feat: fix UI blocking and add performance options to getInstalledApps

yash-garg · yash-garg · commit c8423785b8be · 2026-01-16T14:32:56.000+05:30
- Run MethodChannel handlers on background thread via makeBackgroundTaskQueue()
- Add includeIcon parameter to skip expensive icon loading
- Add includeSystemApps parameter to filter system apps
- Fix versionCode Long to Int type conversion
- Bump minimum SDK to Dart 3.0 and Flutter 3.10
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,19 @@
+## 1.7.0
+
+### Performance
+- **Fixed UI blocking**: `getInstalledApps()` no longer freezes the UI. Method channel handlers now run on a background thread using Flutter's `makeBackgroundTaskQueue()`.
+
+### New Features
+- Added `includeIcon` parameter to `getInstalledApps()` - set to `false` for significantly faster performance when icons aren't needed.
+- Added `includeSystemApps` parameter to `getInstalledApps()` - set to `false` to only retrieve user-installed apps.
+
+### Bug Fixes
+- Fixed `versionCode` type mismatch that could cause issues on Android API 28+.
+
+### Breaking Changes
+- Minimum Dart SDK version is now 3.0.0
+- Minimum Flutter version is now 3.10.0
+
 ### 1.6.0
 
 - Updated Android dependencies
diff --git a/android/src/main/kotlin/dev/yashgarg/appcheck/AppcheckPlugin.kt b/android/src/main/kotlin/dev/yashgarg/appcheck/AppcheckPlugin.kt
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import io.flutter.embedding.engine.plugins.FlutterPlugin
 import io.flutter.plugin.common.MethodCall
 import io.flutter.plugin.common.MethodChannel
 import io.flutter.plugin.common.MethodChannel.*
+import io.flutter.plugin.common.StandardMethodCodec
 import kotlin.collections.*
 import android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT
 import android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.P
@@ -27,7 +28,14 @@ class AppcheckPlugin : FlutterPlugin, MethodCallHandler {
     private lateinit var context: Context
 
     override fun onAttachedToEngine(@NonNull flutterPluginBinding: FlutterPlugin.FlutterPluginBinding) {
-        channel = MethodChannel(flutterPluginBinding.binaryMessenger, "dev.yashgarg/appcheck")
+        // Use background task queue to prevent blocking the UI thread
+        val taskQueue = flutterPluginBinding.binaryMessenger.makeBackgroundTaskQueue()
+        channel = MethodChannel(
+            flutterPluginBinding.binaryMessenger,
+            "dev.yashgarg/appcheck",
+            StandardMethodCodec.INSTANCE,
+            taskQueue
+        )
         channel.setMethodCallHandler(this)
         context = flutterPluginBinding.applicationContext
     }
@@ -39,7 +47,11 @@ class AppcheckPlugin : FlutterPlugin, MethodCallHandler {
                 uriSchema = call.argument<String>("uri").toString()
                 checkAvailability(uriSchema, result)
             }
-            "getInstalledApps" -> result.success(installedApps)
+            "getInstalledApps" -> {
+                val includeIcon = call.argument<Boolean>("includeIcon") ?: true
+                val includeSystemApps = call.argument<Boolean>("includeSystemApps") ?: true
+                result.success(getInstalledApps(includeIcon, includeSystemApps))
+            }
             "isAppEnabled" -> {
                 uriSchema = call.argument<String>("uri").toString()
                 isAppEnabled(uriSchema, result)
@@ -61,22 +73,25 @@ class AppcheckPlugin : FlutterPlugin, MethodCallHandler {
         result.error("400", "App not found $uri", null)
     }
 
-    private val installedApps: MutableList<Map<String, Any>>
-        get() {
-            val packageManager: PackageManager = context.packageManager
-            val packages = if (SDK_INT >= TIRAMISU) {
-                packageManager.getInstalledPackages(PackageManager.PackageInfoFlags.of(0L))
-            } else {
-                @Suppress("DEPRECATION")
-                packageManager.getInstalledPackages(0)
-            }
-            val installedApps: MutableList<Map<String, Any>> = ArrayList(packages.size)
-            for (pkg in packages) {
-                val map = convertPackageInfoToJson(pkg)
-                installedApps.add(map)
-            }
-            return installedApps
+    private fun getInstalledApps(includeIcon: Boolean, includeSystemApps: Boolean): MutableList<Map<String, Any>> {
+        val packageManager: PackageManager = context.packageManager
+        val packages = if (SDK_INT >= TIRAMISU) {
+            packageManager.getInstalledPackages(PackageManager.PackageInfoFlags.of(0L))
+        } else {
+            @Suppress("DEPRECATION")
+            packageManager.getInstalledPackages(0)
+        }
+        val installedApps: MutableList<Map<String, Any>> = ArrayList(packages.size)
+        for (pkg in packages) {
+            val appInfo = pkg.applicationInfo
+            val isSystemApp = appInfo != null && (appInfo.flags and ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM) != 0
+            if (!includeSystemApps && isSystemApp) continue
+            
+            val map = convertPackageInfoToJson(pkg, includeIcon)
+            installedApps.add(map)
         }
+        return installedApps
+    }
     
     private fun getAppPackageInfo(uri: String): PackageInfo? {
         val pm = context.packageManager
@@ -93,14 +108,15 @@ class AppcheckPlugin : FlutterPlugin, MethodCallHandler {
         return null
     }
 
-    private fun convertPackageInfoToJson(info: PackageInfo): Map<String, Any> {
+    private fun convertPackageInfoToJson(info: PackageInfo, includeIcon: Boolean = true): Map<String, Any> {
         val app: MutableMap<String, Any> = HashMap()
 
