Native Android activities allow you to launch fullscreen UIs that are entirely run by and on the Android platform. You will only write Kotlin code in those views (though they might pass messages to and receive messages from your Dart code) and you will have access to the full breadth of native Android functionality.

Adding this functionality requires making several changes to your Flutter app and its internal, generated Android app. On the Flutter side, you will need to create a new platform method channel and call itsinvokeMethod method. On the Android side, you will need to register a matching nativeMethodChannel to receive the signal from Dart and then launch a new activity. Recall that all Flutter apps (when running on Android) exist within an Android activity that is completely consumed by the Flutter app. Thus, as you will see in the code sample, the job of the nativeMethodChannel callback is to launch a second activity.

Not all Android activities use Jetpack Compose, but this tutorial assumes you want to use Compose.

On the Dart side, create a method channel and invoke it from a specific user interaction, like tapping a button.

import'package:flutter/material.dart';import'package:flutter/services.dart';​// SECTION 1: START COPYING HEREconstplatformMethodChannel=MethodChannel(// Note: You can change this string value, but it must match// the `CHANNEL` attribute in the next step.'com.example.flutter_android_activity',);// SECTION 1: END COPYING HERE​voidmain(){runApp(constMainApp());}​classMainAppextendsStatelessWidget{constMainApp({super.key});​// SECTION 2: START COPYING HEREvoid_launchAndroidActivity(){platformMethodChannel.invokeMethod(// Note: You can change this value, but it must match// the `call.method` value in the next section.'launchActivity',​// Note: You can pass any primitive data types you like.// To pass complex types, use package:pigeon to generate// matching Dart and Kotlin classes that share serialization logic.{'message':'Hello from Flutter'},);}// SECTION 2: END COPYING HERE​@overrideWidgetbuild(BuildContextcontext){returnMaterialApp(home:Scaffold(body:constCenter(child:Text('Hello World!')),floatingActionButton:FloatingActionButton(// SECTION 3: Call `_launchAndroidActivity` somewhere.onPressed:_launchAndroidActivity,​// SECTION 3: Endtooltip:'Launch Android activity',child:constIcon(Icons.launch),),),);}}

There are 3 important values that must match across your Dart and Kotlin code:

1. The channel name (in this sample, the value is"com.example.flutter_android_activity").
2. The method name (in this sample, the value is"launchActivity").
3. The structure of the data which Dart passes and the structure of the data which Kotlin expects to receive. In this case, the data is a map with a single"message" key.

You must make changes to 4 files in the generated Android app to ready it for launching fresh Compose activities.

The first file requiring modifications isandroid/app/build.gradle.

1. Add the following to the existingandroid block:

   • Kotlin
   • Groovy

   android/app/build.gradle.kts

   kotlin

   android{// Begin adding herebuildFeatures{compose=true}composeOptions{// https://developer.android.com/jetpack/androidx/releases/compose-kotlinkotlinCompilerExtensionVersion="1.4.8"}// End adding here}

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   android/app/build.gradle

   groovy

   android{// Begin adding herebuildFeatures{composetrue}composeOptions{// https://developer.android.com/jetpack/androidx/releases/compose-kotlinkotlinCompilerExtensionVersion="1.4.8"}// End adding here}

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   Visit thedeveloper.android.com link in the code snippet and adjustkotlinCompilerExtensionVersion, as necessary. You should only need to do this if you receive errors duringflutter run and those errors tell you which versions are installed on your machine.

2. Next, add the following block at the bottom of the file, at the root level:

   • Kotlin
   • Groovy

   android/app/build.gradle.kts

   kotlin

   dependencies{implementation("androidx.core:core-ktx:1.10.1")implementation("androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime-ktx:2.6.1")implementation("androidx.activity:activity-compose")implementation(platform("androidx.compose:compose-bom:2024.06.00"))implementation("androidx.compose.ui:ui")implementation("androidx.compose.ui:ui-graphics")implementation("androidx.compose.ui:ui-tooling-preview")implementation("androidx.compose.material:material")implementation("androidx.compose.material3:material3")testImplementation("junit:junit:4.13.2")androidTestImplementation("androidx.test.ext:junit:1.1.5")androidTestImplementation("androidx.test.espresso:espresso-core:3.5.1")androidTestImplementation(platform("androidx.compose:compose-bom:2024.06.00"))androidTestImplementation("androidx.compose.ui:ui-test-junit4")androidTestImplementation("androidx.compose.ui:ui-test-junit4")debugImplementation("androidx.compose.ui:ui-tooling")debugImplementation("androidx.compose.ui:ui-test-manifest")}

