Unlock the power of cross-platform mobile development with this comprehensive guide to setting up Flutter on your Mac, transforming your computer into a mobile app creation powerhouse.
Setting up Flutter
Download Flutter SDK
To download Flutter SDK (Software Development Kit), go to the Flutter Archive and click on the latest version of the SDK for your architecture (arm64 if you’re on Apple Silicon, x64 otherwise).
Extraction and Setup
After downloading the SDK, extract the archive and move the Flutter SDK to your preferred location. For example, you can move it to a Developer folder in your home folder.
Launch your favorite text editor and edit .zshenv file in your home folder if it exists. If not, create a new file called .zshenv and add the following line to it (replace Developer with the path to your Flutter SDK folder):
export PATH="$HOME/Developer/flutter/bin:$PATH"Save the file and close the text editor. Open a new terminal window and run the following command to verify that Flutter is installed correctly:
flutter doctorIf the command runs without any errors, you have successfully installed Flutter on your Mac.
Additional Steps for iOS and macOS Development
If you are developing iOS or macOS apps, you will need to install Xcode and the iOS SDK. You can download Xcode from the App Store. Once installed, open Xcode once to accept the license agreement.
You should also install cocoapods. Cocoapods is a dependency manager for iOS and macOS projects. To install cocoapods, run the following command in your terminal:
sudo gem install cocoapodsAdditional Steps for Android Development
If you are developing Android apps, you will need to install Android Studio. You can download Android Studio from the official website.
While installing Android Studio, make sure to install the following components:
- Android SDK Platform
- Android SDK Command-line Tools
- Android SDK Build-tools
- Android SDK SDK Platform-tools
- Android Emulator
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have successfully installed Flutter on your Mac. Now you can start building your mobile and desktop apps with Flutter.