Flutter 3.13, Google’s open source framework for multi-platform UI development, was announced on August 16, bringing with it faster graphics and 2D scrolling. The new Impeller graphics renderer enhances rendering performance on iOS, offering lower latency and higher average throughput. Impeller is now available in preview for macOS and has been turned on by default for iOS. Although there is no official preview period set for Impeller on Android, it is expected to be introduced later this year.

Flutter 3.13 also introduces a foundation for building widgets that scroll in two dimensions. It includes classes such as ChildVicinity and TwoDimensionalChildDelegate, which represent the relative position of children in two dimensions. The update also brings new interactions, including diagonal scrolling, and introduces new slivers that allow developers to compose unique scrolling effects.

In an effort to improve support for foldable devices, Flutter 3.13 adds an engine API to retrieve properties of a display. A new getter FlutterView.display returns a Display object, which reports the physical size, device pixel ratio, and the refresh rate of the display.

Furthermore, Material Framework enhancements have been made to offer more platform adaptability, customization, and new capabilities. It is now easier for developers to customize the design of Material widgets. For instance, the error property for InputDecoration can now be used to customize the error widget shown on text fields.

Additionally, Flutter 3.13 includes Dart 3.1 with minor updates and API adjustments to further utilize class modifiers introduced in Dart 3.0. This release follows Flutter 3.10, which was published in May. Installation instructions for Flutter can be found on the project website.

Paul Krill is an editor at large at InfoWorld, focusing on application development.