The newest update to Flutter, Google LLC’s multiplatform open-source app development framework, brings support for Windows applications.

As of today, using Flutter 2.10, developers can create vibrant user interfaces that work on mobile as well as Windows desktop all from one codebase. Developers will be able to write their applications once and then port them natively across platforms including Android, iOS, the web and now Windows.

The new version of Flutter has been adapted specifically for Windows, including its underlying Dart framework, a programming language used to describe app user interfaces, and its C++ engine that handles runtime management and system events. It can communicate with Windows at a native level and is responsible for translating and dispatching Windows messages to paint its UI, handle events and interoperate with the operating system.

That’s quite important because Windows does not work like a mobile device, where apps would be designed for small screens and touch. Instead, apps on Windows expect a totally different input scheme such as keyboard and mouse. That meant building an entirely different set of UI element hooks for developers.

Multiple teams at Microsoft have contributed to Flutter for Windows. For example, the Fluent design team provided iconography for Flutter apps with the fluentui_system_icons package. That’s a collection of simple but familiar Windows icons from Microsoft.

Visual Studio Code, a source code editor, has already provided a powerful tool for developers building Flutter apps and Google’s Dart extension for the editor has been downloaded more than 4 million times.

“Windows is an open platform, and we welcome all developers,” said Kevin Gallo, corporate vice president for the Windows Developer Platform at Microsoft. “Flutter support for Windows is a big step for the community.”

Gallo added that with this release, Flutter developers will now be able to publish their apps to the Windows Store. With this becoming available, developers will have at their disposal an entirely new audience of users for their apps.

Along with this release, a number of tools also updated their Windows support. FlutterFlow, a low-code Flutter app design tool, announced support for Windows and features for desktop screen form factors. MongoDB Realm, a super-fast local data store, shipped Windows app support today as well, adding to its own iOS and Android support. Rive Inc., a graphics tooling suite, announced an upcoming Windows edition that will be available on the Microsoft Store with Flutter integration. And Syncfusion, a provider of Flutter widgets, has updated its product to take full advantage of Windows.

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