Installing Flutter on a Mac, and running your first Flutter app (2024)

Flutter is a new way to rapidly build high-quality apps for iOS and Android. If you’re new to mobile development, or looking for a faster way to build apps, I recommend checking it out. 

The install guide has all the details, but this post covers the basics of what you need to do on a Mac. It assumes some basic Mac knowledge and comfort with the command line.

Get the Flutter SDK

• You'll need to clone the Flutter SDK from GitHub first. Open a new terminal window and type "git clone -b beta https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git". This will download the SDK files. 

• Next, add the Flutter tools to your system path by typing "export PATH=$PWD/flutter/bin:$PATH". Now when you type "flutter" commands, your system will know where to find them.

• Run "flutter doctor" to install any other dependencies. This may take a few minutes.

Once that's done, you have the Flutter SDK! Now you need the Android SDK to run apps. You can use Android Studio or Xcode - let's go with Android Studio. 

Get the Android SDK

• Download and install Android Studio from their website. Launch it to let it download the Android SDK for you. Once that's done, you can close Android Studio.

• Back in the terminal, run "flutter doctor" again to check that the Android tools were found. If you see "[✓] Android toolchain", you're good to go!

Now let's create a demo app. Type "flutter create my_first_app" to generate the project files. 

Create an Android Emulator

Your first demo app will run inside an emulator.

• Open Android Studio
• Choose “open existing project”
• Select the my_first_app directory, which flutter create created for you
• Using the Android Studio menus, select Tools > Android > AVD Manager

Click “Create Virtual Device”

• Choose Pixel 2, click Next
• Click Download for Oreo and accept the license
• Wait for the images and SDKs to finish downloading
• Choose Oreo for the system image, and click Next
• Accept the defaults, click Finish

Run the Emulator

Now that you have an emulator (also known as a Virtual Device), you need to launch it.

• Click the green arrow under “Actions” in the “Your Virtual Devices” window.
• Wait for the emulator to boot up
• Once you see the Android desktop in the virtual device, go back to the Terminal, ensure you are in the my_first_app directory, and type flutter devices.

If you see “Android SDK built for x86” in the list of devices, you are ready to run your first app! If you do not see any devices listed, please email flutter-dev@googlegroups.com

Accept the Android SDK licenses

• Go to Terminal, and type flutter doctor --android-licenses

Run your demo app

With the emulator running a virtual Android device, you can now run your app!

• In the Terminal, ensure you are in my_first_app directory, and type flutter run
• (Allow incoming network connections to the java process, if you see that popup)
• Wait for initial dependencies to download and configure

And there you have it - your first Flutter app running! Let me know if any part of the process needs more explanation.

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