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Differentiate between ephemeral state and app state | Flutter
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target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div><span>Google Maps package</span><span class="material-symbols" aria-hidden="true">open_in_new</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-5-6" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-5-6"><span>News</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-5-6"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/resources/news-toolkit"><div><span>Build a news app</span></div></a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li aria-hidden="true"><div class="sidenav-divider"></div></li><li class="nav-header">User interface</li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui"><div><span>Introduction</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/widgets"><div><span>Widget catalog</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-10" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-10"><span>Layout</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-10"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/layout"><div><span>Introduction</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/layout/tutorial"><div><span>Build a layout</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-10-3" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-10-3"><span>Lists & grids</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-10-3"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/lists/basic-list"><div><span>Create and use lists</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/lists/horizontal-list"><div><span>Create a horizontal list</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/lists/grid-lists"><div><span>Create a grid view</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/lists/mixed-list"><div><span>Create lists with different types of items</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/lists/spaced-items"><div><span>Create lists with spaced items</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/lists/long-lists"><div><span>Work with long lists</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-10-4" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-10-4"><span>Scrolling</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-10-4"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/layout/scrolling"><div><span>Overview</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/layout/scrolling/slivers"><div><span>Use slivers to achieve fancy scrolling</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/lists/floating-app-bar"><div><span>Place a floating app bar above a list</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/effects/parallax-scrolling"><div><span>Create a scrolling parallax effect</span></div></a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-11" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-11"><span>Adaptive & responsive design</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-11"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/adaptive-responsive"><div><span>Overview</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/adaptive-responsive/general"><div><span>General approach</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/adaptive-responsive/safearea-mediaquery"><div><span>SafeArea & MediaQuery</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/adaptive-responsive/large-screens"><div><span>Large screens & foldables</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/adaptive-responsive/input"><div><span>User input & accessibility</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/adaptive-responsive/capabilities"><div><span>Capabilities & policies</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/adaptive-responsive/platform-adaptations"><div><span>Automatic platform adaptations</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/adaptive-responsive/best-practices"><div><span>Best practices</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/adaptive-responsive/more-info"><div><span>Additional resources</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-12" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-12"><span>Design & theming</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-12"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/design/themes"><div><span>Share styles with themes</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/design/material"><div><span>Material design</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/release/breaking-changes/material-3-migration"><div><span>Migrate to Material 3</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-12-4" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-12-4"><span>Text</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-12-4"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/design/text/typography"><div><span>Fonts & typography</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/design/fonts"><div><span>Use a custom font</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/design/package-fonts"><div><span>Export fonts from a package</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="https://pub.dev/packages/google_fonts" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div><span>Google Fonts package</span><span class="material-symbols" aria-hidden="true">open_in_new</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-12-5" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-12-5"><span>Custom graphics</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-12-5"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/design/graphics/fragment-shaders"><div><span>Use custom fragment shaders</span></div></a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-13" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-13"><span>Interactivity</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-13"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/interactivity"><div><span>Add interactivity to your app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-13-2" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-13-2"><span>Gestures</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-13-2"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/interactivity/gestures"><div><span>Introduction</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/gestures/handling-taps"><div><span>Handle taps</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/interactivity/gestures/drag-outside"><div><span>Drag an object outside an app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/effects/drag-a-widget"><div><span>Drag a UI element within an app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/gestures/ripples"><div><span>Add Material touch ripples</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/gestures/dismissible"><div><span>Implement swipe to dismiss</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-13-3" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-13-3"><span>Input & forms</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-13-3"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/forms/text-input"><div><span>Create and style a text field</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/forms/retrieve-input"><div><span>Retrieve the value of a text field</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/forms/text-field-changes"><div><span>Handle changes to a text field</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/forms/focus"><div><span>Manage focus in text fields</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/forms/validation"><div><span>Build a form with validation</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/design/snackbars"><div><span>Display a snackbar</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/interactivity/actions-and-shortcuts"><div><span>Implement actions & shortcuts</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/interactivity/focus"><div><span>Manage keyboard focus</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-14" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-14"><span>Assets & media</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-14"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/assets/assets-and-images"><div><span>Add assets and images</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/images/network-image"><div><span>Display images from the internet</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/images/fading-in-images"><div><span>Fade in images with a placeholder</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/plugins/play-video"><div><span>Play and pause a video</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/assets/asset-transformation"><div><span>Transform assets at build time</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-15" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-15"><span>Navigation & routing</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-15"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/navigation"><div><span>Overview</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/design/tabs"><div><span>Add tabs to your app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/navigation/navigation-basics"><div><span>Navigate to a new screen and back</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/navigation/passing-data"><div><span>Send data to a new screen</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/navigation/returning-data"><div><span>Return data from a screen</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/design/drawer"><div><span>Add a drawer to a screen</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/navigation/deep-linking"><div><span>Set up deep linking</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/navigation/set-up-app-links"><div><span>Set up app links for Android</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/navigation/set-up-universal-links"><div><span>Set up universal links for iOS</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/navigation/url-strategies"><div><span>Configure web URL strategies</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-16" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-16"><span>Animations & transitions</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-16"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/animations"><div><span>Introduction</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/animations/tutorial"><div><span>Tutorial</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/animations/implicit-animations"><div><span>Implicit animations</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/animation/animated-container"><div><span>Animate the properties of a container</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/animation/opacity-animation"><div><span>Fade a widget in and out</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/animations/hero-animations"><div><span>Hero animations</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/animation/page-route-animation"><div><span>Animate a page route transition</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/animation/physics-simulation"><div><span>Animate using a physics simulation</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/animations/staggered-animations"><div><span>Staggered animations</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/effects/staggered-menu-animation"><div><span>Create a staggered menu animation</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/animations/overview"><div><span>API overview</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-17" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-17"><span>Accessibility & internationalization</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-17"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/accessibility-and-internationalization/accessibility"><div><span>Accessibility</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/accessibility-and-internationalization/internationalization"><div><span>Internationalization</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li aria-hidden="true"><div class="sidenav-divider"></div></li><li class="nav-header">Beyond UI</li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link active collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-20" role="button" aria-expanded="true" aria-controls="sidenav-20"><span>Data & backend</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse show" id="sidenav-20"><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link active collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-20-1" role="button" aria-expanded="true" aria-controls="sidenav-20-1"><span>State management</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse show" id="sidenav-20-1"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/data-and-backend/state-mgmt/intro"><div><span>Introduction</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/data-and-backend/state-mgmt/declarative"><div><span>Think declaratively</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link active" href="/data-and-backend/state-mgmt/ephemeral-vs-app"><div><span>Ephemeral vs app state</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/data-and-backend/state-mgmt/simple"><div><span>Simple app state management</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/data-and-backend/state-mgmt/options"><div><span>Options</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-20-2" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-20-2"><span>Networking & http</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-20-2"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/data-and-backend/networking"><div><span>Overview</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/networking/fetch-data"><div><span>Fetch data from the internet</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/networking/authenticated-requests"><div><span>Make authenticated requests</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/networking/send-data"><div><span>Send data to the internet</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/networking/update-data"><div><span>Update data over the internet</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/networking/delete-data"><div><span>Delete data on the internet</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/networking/web-sockets"><div><span>Communicate with WebSockets</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-20-3" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-20-3"><span>Serialization</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-20-3"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/data-and-backend/serialization/json"><div><span>JSON serialization</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/networking/background-parsing"><div><span>Parse JSON in the background</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-20-4" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-20-4"><span>Persistence</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-20-4"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/persistence/key-value"><div><span>Store key-value data on disk</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/persistence/reading-writing-files"><div><span>Read and write files</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/persistence/sqlite"><div><span>Persist data with SQLite</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-20-5" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-20-5"><span>Firebase</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-20-5"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/data-and-backend/firebase"><div><span>Overview</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="https://firebase.google.com/docs/flutter/setup" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div><span>Add Firebase to your Flutter app</span><span class="material-symbols" aria-hidden="true">open_in_new</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/data-and-backend/google-apis"><div><span>Google APIs</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-21" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-21"><span>App architecture</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-21"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/app-architecture"><div><span>Introduction</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/app-architecture/concepts"><div><span>Architecture concepts</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/app-architecture/guide"><div><span>Guide to app architecture</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-21-4" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-21-4"><span>Architecture case study</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-21-4"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/app-architecture/case-study"><div><span>Overview</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/app-architecture/case-study/ui-layer"><div><span>UI layer</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/app-architecture/case-study/data-layer"><div><span>Data layer</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/app-architecture/case-study/dependency-injection"><div><span>Dependency injection</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/app-architecture/case-study/testing"><div><span>Testing each layer</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/app-architecture/recommendations"><div><span>Recommendations</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/app-architecture/design-patterns"><div><span>Design patterns</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-22" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-22"><span>Platform integration</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-22"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/reference/supported-platforms"><div><span>Supported