in_app_update_kit

Google Play In-App Updates for DartNative apps. It keeps the Flutter in_app_update API, so code written for it ports by changing one import:

// import 'package:in_app_update/in_app_update.dart';
import 'package:in_app_update_kit/in_app_update_kit.dart';

Calls go over FFI and JNI to Play's AppUpdateManager; there are no platform channels. Android only. On iOS every call is a safe no-op (see below).

Install

dependencies:
  in_app_update_kit:
    hosted: https://dartpub.dev
    version: ^0.1.0

dn pub get   # regenerates lib/dartnative_plugin_registrant.dart

DartNativePluginRegistrant.registerAll() in main() loads the plugin. No other setup is needed.

Use

Future<void> updateIfNeeded({required bool forced}) async {
  try {
    final info = await InAppUpdate.checkForUpdate();
    if (info.updateAvailability != UpdateAvailability.updateAvailable) return;
    if (forced) {
      await InAppUpdate.performImmediateUpdate();
    } else if (await InAppUpdate.startFlexibleUpdate() ==
        AppUpdateResult.success) {
      // Downloaded. Install when it suits the user; Play restarts the app.
      await InAppUpdate.completeFlexibleUpdate();
    }
  } on InAppUpdateException catch (e) {
    // e.isUnavailable: Play can't update this install (sideloaded build,
    // no Play Store). Fall back to opening the store listing.
  }
}

Call	Result
`checkForUpdate()`	`AppUpdateInfo`. Must run before a start.
`performImmediateUpdate()`	Play's full-screen flow. `success`, `userDeniedUpdate` or `inAppUpdateFailed`; Play usually restarts the app first.
`startFlexibleUpdate()`	Consent dialog, then a background download. `success` once the download finished; `userDeniedUpdate` if the dialog was declined or the download canceled.
`completeFlexibleUpdate()`	Installs the downloaded update.
`installUpdateListener`	`Stream<InstallStatus>` of Play's install states.

Platform setup

Android

Nothing to add to the app. The plugin's Gradle module depends on com.google.android.play:app-update:2.1.0, which pulls in com.google.android.play:core-common and the Play services basement and tasks libraries. Gradle fetches them from Google's Maven repository; this package doesn't bundle or modify them. They stay under their own terms: the Play Core Software Development Kit Terms of Service and the Android Software Development Kit License. core-common merges Play's transparent PlayCoreDialogWrapperActivity into your manifest. No permissions are added. R8 rules ship with the plugin.

In-app updates only work for builds installed from Google Play. A debug build from dn run makes checkForUpdate() throw TASK_FAILURE with installErrorCode -10 (ERROR_APP_NOT_OWNED), or return updateNotAvailable, depending on the Play Store version. To test the real flow, use Play's internal app sharing or an internal test track.

iOS

iOS has no in-app update API, and the package ships no iOS code, pod or symbols. The calls still work and never throw:

checkForUpdate() returns updateAvailability: unknown, nothing allowed.
performImmediateUpdate() and startFlexibleUpdate() return inAppUpdateFailed and show nothing.
completeFlexibleUpdate() does nothing; installUpdateListener never emits.

Send iOS users to the App Store yourself.

Errors

Failures throw InAppUpdateException (Flutter's PlatformException doesn't exist in DartNative). code keeps in_app_update's strings:

`code`	When
`TASK_FAILURE`	A Play task failed; `installErrorCode` holds Play's `InstallErrorCode`.
`REQUIRE_CHECK_FOR_UPDATE`	A start or complete before `checkForUpdate()`.
`REQUIRE_FOREGROUND_ACTIVITY`	No Activity in the foreground.
`INSTALL_ERROR`	The flexible download failed.
`UPDATE_IN_PROGRESS`	A start while another start is pending.
`NATIVE_UNAVAILABLE`	The native library didn't load.

isUnavailable is true for install error codes -3, -9 and -10, where Play can't serve updates to this install at all.

Differences from in_app_update

InAppUpdateException instead of PlatformException, with the same codes.
Unknown Play values (such as InstallStatus 10, REQUIRES_UI_INTENT) decode as unknown instead of throwing a StateError.
AppUpdateInfo == compares the precondition lists by value.
A flexible download canceled from the notification completes startFlexibleUpdate() with userDeniedUpdate; upstream never completed. Upstream also added a new install listener on every start.
A second start while one is pending throws UPDATE_IN_PROGRESS instead of orphaning the first call.
On iOS the calls are no-ops instead of throwing MissingPluginException.

Testing

package:in_app_update_kit/testing.dart has two seams:

debugSetInAppUpdateBackend(backend) routes InAppUpdate through a fake InAppUpdateBackend in pure-Dart tests.
debugUseFakeAppUpdateManager() (Android debug builds) swaps in Play's FakeAppUpdateManager, so the flexible flow can be walked on an emulator. The example app has buttons for it.

cd example && dn run -d <android-device>

Credits & license

The API, the enums and AppUpdateInfo, their documentation and the Play call sequence are adapted from in_app_update 5.0.0 by Victor Choueiri (MIT). The method and event channels were replaced by an FFI/JNI bridge, and the flexible flow's listener leak and cancel hang were fixed. See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.

This package is MIT, see LICENSE.