Flutter Checklist: 6 Key Steps for a Successful Release in 2025

Sommaire

🔑 Why structure your release ?
1. Clear environment configuration
2. Error monitoring
3. Relevant analytics from the start
4. Smart update management
5. Simplified user feedback
6. Strategic review solicitation
🎯 Bonus : automation with Fastlane
Summary table of steps
🚀 Conclusion & next steps
🚀 Essential resources and packages

Publishing your Flutter app without preparation is taking the risk of losing credibility and users. Here is a detailed checklist with lessons learned and code examples that will guide you toward a successful release in 2025.

🔑 Why structure your release ?

After developing and deploying many Flutter applications as a freelance developer, I found that clearly structuring the release process significantly reduces unforeseen issues and enhances the perceived quality by users.

In this guide, I share my complete checklist, illustrated with concrete examples drawn from real projects.

1. Clear environment configuration

Isolating your environments (development, staging, production) avoids data confusion, secures your sensitive information, and simplifies app maintenance.

Recommended tools :

flutter_flavorizr : Facilitates the automated creation and management of environments.

Concrete example :

Here is how to use flutter_flavorizr in your project :

# pubspec.yaml
dev_dependencies:
  flutter_flavorizr: ^2.2.1

# flavorizr.yaml
ide: vscode
flavors:
  dev:
    app:
      name: "MyApp - Dev"
    android:
      icon: "assets/images/icons/icon-dev.png"
      applicationId: "com.xxx.yyyDEV"
      flavorDimensions: "dev"
      firebase:
        config: "config/firebase/dev/google-services.json"
    ios:
      icon: "assets/images/icons/icon-dev.png"
      bundleId: "com.com.xxx.yyyDEV"
      buildSettings:
        PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER: com.com.xxx.yyyDEV
        DEVELOPMENT_TEAM: "MYTEAMID"
  demo:
    app:
      name: "MyApp - Demo"
    android:
      icon: "assets/images/icons/icon-demo.png"
      applicationId: "com.xxx.yyyDEMO"
      flavorDimensions: "demo"
      firebase:
        config: "config/firebase/demo/google-services.json"
    ios:
      icon: "assets/images/icons/icon-demo.png"
      bundleId: "com.xxx.yyyDEMO"
      buildSettings:
        PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER: com.xxx.yyyDEMO
        DEVELOPMENT_TEAM: "MYTEAMID"
        APPLE_APP_ID: "MYAPPID"
        UGS: "MyAppDemo"
  prod:
    app:
      name: "MyApp"
    android:
      icon: "assets/images/icons/icon.png"
      applicationId: "com.xxx.yyy"
      flavorDimensions: "prod"
      firebase:
        config: "config/firebase/prod/google-services.json"
    ios:
      icon: "assets/images/icons/icon.png"
      bundleId: "com.xxx.yyy"
      buildSettings:
        PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER: com.xxx.yyy
        DEVELOPMENT_TEAM: "MYTEAMID"
        APPLE_APP_ID: "MYAPPID"
        UGS: "MyApp"

Then generate the necessary files :

flutter pub run flutter_flavorizr

2. Error monitoring

Quickly identifying errors improves stability and user satisfaction. Firebase Crashlytics integrates perfectly with Flutter for this task.

Firebase Crashlytics integration example :

// main.dart
import 'package:firebase_core/firebase_core.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:firebase_crashlytics/firebase_crashlytics.dart';

void main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();
  await Firebase.initializeApp();

  FlutterError.onError = FirebaseCrashlytics.instance.recordFlutterError;

  runApp(MyApp());
}

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      home: Scaffold(
        appBar: AppBar(title: Text('Crashlytics Example')),
        body: Center(
          child: ElevatedButton(
            child: Text('Simulate Crash'),
            onPressed: () => FirebaseCrashlytics.instance.crash(),
          ),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

3. Relevant analytics from the start

User data is essential to guide product decisions and continuously improve your application.

Example with Firebase Analytics :

import 'package:firebase_analytics/firebase_analytics.dart';

class AnalyticsService {
  final FirebaseAnalytics _analytics = FirebaseAnalytics.instance;

  Future<void> logEvent(String name, Map<String, dynamic> parameters) async {
    await _analytics.logEvent(
      name: name,
      parameters: parameters,
    );
  }
}

// Utilisation
final analyticsService = AnalyticsService();
analyticsService.logEvent('button_clicked', {'button_name': 'subscribe'});

4. Smart update management

To ensure security and new features, you must be able to enforce a critical update.

Example with Firebase Remote Config :

import 'package:firebase_remote_config/firebase_remote_config.dart';

Future<void> checkMandatoryUpdate() async {
  final RemoteConfig remoteConfig = RemoteConfig.instance;
  await remoteConfig.fetchAndActivate();

  final minVersion = remoteConfig.getInt('min_app_version');
  final currentVersion = 1; // Votre version actuelle

  if (currentVersion < minVersion) {
    // Afficher un message de mise à jour forcée
  }
}

5. Simplified user feedback

Encourage and centralize user feedback easily from your application to continuously improve your product.

Example with the `feedback` package :

import 'package:feedback/feedback.dart';

void main() {
  runApp(
    BetterFeedback(
      child: MyApp(),
      onFeedback: (feedback) {
        print(feedback.text);
        // Envoyez ce feedback à votre backend ou un service tiers
      },
    ),
  );
}

6. Strategic review solicitation

Increase your visibility by getting positive reviews through timely solicitations.

Example with `rate_my_app` :

import 'package:rate_my_app/rate_my_app.dart';

  late final RateMyApp _rateMyApp;

_rateMyApp = RateMyApp(
  preferencesPrefix: 'rateMyApp_',
  minDays: 1,
  minLaunches: 3,
  remindDays: 3,
  remindLaunches: 9,
  googlePlayIdentifier: 'com.xxx.yyy',
  appStoreIdentifier: 'APP_STORE_ID',
);

🎯 Bonus : automation with Fastlane

Automate your release processes easily to gain efficiency and avoid human errors.

Fastlane example :

# fastlane/Fastfile
lane :release do
  build_app(scheme: "MyAppProd")
  upload_to_app_store
end

Summary table of steps

Step	Complexity	Implementation time	Benefit
Environment configuration	⭐⭐	⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Proactive error monitoring	⭐⭐	⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Analytics from the start	⭐	⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Smart update management	⭐⭐	⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Simplified user feedback	⭐	⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Strategic review solicitation	⭐	⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Automation with Fastlane (bonus)	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🚀 Conclusion & next steps

By rigorously applying these steps, you ensure a successful and stress-free publication of your Flutter app. To go further and receive more practical advice, continue exploring other guides on my blog.

🚀 Essential resources and packages

flutter_flavorizr : Official documentation
Firebase Crashlytics : Firebase documentation
Firebase Analytics : Firebase documentation
Firebase Remote Config : Firebase documentation
feedback : Documentation on pub.dev
in_app_review : Documentation on pub.dev
Fastlane : Official Fastlane site