platforms</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/desktop"><div><span>Build desktop apps with Flutter</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/platform-channels"><div><span>Write platform-specific code</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-22-4" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-22-4"><span>Android</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-22-4"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/android/install-android"><div><span>Add Android as build target</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/android/splash-screen"><div><span>Add a splash screen</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/android/predictive-back"><div><span>Add predictive back</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/android/c-interop"><div><span>Bind to native code</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/android/platform-views"><div><span>Host a native Android view</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/android/call-jetpack-apis"><div><span>Calling JetPack APIs</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/android/compose-activity"><div><span>Launch a Jetpack Compose activity</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/android/restore-state-android"><div><span>Restore state on Android</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/android/chromeos"><div><span>Target ChromeOS with Android</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-22-5" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-22-5"><span>iOS</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-22-5"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/ios/install-ios"><div><span>Add iOS as build target</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/ios/ios-latest"><div><span>Flutter on latest iOS</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/ios/apple-frameworks"><div><span>Leverage Apple's system libraries</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/ios/launch-screen"><div><span>Add a launch screen</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/ios/ios-app-clip"><div><span>Add iOS App Clip support</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/ios/app-extensions"><div><span>Add iOS app extensions</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/ios/c-interop"><div><span>Bind to native code</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/ios/platform-views"><div><span>Host a native iOS view</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/ios/ios-debugging"><div><span>Enable debugging on iOS</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/ios/restore-state-ios"><div><span>Restore state on iOS</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-22-6" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-22-6"><span>Linux</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-22-6"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/linux/install-linux"><div><span>Add Linux as build target</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/linux/building"><div><span>Build a Linux app</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-22-7" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-22-7"><span>macOS</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-22-7"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/macos/install-macos"><div><span>Add macOS as build target</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/macos/building"><div><span>Build a macOS app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/macos/c-interop"><div><span>Bind to native code</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/macos/platform-views"><div><span>Host a native macOS view</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-22-8" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-22-8"><span>Web</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-22-8"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/web"><div><span>Web support in Flutter</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/web/install-web"><div><span>Add web as build target</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/web/building"><div><span>Build a web app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/web/wasm"><div><span>Compile to WebAssembly</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/web/initialization"><div><span>Customize app initialization</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/web/embedding-flutter-web"><div><span>Add Flutter to any web app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/web/web-content-in-flutter"><div><span>Web content in Flutter</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/web/renderers"><div><span>Web renderers</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/web/web-images"><div><span>Display images on the web</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/web/faq"><div><span>Web FAQ</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-22-9" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-22-9"><span>Windows</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-22-9"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/windows/install-windows"><div><span>Add Windows as build target</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/windows/building"><div><span>Build a Windows app</span></div></a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-23" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-23"><span>Packages & plugins</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-23"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/packages-and-plugins/using-packages"><div><span>Use packages & plugins</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/packages-and-plugins/developing-packages"><div><span>Develop packages & plugins</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-23-3" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-23-3"><span>Swift Package Manager</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-23-3"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/packages-and-plugins/swift-package-manager/for-app-developers"><div><span>For app developers</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/packages-and-plugins/swift-package-manager/for-plugin-authors"><div><span>For plugin authors</span></div></a></li></ul></li><div class="sidenav-divider"></div><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/packages-and-plugins/favorites"><div><span>Flutter Favorites</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="https://pub.dev/flutter" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div><span>Package repository</span><span class="material-symbols" aria-hidden="true">open_in_new</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-24" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-24"><span>Testing & debugging</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-24"><li class="nav-header">Testing</li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/testing/overview"><div><span>Overview</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-24-3" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-24-3"><span>Unit testing</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-24-3"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/testing/unit/introduction"><div><span>Introduction</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/testing/unit/mocking"><div><span>Mock dependencies</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-24-4" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-24-4"><span>Widget testing</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-24-4"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/testing/widget/introduction"><div><span>Introduction</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/testing/widget/finders"><div><span>Find widgets</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/testing/widget/scrolling"><div><span>Simulate scrolling</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/testing/widget/tap-drag"><div><span>Simulate user interaction</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-24-5" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-24-5"><span>Integration testing</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-24-5"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/testing/integration/introduction"><div><span>Introduction</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/testing/integration-tests"><div><span>Write and run an integration test</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/testing/integration/profiling"><div><span>Profile an integration test</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/testing/testing-plugins"><div><span>Test a plugin</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/testing/plugins-in-tests"><div><span>Handle plugin code in tests</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-header">Debugging</li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/testing/debugging"><div><span>Debugging