Ex-Googler announces Flock, a Flutter fork, as Google's UI toolkit faces uncertain future

Flutter’s journey, from Google-backed cross-platform hero to the recent uncertainty around its future, has taken an interesting new twist. In the wake of a shrinking internal team, one ex-Googler named Matt Carroll recently announced a bold decision: he’s forking Flutter, creating what he calls “Flock.” For the millions of developers invested in the Flutter ecosystem, this announcement raises new questions. What’s actually going on? Is Flutter’s future really as wobbly as it seems?

To get to the bottom of this, or at least close to, let’s rewind a bit.

Back in May 2024, Google’s Flutter team was among those hit by company-wide layoffs. For the developers who had invested countless hours building with Flutter, the news was unsettling. Speculation quickly followed. One Flutter and Firebase developer, known online as xeladu, wrote, “I’d rather say no [to learning Flutter], to be totally honest.” He cautioned newcomers against betting on a long-term Flutter career until Google provided some reassurance.

Enter Flutter’s Product Manager, Seth Ladd, who assured the community that “Google itself gets a ton of value from Flutter.” To illustrate this, he pointed to internal apps like Google Earth and Classroom, which have benefitted from the cross-platform framework. And to be fair, Flutter’s track record is impressive: over a million apps, spanning everything from startups to major brands like Geico and Virgin Money. But while Ladd’s words offered some comfort, he did acknowledge Google’s recommendation of Kotlin over Flutter for deeper hardware integration — a preference that added a bit more fuel to the fire.

Fast-forward to October 2024. Carroll, an ex-Googler who previously worked on the Flutter team, posted a lengthy explanation of why he’s leading the Flock fork. According to him, Flutter has a “labor shortage” — a staggering ratio of about one developer per 20,000 Flutter users, which he believes has led to a growing backlog of bugs and delayed feature rollouts. Forking, he argues, will help accelerate development by adding much-needed manpower and removing some of the bureaucratic roadblocks he claims stymie external contributions.

To be clear, Carroll doesn’t plan to pull Flutter’s community into an entirely separate universe. Instead, Flock will be fully compatible with Flutter but promises faster reviews, community-driven priorities, and an approach to contributions that he hopes will welcome more developers with open arms.

As expected, the announcement of Flock has stirred up reactions across the developer community. On social media platforms, some developers have welcomed Flock as a way to keep Flutter alive in case Google does decide to abandon the project. One user on X said, “If there’s fear Google might abandon Flutter, the community is in safe hands.”

However, others are less optimistic. “Complete waste of time. I honestly think this is just more Flutter FUD. The only thing this achieves is, ironically, wasting the Flutter team’s time in inevitable meetings with higher-ups about why there’s a fork of Google’s supposed good-faith-generating open source UI framework,” a user wrote on Reddit, arguing that resources should go toward supporting Flutter, not dividing it. Another user chimed in with a tongue-in-cheek comment: “Yeah, well, I’m gonna go build my own Flutter! With blackjack and hookers!” Overall, the community is split between those who see Flock as a necessary safeguard and those who think it’s an overreaction that only adds confusion.

Some developers argue that Google simply needs to commit more resources to Flutter and scale the team. The analogy here is often made to WhatsApp, a small team that efficiently runs a platform with billions of users, though not everyone agrees that the comparison is quite fair. In short, Flock’s detractors worry that a fork could dilute an already thin developer pool, making it harder for Flutter or Flock to achieve critical mass.

So, where does this leave Flutter? Google has not yet made any public statement about Flock, nor has it indicated that it plans to walk away from Flutter. Seth Ladd continues to highlight Flutter’s roadmap, which includes performance improvements, increased platform integration, and even new ad formats for monetization. This roadmap hints at a commitment to keep Flutter around, albeit with a somewhat skeletal team compared to its heyday.

On the other hand, Flock is pressing ahead, aiming to be more nimble and inclusive of community-driven priorities. Carroll emphasizes that Flock won’t compete with Flutter but will complement it, bridging gaps by addressing neglected tickets and enhancing features. If successful, this dual system could bring the best of both worlds — a Google-backed framework with additional community support. But, of course, this is assuming that Flock gains enough traction and skilled contributors to keep pace.

So, the big question here is that is it time to abandon Flutter? The simple answer is keep calm, but stay alert. For now, Google’s roadmap for Flutter suggests they’re committed to its ongoing evolution, though Flock’s existence does hint at underlying issues with Flutter’s sustainability within Google’s ecosystem.

Maybe Flock is just another open-source fork that will fizzle out. But if Google’s resources for Flutter continue to thin, Flock might just end up as Flutter’s lifeboat.