How to Export APK in Flutter

To export an APK (Android Package) file in Flutter, follow this step-by-step guide. This guide will allow you to generate a release version of your Flutter app and prepare it for distribution or installation on Android devices.

Step 1: Set Up Your Environment

Make sure you have Flutter and Android Studio installed on your machine. You’ll also need an emulator or a connected Android device to test the APK.

  • Make sure Android SDK and Android Studio are properly installed.

  • Ensure that your Flutter project is working correctly.

You can verify your environment by running:

flutter doctor

Fix any issues reported by flutter doctor before proceeding.

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Make sure your flutter is running in android emulator

Step 2: Configure Your App for Release

Before exporting the APK, you need to configure your Flutter app for release mode.

  1. Update android/app/build.gradle:

    • Open android/app/build.gradle.

    • Locate the buildTypes block and ensure the release block is properly set up. Here's a default release configuration:

    android {
        compileSdkVersion 34

        defaultConfig {
            applicationId "com.example.myapp" //make sure the name is from your company and prohect name
            minSdkVersion 21
            targetSdkVersion 33
            versionCode 1
            versionName "1.0"
        }

        buildTypes {
            release {
                // Shrinks, optimizes, and obfuscates your code by default
                minifyEnabled true
                // Enables ProGuard for code obfuscation (optional)
                proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android-optimize.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
            }
        }
    }

Step 4: Build the APK

Now that the project is set up for release, you can generate the APK.

  1. Run the Flutter Build Command: Run the following command in the terminal from your project’s root directory:

     flutter build apk --release
    

    This command builds the release APK and stores it in the build/app/outputs/flutter-apk directory.

  1. Check the APK: The APK will be located at:

     build/app/outputs/flutter-apk/app-release.apk
    

Step 5: Test the APK on an Android Device

  1. Transfer the APK to your Android device via USB, email, or cloud storage.

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    In my case I use Telegram
  2. Open the APK file on your device and install it.

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    That’s All! I think this is simply exporting Flutter app to APK, If your Flutter app has many features I think you will encounter some issues but you can simply search for the error or fix soulotion by prompting CHAT GPT xD