The Flutter ecosystem is entering a new architectural phase. As of April 7, the Material and Cupertino libraries within the main Flutter repository have entered a code freeze. This move is part of an initiative to decouple these components from the core framework.
What is Changing?
Future development for these design systems will move to the flutter/packages repository and be released as independent packages: material_ui and cupertino_ui on pub.dev.
Timeline and Impact
- Immediate effect: Minimal for app developers. Existing code continues to work.
- Stable 3.44: The new packages will be officially published.
- Post-3.44: The old internal code will be deprecated in the following stable release before eventual removal.
The Goal of Decoupling
By moving these libraries out of the core SDK, Flutter aims to create a more modular ecosystem that is easier to evolve. This transition, made possible by significant community effort in migrating tests and removing dependencies, ensures a smoother upgrade path with fewer breaking changes and improved developer experience (DX).
