adding Flutter widgets to existing Android and iOS apps. The end result, hopes Google, will be better looking and better functioning mobile apps that look and run the same on Android and iOS. More information about the new features in Flutter Release Preview 1 can be found at the Flutter blog.


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