How to Upgrade Flutter to the Latest Version: A Step-by-Step Guide

Keeping your Flutter SDK up-to-date is crucial for performance, new widgets, and security patches. Whether you are moving from an older version or just want the latest features, follow this simple guide to upgrade your environment safely.

1. Check Your Current Version

Before making any changes, it is best to know what version you are currently using. Open your terminal (or VS Code terminal) and type:

Open terminal and type the below command

flutter --version

 

This command displays your current Flutter and Dart SDK versions.

2. Switch to the Stable Channel

Flutter has different "channels" (Stable, Beta, Dev, and Master). For production apps, you should always be on the Stable channel. To ensure you are on the right track, run:

flutter channel stable

 

3. Run the Upgrade Command

Now, trigger the official update process. This will download the latest SDK files and update your local environment.

flutter upgrade

 

Pro Tip: If you encounter a "git" error, ensure you haven't manually modified any files inside the Flutter SDK folder

 

4. Update Your Specific Project

Upgrading the SDK is only half the battle. You also need to update your project’s dependencies (packages) to ensure they are compatible with the new version.

Step A: Check for Outdated Packages

 

flutter pub outdated

 

This shows you which packages have newer versions available.

Step B: Upgrade Packages To update all packages to the latest compatible versions, run:

 

flutter pub upgrade

 

If you want to move to the newest versions (including those with breaking changes), use:

 

flutter pub upgrade --major-versions

 

5. Troubleshooting & Best Practices

Sometimes, an upgrade can lead to "red screen" errors or build failures. Here is how to fix them quickly:

• Flutter Clean: If your app acts weird after an update, clear the build cache:

 

flutter clean flutter pub get

 

• Run Flutter Doctor: This is your best friend. It scans your system for missing dependencies or configuration issues:

flutter doctor

• iOS/CocoaPods Issues: If you are developing for iOS and get errors, navigate to the ios folder and update your pods:

cd ios rm -rf Pods rm Podfile.lock pod install cd ..

 

Quick Tip: Once you’ve successfully upgraded your environment, it’s a great time to test your knowledge! Try this Online Flutter Mock Test to see if you are up-to-date with the latest development standards

What is the difference between Flutter and Kotlin

Framework	Flutter	Kotlin
Programming Language	Dart	Kotlin
Definition	Developed by Google, Flutter is a cross-platform app development framework	Statically-typed, object-oriented programming language for JVM, Android and the browser.
Developed By	Google	JetBrains in 2010
Supported Platforms	Android, iOS, Google Fuchsia, Web, Linux, macOS, Windows	Android, JVM, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux, JavaScript, WebAssembly
Learning Curve	Must understand Dart to build an app	More similar to Java, C#, Python, JavaScript. So, very easy learning curve
Language Stack	Uses Dart programming language	It’s itself a programming language that uses JVM, Java, JavaScript, and Native to build apps
App Performance	It gives an amazing performance. Since it uses Dart, it doesn’t require using JavaScript to build connectivity for interactions with the app.	Since it uses JavaScript and is 100% interoperable with Java, it offers a slow performance compared to Flutter.
Hot Reload	Supported	Not Supported
App Size	Bigger	Minimum size as compared to Flutter
Famous For	Amazing and faster UI development for web, mobile, desktop using a single codebase	Beautiful and faster UI development for web, mobile, desktop using a single codebase
Apps Developed By	Google Ads, Alibaba, Square, eBay, BMW	Coursera, Evernote, Google, Pinterest, Corda, Slack, Trello
Status	New compared to Kotlin	Mature and stable language and tools
Special Features	Hot reload, fully customized widgets, and platform awareness for UIs	Interoperability with Java, concise, safe, and functional programming support
Community	Fastest-growing community	A wide range of Java products and tools – rapidly evolving language
GitHub Stars	130K (September 2021)	38.7K (September 2021)

 

Features of Flutter:

• Better websupport
• Null Safety
• Hot Reload
• Widget Library
• CrossPlatform Development
• Native Features and SDK

 

Flutter 2.0 Features

• Better Web Support
• Flutter Folio
• Sound Null Safety
• Flutter For Desktop
• Platform Adaptive Applications
• Google Mobile Ads
• Extended support to iOS
• Integration of New Widgets
• Add-to-App
• DevTools
• Flutter Fix
• Autocomplete and ScaffoldMessenger

 

Flutter 3.0 New Features

• Supports Flutter Fire
• Updates in Firebase Crashlytics
• Cascading menus
• Material Design 3 compatible
• Foldable mobile device support
• iOS release simplified
• Refresh rate support for iOS
• Gradle version update
• A fascinating Flutter Games Toolkit
• Full support for international text input
• Web updates
• Android Inline ads
• Optimized performance

 

Why Should You Upgrade?

1. Better Performance: Each version optimizes how the engine renders UI.

2. New Widgets: Access the latest Material 3 components and iOS-style Cupertino widgets.

3. Security: Updates include vital patches for the Dart VM and platform-specific code.

4. Bug Fixes: Avoid hair-pulling bugs that have already been fixed by the Flutter team.

Conclusion

Upgrading Flutter is a straightforward process, but doing it correctly—by cleaning your cache and checking for outdated packages—saves hours of debugging.

Ready to build? Run flutter upgrade today and start using the most powerful version of the toolkit!