What is the use of shorebird , stac.dev and what is the difference between them ?

Overview

Shorebird and Stac.dev are both Flutter "code push" / live update solutions — they allow you to update your Flutter app's Dart code without going through the App Store or Play Store review process.

Shorebird

Shorebird is an open-source code push service for Flutter apps. It replaces the Dart AOT runtime with a custom Dart interpreter that can download and apply patches.

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# Install Shorebird CLI
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shorebirdtech/shorebird/main/install.sh -sSf | bash

# Initialize in your Flutter project
shorebird init

# Create a release
shorebird release android
shorebird release ios

# Push a patch (no store review needed!)
shorebird patch android
shorebird patch ios

How It Works

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Standard Flutter:
Code → AOT compile → App binary → Store review → User downloads

Shorebird:
Code → AOT + Shorebird runtime → Store review (once)
       ↓
Patch → Shorebird server → App downloads patch on next launch
        (No store review for patches!)

Key Features

stac.dev

Stac (now largely superseded by Shorebird) was an earlier Flutter code push solution. Shorebird is now the de facto standard for Flutter OTA updates.

Shorebird vs Traditional Release

Limitations

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❌ Cannot update native code (Swift, Kotlin, Java, Objective-C)
❌ Cannot update Flutter engine
✅ Can update all Dart code
✅ Can update assets (images, fonts)

Use Case in Practice

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v1.0.0 released to App Store and Play Store
User installs the app
↓
Team discovers a critical bug in Dart code
↓
shorebird patch android && shorebird patch ios
↓
Users get the fix on next app launch — within minutes, no review!

Summary: Shorebird is the leading Flutter code push solution. It enables instant Dart code patches without App Store/Play Store review. Ideal for fixing critical bugs or making content/logic updates quickly. Does NOT work for native code changes.