Sparkle Flutter

This plugin allows Flutter desktop apps to automatically update themselves (based on sparkle).

Getting Started

By default Sparkle will not be part of your app, so you have to first set env ENABLE_SPARKLE=1 in your terminal,

After adding this plugin, either export ENABLE_SPARKLE=1 to your terminal, or run all commands with this env,

flutter clean && flutter pub get
cd macos
ENABLE_SPARKLE=1 pod install

This will include the sparkle framework in your app

To remove Sparkle framework, repeat these commands, without env

flutter clean && flutter pub get
cd macos
pod install

Usage

import 'package:sparkle_flutter/sparkle_flutter.dart';

void main() async {
  // Must add this line.
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();

  String feedURL = 'http://localhost:5002/appcast.xml';
  await SparkleFlutter.initialize(feedUrl: feedUrl);
  await SparkleFlutter.checkForUpdates();
  await SparkleFlutter.setScheduledCheckInterval(3600);

  runApp(MyApp());
}

Please see the example app of this plugin for a full example.

Publish your app

Generate private key

Run the following command:

dart run sparkle_flutter:generate_keys

Prepare signing with EdDSA signatures, and add that in your info.plist file

Output:

A key has been generated and saved in your keychain. Add the `SUPublicEDKey` key to
the Info.plist of each app for which you intend to use Sparkle for distributing
updates. It should appear like this:

    <key>SUPublicEDKey</key>
    <string>pfIShU4dEXqPd5ObYNfDBiQWcXozk7estwzTnF9BamQ=</string>

Build Update

build your flutter mac app first with: flutter build macos

Get your app: YOUR_MAC_APP_NAME.app

Install 7zip

brew install p7zip

zip it with 7zip

7z a "OUTPUT_UPDATE_NAME" "YOUR_MAC_APP_NAME.app/*"

Get signature

Run the following command:

dart run sparkle_flutter:sign_update YOUR_MAC_APP_ZIP_FILE_PATH.zip

Output:

sparkle:edSignature="pbdyPt92pnPkzLfQ7BhS9hbjcV9/ndkzSIlWjFQIUMcaCNbAFO2fzl0tISMNJApG2POTkZY0/kJQ2yZYOSVgAA==" length="13400992"

Update the obtained new signature to the value of the sparkle:edSignature attribute of the enclosure node of the appcast.xml file.

 <item>
    <title>Version 1.1.0</title>
    <sparkle:releaseNotesLink>
        https://your_domain/your_path/release_notes.html
    </sparkle:releaseNotesLink>
    <pubDate>Sun, 16 Feb 2025 12:00:00 +0800</pubDate>
    <enclosure
            url="your update zip url"
            sparkle:version="1.1.0+2"
            sparkle:os="macos"
            sparkle:dsaSignature="ADD YOUR SIGNATURE HERE"
            length="ADD LENGTH HERE"
            type="application/octet-stream" />
</item>

Related Links

https://sparkle-project.org/