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More native than a Web app

Noted by on his . Last updated . Changelog


Whenever I discover a new GUI toolkit, my first question is always “is it more native than the Web?” For reference, here are some ways Web apps have better system integration than Flutter:

  • System fonts, font hinting settings, and font fallback settings.
  • System text navigation shortcuts.
  • System scrollbar visibility, thickness, and click settings/behavior.
  • System highlight menus and controls (on touchscreens).
  • System display scaling settings.
  • System reduced-motion settings (An API is documented, but I have never used a Flutter app that actually disables animations. I may be wrong).
  • System reduced-transparency settings.
  • System forced-colors mode (Windows High Contrast Mode).
  • System color palettes (some browsers support setting default colors without necessarily forcing the palette).
  • System media controls (play/pause/skip, current track, e.g. using MPRIS on freedesktop platforms).

It’s an easier question to answer than my second question: “What WCAG conformance level can I hope for?