-        val appInfo = info.applicationInfo;
+        val appInfo = info.applicationInfo
         if (appInfo != null) {
-            app["app_name"] = 
-                appInfo.loadLabel(context.packageManager).toString()
-            app["icon"] = DrawableUtil.drawableToByteArray(appInfo.loadIcon(context.packageManager))
+            app["app_name"] = appInfo.loadLabel(context.packageManager).toString()
+            if (includeIcon) {
+                app["icon"] = DrawableUtil.drawableToByteArray(appInfo.loadIcon(context.packageManager))
+            }
             app["system_app"] = (appInfo.flags and ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM) != 0
         } else {
             app["app_name"] = "N/A"
@@ -109,7 +125,7 @@ class AppcheckPlugin : FlutterPlugin, MethodCallHandler {
     
         app["package_name"] = info.packageName
         app["version_name"] = info.versionName.toString()
-        app["version_code"] = getVersionCode(info)
+        app["version_code"] = getVersionCode(info).toInt()
         
         return app
     }
diff --git a/example/lib/main.dart b/example/lib/main.dart
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class _AppCheckExampleState extends State<AppCheckExample> {
     List<AppInfo>? apps = [];
     try {
       if (Platform.isAndroid) {
-        apps = await appCheck.getInstalledApps();
+        apps = await appCheck.getInstalledApps(includeSystemApps: false);
         apps?.sort(
           (a, b) =>
               a.appName!.toLowerCase().compareTo(b.appName!.toLowerCase()),
@@ -70,25 +70,24 @@ class _AppCheckExampleState extends State<AppCheckExample> {
       debugShowCheckedModeBanner: false,
       home: Scaffold(
         appBar: AppBar(title: const Text('AppCheck Example')),
-        body:
-            installedApps.isNotEmpty
-                ? ListView.builder(
-                  itemCount: installedApps.length,
-                  itemBuilder: (context, index) {
-                    final app = installedApps[index];
-                    return ListTile(
-                      title: Text(app.appName ?? app.packageName),
-                      subtitle: Text(
-                        (app.isSystemApp ?? false) ? 'System App' : 'User App',
-                      ),
-                      trailing: IconButton(
-                        icon: const Icon(Icons.open_in_new),
-                        onPressed: () => _launchApp(app),
-                      ),
-                    );
-                  },
-                )
-                : const Center(child: Text('No installed apps found!')),
+        body: installedApps.isNotEmpty
+            ? ListView.builder(
+                itemCount: installedApps.length,
+                itemBuilder: (context, index) {
+                  final app = installedApps[index];
+                  return ListTile(
+                    title: Text(app.appName ?? app.packageName),
+                    subtitle: Text(
+                      (app.isSystemApp ?? false) ? 'System App' : 'User App',
+                    ),
+                    trailing: IconButton(
+                      icon: const Icon(Icons.open_in_new),
+                      onPressed: () => _launchApp(app),
+                    ),
+                  );
+                },
+              )
+            : const Center(child: Text('No installed apps found!')),
       ),
     );
   }
diff --git a/lib/src/appcheck.dart b/lib/src/appcheck.dart
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ class AppCheck {
   final MethodChannel _channel;
 
   AppCheck({MethodChannel? channel})
-      : _channel = channel ?? const MethodChannel('dev.yashgarg/appcheck');
+    : _channel = channel ?? const MethodChannel('dev.yashgarg/appcheck');
 
   /// Check if an app is available with the given [uri] scheme.
   ///
@@ -25,8 +25,10 @@ class AppCheck {
 
       return AppInfo.fromMap(app);
     } else if (Platform.isIOS) {
-      bool appAvailable =
-          await _channel.invokeMethod("checkAvailability", args);
+      bool appAvailable = await _channel.invokeMethod(
+        "checkAvailability",
+        args,
+      );
 
       if (!appAvailable) {
         throw PlatformException(code: "", message: "App not found $uri");
@@ -55,9 +57,22 @@ class AppCheck {
   /// Get the list of all installed apps, where
   /// each app has a form like [checkAvailability()].
   ///
+  /// [includeIcon] - Whether to include app icons (default: true).
+  /// Set to false for faster performance when icons aren't needed.
+  ///
+  /// [includeSystemApps] - Whether to include system apps (default: true).
+  /// Set to false to only get user-installed apps.
+  ///
   /// Returns a list of [AppInfo] containing all installed apps data, else returns [null]
-  Future<List<AppInfo>?> getInstalledApps() async {
-    List<dynamic>? apps = await _channel.invokeMethod("getInstalledApps");
+  Future<List<AppInfo>?> getInstalledApps({
+    bool includeIcon = true,
+    bool includeSystemApps = true,
+  }) async {
+    final args = <String, dynamic>{
+      'includeIcon': includeIcon,
+      'includeSystemApps': includeSystemApps,
+    };
+    List<dynamic>? apps = await _channel.invokeMethod("getInstalledApps", args);
     if (apps != null) {
       List<AppInfo> list = [];
       for (var app in apps) {
diff --git a/pubspec.yaml b/pubspec.yaml
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 name: appcheck
 description: Flutter plugin that allows you to check if an app is installed/enabled, launch an app and get the list of installed apps.
-version: 1.6.0
+version: 1.7.0
 homepage: https://github.com/Yash-Garg/appcheck
 
 environment:
-  sdk: ">=2.12.0 <4.0.0"
-  flutter: ">=3.0.0"
+  sdk: ">=3.0.0 <4.0.0"
+  flutter: ">=3.10.0"
 
 dependencies:
   flutter:
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ dependencies:
 dev_dependencies:
   flutter_test:
     sdk: flutter
-  flutter_lints: ^6.0.0
+  flutter_lints: ^5.0.0
 
 flutter:
   plugin:
