dart_patch_updater

🚀 In-app updates for Flutter — without the App Store

Update your Flutter app's business logic instantly from your own server or GitHub Releases.
No Play Store review. No App Store wait. Ship fixes in minutes.

✨ Features

🔄 Hot updates — Push business logic changes without app store reviews
🔒 Secure — SHA-256 checksum + RSA signature verification
⏪ Auto-rollback — Automatically reverts on failure
📦 GitHub Releases support — Use GitHub as your update server
📱 Cross-platform — Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux
🌐 Offline-safe — Won't brick your app if update fails
🎯 Version targeting — Control which app versions receive updates

📋 What Can Be Updated?

✅ Can Update	❌ Cannot Update
Feature flags	Compiled Dart code
Pricing rules	Native code (Java/Swift)
Validation rules	Flutter framework
Workflow definitions	App permissions
Business logic configs	App icons/splash
API endpoints	Native plugins

Note: Flutter uses AOT compilation, so you cannot download arbitrary .dart files. This package updates data-driven business logic via a JSON rule engine.

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

dependencies:
  dart_patch_updater: ^0.1.0

Basic Usage

import 'package:dart_patch_updater/dart_patch_updater.dart';

void main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();

  final updateManager = UpdateManager(
    config: UpdateConfig(
      serverUrl: 'https://rawgit.flutter-io.cn/you/repo/main/update.json',
      appId: 'com.example.myapp',
      appVersion: '2.1.0',
      publicKey: '-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\n...',
      useStaticJson: true,  // For GitHub Releases
    ),
  );

  await updateManager.initialize();
  runApp(MyApp(updateManager: updateManager));
}

Check & Apply Updates

// Check for updates
final result = await updateManager.checkForUpdates();

if (result.updateAvailable) {
  // Download and apply
  final updateResult = await updateManager.downloadAndApply(
    onProgress: (progress) => print('${progress.percentage}%'),
  );
  
  if (updateResult.success) {
    print('Updated to ${updateResult.newVersion}!');
  }
}

Use Updated Business Logic

// Feature flags
final isDarkMode = updateManager.getModuleData('feature_flags')?['dark_mode'] ?? false;

// Pricing rules
final discount = updateManager.getModuleData('pricing_rules')?['discount'] ?? 0.1;

🔧 Configuration Options

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`serverUrl`	`String`	required	Update metadata URL
`appId`	`String`	required	Your app's unique ID
`appVersion`	`String`	`'1.0.0'`	Current app version
`publicKey`	`String`	required	RSA public key for verification
`useStaticJson`	`bool`	`false`	`true` for GitHub, `false` for API
`checkOnLaunch`	`bool`	`true`	Auto-check on app start
`autoDownload`	`bool`	`false`	Auto-download when available
`autoApply`	`bool`	`false`	Auto-apply without confirmation
`maxBackupVersions`	`int`	`3`	Backup count for rollback
`validateSignatures`	`bool`	`true`	Verify RSA signatures
`validateChecksums`	`bool`	`true`	Verify SHA-256 checksums

📁 Server Setup

Option 1: GitHub Releases (Recommended)

1. Create update.json in your repo:

{
  "update_available": true,
  "patch": {
    "version": "1.1.0",
    "min_app_version": "2.0.0",
    "max_app_version": "3.0.0",
    "download_url": "https://github.com/you/repo/releases/download/v1.1.0/patch.zip",
    "checksum": "sha256:a1b2c3...",
    "signature": "base64_signature...",
    "mandatory": false,
    "released_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z"
  }
}

2. Create your patch bundle:

patch.zip
├── manifest.json
└── modules/
    ├── feature_flags.json
    └── pricing_rules.json

3. Upload to GitHub Releases

Option 2: Custom API Server

UpdateConfig(
  serverUrl: 'https://api.yourserver.com',
  checkEndpoint: '/api/updates/check',
  useStaticJson: false,  // Uses POST request
)

📦 Patch Bundle Structure

manifest.json

{
  "version": "1.1.0",
  "created_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "requires_restart": false,
  "modules": [
    { "name": "feature_flags", "path": "modules/feature_flags.json", "type": "json" },
    { "name": "pricing_rules", "path": "modules/pricing_rules.json", "type": "json" }
  ]
}

modules/feature_flags.json

{
  "dark_mode": true,
  "premium_features": true,
  "new_checkout_flow": false
}

modules/pricing_rules.json

{
  "default_discount": 0.15,
  "rules": [
    {
      "condition": { "gte": ["$order.total", 100] },
      "action": { "type": "return", "value": 0.25 }
    }
  ]
}

🔒 Security

Generate an RSA keypair for signing patches:

# Generate private key (keep secret!)
openssl genrsa -out private_key.pem 2048

# Extract public key (embed in your app)
openssl rsa -in private_key.pem -pubout -out public_key.pem

# Sign your patch
openssl dgst -sha256 -sign private_key.pem -out patch.sig patch.zip
base64 patch.sig > signature.txt

⏪ Rollback

// Rollback to previous version
final result = await updateManager.rollback();

// Get available versions
final versions = await updateManager.getAvailableRollbackVersions();

// Rollback to specific version
await updateManager.rollbackToVersion('1.0.0');

📱 Platform Support

Platform	Supported
Android	✅
iOS	✅
macOS	✅
Windows	✅
Linux	✅
Web	❌

📄 License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

Made with ❤️ for the Flutter community