Sizing Elements to a Percentage of Screen Width/Height in Flutter

Sizing Elements to a Percentage of Screen Width/Height in Flutter

19 December 2024 Stephan Petzl Leave a comment Tech-Help

Designing a responsive Flutter application often requires sizing elements relative to the screen dimensions. This guide explores several effective methods to accomplish this task, helping you choose the best approach for your project’s needs.

Using FractionallySizedBox

The FractionallySizedBox widget is a robust choice for sizing elements relative to their parent widget’s dimensions. It allows you to specify a fraction of the available space for the widget to fill. Here is a practical example:

Widget myWidget() {
  return FractionallySizedBox(
    widthFactor: 0.7,
    heightFactor: 0.3,
    child: Container(
      color: Colors.green,
    ),
  );
}

In this example, the green container occupies 70% of the available width and 30% of the available height.

Leveraging the Expanded Widget

The Expanded widget is another option that lets widgets fill available space, either horizontally or vertically, based on the layout’s direction. The flex property is used to allocate space proportionally among children in a Row or Column:

Widget myWidget() {
  return Row(
    children: [
      Expanded(
        flex: 7,
        child: Container(
          color: Colors.green,
        ),
      ),
      Expanded(
        flex: 3,
        child: Container(
          color: Colors.yellow,
        ),
      ),
    ],
  );
}

In this setup, the green container takes up 70% of the width, while the yellow container takes up 30%.

Utilizing MediaQuery for Precise Control

If you need precise control over the screen dimensions, MediaQuery provides the screen’s size, enabling you to calculate dimensions dynamically:

double width = MediaQuery.of(context).size.width;
double yourWidth = width * 0.65;

This method is particularly useful when you want to set dimensions based on the entire screen size, regardless of the surrounding layout.

Conclusion

Choosing the right approach depends on your specific requirements. For simple layouts, FractionallySizedBox and Expanded are often sufficient. If you need more control, MediaQuery provides the flexibility to tailor dimensions precisely.

Enhance Your Testing with Repeato

When developing mobile applications, ensuring your UI components respond correctly to different screen sizes is crucial. Repeato can assist in this aspect by automating your UI tests for iOS and Android apps. As a no-code test automation tool, Repeato allows you to create, run, and maintain tests efficiently, leveraging computer vision and AI. This ensures your app’s responsiveness is tested thoroughly across a variety of scenarios.

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