Skip to main content

macOS and iOS: built apps now require macOS 12 and iOS 15

note

This guide is accurate as of Flet 1.1.0. Later releases might add new APIs or additional migration paths.

The breaking changes and deprecations index lists the guides created for each release.

Summary​

Starting with Flet 1.1.0, apps built with flet build macos require macOS 12 (Monterey) or later, and apps built with flet build ipa or flet build ios-simulator require iOS 15 or later. Previously the build template targeted macOS 11 and iOS 13.

The Flet desktop client, which flet run and ft.run() use to show desktop apps on macOS, now requires macOS 12 as well, as the installation requirements already stated.

Background​

Xcode 27 only builds for macOS 12.0 or later and iOS 15.0 or later. A lower deployment target, which Xcode 26 and earlier only warned about, is now a build error, so flet build, flet debug and flet test failed for macOS and iOS on Xcode 27 (#6874):

The macOS deployment target 'MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET' is set to 11.0, but the range of supported deployment target versions is 12.0 to 27.0.x.

Flet 1.1.0 raises the deployment targets in the build template and the desktop client to these minimums. They are also the minimums of Flutter 3.47 and later.

Who is affected​

  • iOS: every iPhone and iPad that runs iOS 13 or 14 can be updated to iOS 15, so no device loses support. Only devices that were never updated past iOS 14 can't install the new build.
  • macOS: Macs that can't be updated past macOS 11 can no longer run your app. These are some models from 2013-2015, such as the MacBook Air (Mid 2013, Early 2014), the MacBook Pro (Late 2013, Mid 2014) and the iMac (Mid 2014). See macOS Monterey compatible computers for the full list. On macOS 11, the app doesn't open, and macOS says that it requires a newer macOS version.

Migration guide​

Most projects need no changes: rebuild your app with Flet 1.1.0 or later. After the upgrade, the next build regenerates the project in your build directory from the new template.

Custom build templates​

If you build with your own template (--template or [tool.flet.template]), apply the same changes to it, or it will still fail on Xcode 27.

In macos/Podfile, raise the platform and let pods that target an older macOS inherit it:

platform :osx, '12.0'

# ...

post_install do |installer|
  installer.pods_project.targets.each do |target|
    flutter_additional_macos_build_settings(target)
    if target.deployment_target.to_s[/\d+/].to_i < 12
      target.build_configurations.each do |config|
        config.build_settings.delete('MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET')
      end
    end
  end
end

In macos/Runner.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj, set all three occurrences (Debug, Release and Profile) to:

MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET = 12.0;

Do the same for iOS in ios/Podfile:

platform :ios, '15.0'

# ...

post_install do |installer|
  installer.pods_project.targets.each do |target|
    flutter_additional_ios_build_settings(target)
    if target.deployment_target.to_s[/\d+/].to_i < 15
      target.build_configurations.each do |config|
        config.build_settings.delete('IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET')
      end
    end
  end
end

and in ios/Runner.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj:

IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET = 15.0;

Keep any other code you already have in post_install. The pod step is needed because Flutter 3.44 creates its own engine pods for macOS 10.15 and iOS 13.0. Flutter 3.47 and later handle this themselves.

Supporting macOS 11 or iOS 13-14​

Builds for these versions need Xcode 26 or earlier, together with Flet 1.0.4 or a custom template that keeps the old deployment targets. For iOS this is a short-term option: starting April 2027, App Store Connect only accepts iOS apps built with the iOS 27 SDK, which comes with Xcode 27 (announcement).

No action needed for​

  • Android, Windows, Linux and web apps.

Timeline​

  • Changed in: 1.1.0

References​