Install the User App (Customer App)

How to point the Flutter customer app at your CargoPRO server and produce installable Android, iOS and web builds.

Flutter 3.41+ / Dart 3.11+ Android · iOS · Web Source: cargoproapp/

Setup steps

Install Flutter 3.41+

The app requires Flutter 3.41 or newer (Dart SDK ^3.11.0 — see cargoproapp/pubspec.yaml). Install from flutter.dev/install and run flutter doctor until it reports no blocking issues.

Fetch the packages

Open a terminal in the cargoproapp/ folder and run:

flutter pub get

Point the app at your server

The API base URL is a single compile-time constant in cargoproapp/lib/constants/api_constants.dart — there is no environment switching or --dart-define flag. Edit the baseUrl field of the ApiConstants class:

// cargoproapp/lib/constants/api_constants.dart
class ApiConstants {
  // Paths below are relative to baseUrl, which already includes /api.
  // Base URL - Update this to match your Laravel backend
  static const String baseUrl = 'https://your-domain.com/api';

Everything else (Dio in lib/services/api_service.dart, the connectivity check in lib/services/connectivity_service.dart, and all endpoint paths like /auth/login) is derived from this one constant, so this is the only line you change.

Keep the /api suffix The URL must end with /api (and must not have a trailing slash after it) — endpoint constants such as /auth/login are appended verbatim to baseUrl.

Configure Firebase for push (optional)

Push notifications stay gracefully disabled until Firebase is configured. lib/firebase_options.dart ships as a placeholder (DefaultFirebaseOptions.isPlaceholder is true), and lib/services/push_notification_service.dart simply logs "Firebase not configured yet" and returns — the app, login and the in-app notification inbox all work without it.

To enable real FCM push, activate the FlutterFire CLI and run flutterfire configure, which regenerates firebase_options.dart and downloads android/app/google-services.json and ios/Runner/GoogleService-Info.plist:

dart pub global activate flutterfire_cli
flutterfire configure

The full walkthrough (project creation, service account JSON, iOS plist) is in the Firebase & Push guide.

Run it or build for release

With a device or emulator connected:

flutter run

For distributable artifacts:

flutter build apk --release
flutter build appbundle

build/app/outputs/flutter-apk/app-release.apk is the installable APK; build/app/outputs/bundle/release/app-release.aab is the Play Store bundle.

iOS builds need a Mac iOS apps can only be built on macOS with Xcode installed (flutter build ios). Android and web builds work on any desktop OS.

Building: IDE or terminal

Open the cargoproapp/ folder in Android Studio (with the Flutter plugin installed). Pick a device in the toolbar and press Run to launch on it. For release artifacts open Terminal at the bottom and run the same flutter build apk --release / flutter build appbundle commands — the outputs appear in build/app/outputs/, which you can reveal with right-click → Reveal in Explorer.

List attached devices and run on the first one:

flutter devices
flutter run

Release builds:

flutter build apk --release
flutter build appbundle

Build a signed release (APK & app bundle)

Release builds must be signed with your own keystore. Both apps already ship with the Gradle signing configuration in place — they read android/key.properties and sign automatically. You create the keystore and the properties file; no Gradle editing is required.

Create your upload keystore

keytool -genkey -v -keystore ~/upload-keystore.jks \
        -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000 \
        -alias upload

Pick strong passwords — every Google Play update must be signed with this same key, so back the keystore up and record the passwords.

Create android/key.properties

Create android/key.properties and copy the keystore into android/app/:

key.properties contents — store and key passwords, alias and keystore file — The four lines `android/key.properties` needs. `storeFile` resolves relative to `android/app/`.

Never commit or ship these files key.properties and .jks files are your private signing credentials — the apps' .gitignore already excludes them; keep them out of any zip you publish too.

Build

The Gradle release block already uses the keystore:

Gradle release signing configuration reading key.properties — The shipped `signingConfigs.release` block — no edits needed.

flutter build apk --release          # installable APK
flutter build appbundle --release    # Google Play bundle

Outputs: build/app/outputs/flutter-apk/app-release.apk and build/app/outputs/bundle/release/app-release.aab. Verify with jarsigner -verify app-release.apk (jar verified expected), then upload the .aab in Play Console. Bump the build number in pubspec.yaml before every upload.

What happens at startup

The gate in cargoproapp/lib/main.dart decides which screen opens, in this order: connectivity first, then the saved auth token, then the onboarding flag.

Changing the app icon & splash

All branding flows from one source file. Replace cargoproapp/assets/logo.png (a square PNG of 1024×1024 px or larger is recommended) and the in-app logo plus splash update automatically — the splash, onboarding, login and offline screens all render assets/logo.png through the shared CargoAppMark widget in lib/screens/common/app_mark.dart.

The OS-level launcher icons and native splash bitmaps are separate files you regenerate at fixed sizes:

Target	File	Size
Android launcher — mdpi	`android/app/src/main/res/mipmap-mdpi/ic_launcher.png`	48×48
Android launcher — hdpi	`android/app/src/main/res/mipmap-hdpi/ic_launcher.png`	72×72
Android launcher — xhdpi	`android/app/src/main/res/mipmap-xhdpi/ic_launcher.png`	96×96
Android launcher — xxhdpi	`android/app/src/main/res/mipmap-xxhdpi/ic_launcher.png`	144×144
Android launcher — xxxhdpi	`android/app/src/main/res/mipmap-xxxhdpi/ic_launcher.png`	192×192
Android cold-start splash	`mipmap-*/launch_image.png` (same five buckets; centered by `drawable/launch_background.xml`)	as above
iOS app icon	`ios/Runner/Assets.xcassets/AppIcon.appiconset/`	all slots
iOS launch image	`ios/Runner/Assets.xcassets/LaunchImage.imageset/`	all slots
Web favicon	`web/favicon.png`	16×16 or 32×32

Tools are up to you — sizes are the contract Any icon generator, a design tool, or ImageMagick (magick logo.png -resize 192x192 ic_launcher.png) works. Keep the artwork square-padded so the rounded-corner crop in CargoAppMark does not clip it.

Demo mode for testing

If you imported the demo dataset on the server (see Demo Data), the app ships with a ready customer account you can sign in with:

Email:    customer@devtrixx.com
Password: 12345678

Use it to walk the full flow — shipments, pickups, invoices and the notification inbox — before connecting real users.

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