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   android/app/build.gradle

   groovy

   dependencies{implementation("androidx.core:core-ktx:1.10.1")implementation("androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime-ktx:2.6.1")implementation("androidx.activity:activity-compose")implementation(platform("androidx.compose:compose-bom:2024.06.00"))implementation("androidx.compose.ui:ui")implementation("androidx.compose.ui:ui-graphics")implementation("androidx.compose.ui:ui-tooling-preview")implementation("androidx.compose.material:material")implementation("androidx.compose.material3:material3")testImplementation("junit:junit:4.13.2")androidTestImplementation("androidx.test.ext:junit:1.1.5")androidTestImplementation("androidx.test.espresso:espresso-core:3.5.1")androidTestImplementation(platform("androidx.compose:compose-bom:2023.08.00"))androidTestImplementation("androidx.compose.ui:ui-test-junit4")debugImplementation("androidx.compose.ui:ui-tooling")implementation"androidx.core:core-ktx:1.10.1"implementation"androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime-ktx:2.6.1"implementation"androidx.activity:activity-compose"implementationplatform("androidx.compose:compose-bom:2024.06.00")implementation"androidx.compose.ui:ui"implementation"androidx.compose.ui:ui-graphics"implementation"androidx.compose.ui:ui-tooling-preview"implementation"androidx.compose.material:material"implementation"androidx.compose.material3:material3"testImplementation"junit:junit:4.13.2"androidTestImplementation"androidx.test.ext:junit:1.1.5"androidTestImplementation"androidx.test.espresso:espresso-core:3.5.1"androidTestImplementationplatform("androidx.compose:compose-bom:2023.08.00")androidTestImplementation"androidx.compose.ui:ui-test-junit4"debugImplementation"androidx.compose.ui:ui-tooling"debugImplementation"androidx.compose.ui:ui-test-manifest"}

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   The second file requiring modifications isandroid/build.gradle.

3. Add the following buildscript block at the top of the file:

   • Kotlin
   • Groovy

   android/build.gradle.kts

   kotlin

   buildscript{dependencies{// Replace with the latest version.classpath("com.android.tools.build:gradle:8.1.1")}repositories{google()mavenCentral()}}

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   android/build.gradle

   groovy

   buildscript{dependencies{// Replace with the latest version.classpath'com.android.tools.build:gradle:8.1.1'}repositories{google()mavenCentral()}}

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   The third file requiring modifications isandroid/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml.

4. In the root application block, add the following<activity> declaration:

   android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml

   xml

   <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"><applicationandroid:label="flutter_android_activity"android:name="${applicationName}"android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher">​// START COPYING HERE<activity android:name=".SecondActivity" android:exported="true" android:theme="@style/LaunchTheme"></activity>// END COPYING HERE​<activity android:name=".MainActivity" …></activity>…</manifest>

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   The fourth and final code requiring modifications isandroid/app/src/main/kotlin/com/example/flutter_android_activity/MainActivity.kt. Here you'll write Kotlin code for your desired Android functionality.

5. Add the necessary imports at the top of the file:

   infoNote

   Your imports might vary if library versions have changed or if you introduce different Compose classes when you write your own Kotlin code. Follow your IDE's hints for the correct imports you require.

   MainActivity.kt

   kotlin

   packagecom.example.flutter_android_activity​importandroid.content.Intentimportandroid.os.Bundleimportandroidx.activity.ComponentActivityimportandroidx.activity.compose.setContentimportandroidx.compose.foundation.layout.Columnimportandroidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxSizeimportandroidx.compose.material3.Buttonimportandroidx.compose.material3.MaterialThemeimportandroidx.compose.material3.Surfaceimportandroidx.compose.material3.Textimportandroidx.compose.ui.Modifierimportandroidx.core.app.ActivityCompatimportio.flutter.embedding.android.FlutterActivityimportio.flutter.embedding.engine.FlutterEngineimportio.flutter.plugin.common.MethodCallimportio.flutter.plugin.common.MethodChannelimportio.flutter.plugins.GeneratedPluginRegistrant

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6. Modify the generatedMainActivity class by adding aCHANNEL field and aconfigureFlutterEngine method:

   MainActivity.kt

   kotlin

   classMainActivity:FlutterActivity(){// This value must match the `MethodChannel` name in your Dart code.privatevalCHANNEL="com.example.flutter_android_activity"​overridefunconfigureFlutterEngine(flutterEngine:FlutterEngine){GeneratedPluginRegistrant.registerWith(flutterEngine)​MethodChannel(flutterEngine.dartExecutor.binaryMessenger,CHANNEL).setMethodCallHandler{call:MethodCall,result:MethodChannel.Result->when(call.method){// Note: This must match the first parameter passed to// `platformMethodChannel.invokeMethod` in your Dart code."launchActivity"->{try{// Takes an object, in this case a String.valmessage=call.argumentsvalintent=Intent(this@MainActivity,SecondActivity::class.java)intent.putExtra("message",message.toString())startActivity(intent)}catch(e:Exception){}result.success(true)}else->{}}}}}

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7. Add a secondActivity to the bottom of the file, which you referenced in the previous changes toAndroidManifest.xml:

   MainActivity.kt

   kotlin

   classSecondActivity:ComponentActivity(){overridefunonCreate(savedInstanceState:Bundle?){super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)​setContent{Surface(modifier=Modifier.fillMaxSize(),color=MaterialTheme.colorScheme.background){Column{Text(text="Second Activity")// Note: This must match the shape of the data passed from your Dart code.Text(""+getIntent()?.getExtras()?.getString("message"))Button(onClick={finish()}){Text("Exit")}}}}}}

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These steps show how to launch a native Android activity from a Flutter app, which can sometimes be an easy way to connect to specific Android functionality.