Microsoft has released a guide on how to build apps for the dual-screen Surface Duo using the Flutter SDK.
The company’s flagship developer event, BUILD, begins tomorrow. Like many events this year, it will be entirely virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s event is likely to be a big one, and it seems Redmond is preparing developers early.
Flutter will require little introduction for many of you; but, for the rest, it’s Google’s UI toolkit for building native apps for Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, and more.
Surface Duo will be Microsoft’s first Android smartphone as it attempts to gain a foothold in the mobile space following the disaster that was Windows Phone.
Despite being among the first foldables announced, the Surface Duo was beat to market by the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X. Somewhat fortunately for Microsoft, both of its current rivals have been plagued with issues and it still has the chance to launch one of the first genuinely exciting foldables.
Microsoft has built a pretty stellar reputation as a hardware manufacturer thanks to its Surface and Xbox divisions; so the hopes are high for the device. What previously hindered Microsoft’s mobile ambitions was the lack of apps, so Redmond will be hoping to solve that issue by switching to Android and starting early in helping developers optimise their software to take full advantage of the dual-screens.
The Surface Duo SDK was released for Android developers in January. Microsoft’s new guide helps developers through the process of adding the Surface Duo SDK to their Flutter apps and how to access the screen and hinge APIs.
You can access Microsoft’s full guide on using Flutter to build Surface Duo apps here.
