The Top 5 Flutter State Management Solutions: A Deep Dive

Redux

Redux is a popular state management library for Flutter applications that follows the unidirectional data-flow pattern. If you have worked with React or any other frontend framework, you might have heard of a similarly named package. However, even though both libraries share the same name, it is maintained by different people.

A basic implementation of Redux in Flutter is based on the official Flutter Redux repository.

To start using Redux, you can create a state model and reducer function that takes in the current state and an action, then returns a new state based on that action. Along with an actions enum, that’ll indicate which action is being executed against the state.

class ColorTogglerState {
  final bool isRed;

  ColorTogglerState({this.isRed = false});

  ColorTogglerState copyWith({bool? isRed}) {
    return ColorTogglerState(isRed: isRed ?? this.isRed);
  }
}

enum Actions { Toggle }

ColorTogglerState toggleColorReducer(ColorTogglerState state, dynamic action) {
  if (action == Actions.Toggle) {
    return state.copyWith(isRed: !state.isRed);
  }

  return state;
}

Once you set up your reducer function and actions enum, the next step is to create a store that’ll hold your application state. Redux is similar to BLoC because you need to increase the store throughout your application by passing the store through the parent widget to the child widget. The only difference is, Redux doesn’t use a provider and consumer model.

void main() {
  final store = Store<ColorTogglerState>(
    toggleColorReducer,
    initialState: ColorTogglerState(),
  );

  runApp(FlutterReduxApp(store: store));
}

Suppose you have an app. You must pass the store from the main application entry point.

class FlutterReduxApp extends StatelessWidget {
  final Store<ColorTogglerState> store;

  const FlutterReduxApp({Key? key, required this.store}) : super(key: key);

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return StoreProvider<ColorTogglerState>(
      store: store,
      child: MaterialApp(
        home: StoreConnector<ColorTogglerState, bool>(
          converter: (store) => store.state.isRed,
          builder: (context, isRed) {
            return TextButton(
              style: TextButton.styleFrom(
                foregroundColor: isRed ? Colors.red : Colors.indigo,
              ),
              onPressed: () => store.dispatch(Actions.Toggle),
              child: const Text('Change my Color!'),
            );
          },
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

What’s cool about Redux is, just like GetX, you can use the store inside StatelessWidget, removing any added complexity needed to handle state. This helps to simplify the codebase and make it easier to maintain, especially as your app grows in size and complexity. And if you look carefully, it is very similar to BLoC patterns.

When testing the Widget that uses Redux, it’s similar to how you would test Provider. Use WidgetTester and initialize store, dispatch actions to change the state, and assert the expected changes.

However, finding working documentation on how the tests will perform requires effort. So you need to find some working examples or experiments to get the tests running. The flutter_redux maintainers provide a GitHub repository with some example tests to help guide you through the process, but that’s about it.

Redux is a mediocre package for simplicity. It’s easy to understand but requires a bit of boilerplate code to set up the reducers and states. However, it’s still a viable option to be used as a primary or secondary state management solution when combined with all the packages mentioned in this article.

Redux is not the best option for beginning developers who are still familiar with state management in Flutter. Documentation is far between, but some third-party resources feature developers who have shared their knowledge when working with Redux.

Using Redux with Flutter can help simplify your codebase and make it easier to maintain as your app grows in size and complexity. Additionally, Redux is excellent for sharing state between screens because it separates the state logic from UI, and it’s less complex than BLoC.

If you want to handle state management in your Flutter app, consider using Redux. If you want to learn more about Flutter Redux, check out their official documentation page.

In this article, you learned about the top five state management solutions you can use for your Flutter app. You also got a comparison between the various state management solutions based on their simplicity and suitability for various uses. It’s essential to consider the needs of your app and choose a state management solution that fits those needs. Choosing the right state management solution can make all the difference in your app’s performance and maintainability.

This article showed you how many lines of code are required to set up a mini Flutter app using the respective state management solutions. However, it didn’t (and couldn’t) do any performance benchmarks or provide an exhaustive comparison of all available state management solutions for Flutter. That was beyond the scope of this article.

Here’s a popularity of the five featured state management solutions on 15 Feb 2023.

And here’s a subjective comparison between the packages per article’s editorial team analysis.

In summary, compared to other packages, Provider takes the prize as the No. 1 most-loved package by Flutter developers for its simplicity. However, regarding popularity in StackOverflow, Flutter BLoC wins as the one with the most questions and answers so far. This suggests Flutter BLoC has a bigger community and might be better suited for complex apps with multiple screens and data streams. Ultimately, the state management solution to use in your Flutter app will depend on your project’s needs.

Consider implementing one or more of the state management solutions discussed in this article and practice building your app with them.

We have referenced some Kodeco articles and official documentation for each state management solution, so check those out.

1. Provider documentation page.
2. Bloc documentation page.
3. GetX documentation page.
4. MobX documentation page.
5. Redux documentation page.

If you need a Kodeco-guided tutorial on Flutter state management or want to learn more about app development, check our website.

1. Getting started with the Bloc pattern
2. Getting started with Bloc 8.0
3. State management using Provider

We hope you enjoyed this article. Have you used any of the state management solutions mentioned in this article? Which one is your favorite, and why?

If you have any questions or comments, please join the forum discussion below!