tools</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/testing/code-debugging"><div><span>Debug your app programmatically</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/testing/native-debugging"><div><span>Use a native language debugger</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/testing/common-errors"><div><span>Common Flutter errors</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/testing/errors"><div><span>Handle errors</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/cookbook/maintenance/error-reporting"><div><span>Report errors to a service</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-25" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-25"><span>Performance & optimization</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-25"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/perf"><div><span>Overview</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/perf/impeller"><div><span>Impeller</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/perf/best-practices"><div><span>Performance best practices</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/perf/app-size"><div><span>App size</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/perf/deferred-components"><div><span>Deferred components</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/perf/rendering-performance"><div><span>Rendering performance</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/perf/ui-performance"><div><span>Performance profiling</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/perf/web-performance"><div><span>Performance profiling for web</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/perf/metrics"><div><span>Performance metrics</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/perf/isolates"><div><span>Concurrency and isolates</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/perf/faq"><div><span>Performance FAQ</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/perf/appendix"><div><span>Appendix</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-26" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-26"><span>Deployment</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-26"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/deployment/obfuscate"><div><span>Obfuscate Dart code</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/deployment/flavors"><div><span>Create app flavors for Android</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/deployment/flavors-ios"><div><span>Create app flavors for iOS and macOS</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/deployment/android"><div><span>Build and release an Android app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/deployment/ios"><div><span>Build and release an iOS app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/deployment/macos"><div><span>Build and release a macOS app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/deployment/linux"><div><span>Build and release a Linux app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/deployment/windows"><div><span>Build and release a Windows app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/deployment/web"><div><span>Build and release a web app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/deployment/cd"><div><span>Set up continuous deployment</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-27" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-27"><span>Add to an existing app</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-27"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/add-to-app"><div><span>Introduction</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-27-2" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-27-2"><span>Add to an Android app</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-27-2"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/add-to-app/android/project-setup"><div><span>Set up Android project</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/add-to-app/android/add-flutter-screen"><div><span>Add a single Flutter screen</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/add-to-app/android/add-flutter-fragment"><div><span>Add a Flutter Fragment</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/add-to-app/android/add-flutter-view"><div><span>Add a Flutter View</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/add-to-app/android/plugin-setup"><div><span>Use a Flutter plugin</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-27-3" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-27-3"><span>Add to an iOS app</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-27-3"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/add-to-app/ios/project-setup"><div><span>Set up iOS project</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/add-to-app/ios/add-flutter-screen"><div><span>Add a single Flutter screen</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/platform-integration/web/embedding-flutter-web"><div><span>Add to a web app</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/add-to-app/debugging"><div><span>Debug embedded Flutter module</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/add-to-app/multiple-flutters"><div><span>Add multiple Flutter instances</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/add-to-app/performance"><div><span>Loading sequence and performance</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li aria-hidden="true"><div class="sidenav-divider"></div></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-29" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-29"><span>Tools & editors</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-29"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/android-studio"><div><span>Android Studio & IntelliJ</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/vs-code"><div><span>Visual Studio Code</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsible collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-29-3" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-29-3"><span>DevTools</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-29-3"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools"><div><span>Overview</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/android-studio"><div><span>Run from Android Studio & IntelliJ</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/vscode"><div><span>Run from VS Code</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/cli"><div><span>Run from command line</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/inspector"><div><span>Flutter inspector</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/legacy-inspector"><div><span>Legacy Flutter inspector</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/performance"><div><span>Performance view</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/cpu-profiler"><div><span>CPU Profiler view</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/memory"><div><span>Memory view</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/console"><div><span>Debug console view</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/network"><div><span>Network view</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/debugger"><div><span>Debugger</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/logging"><div><span>Logging view</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/app-size"><div><span>App size tool</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/extensions"><div><span>DevTools extensions</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/deep-links"><div><span>Validate deep links</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/devtools/release-notes"><div><span>Release notes</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/sdk"><div><span>SDK overview</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/pubspec"><div><span>Flutter's pubspec options</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/flutter-fix"><div><span>Automated fixes</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/formatting"><div><span>Code formatting</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-30" role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="sidenav-30"><span>Flutter concepts</span> <span class="material-symbols expander" aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-30"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/resources/architectural-overview"><div><span>Architectural overview</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/resources/inside-flutter"><div><span>Inside Flutter</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/ui/layout/constraints"><div><span>Understanding constraints</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/testing/build-modes"><div><span>Flutter's build modes</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/tools/hot-reload"><div><span>Hot reload</span></div></a></li></ul></li><li class="nav-item"><button class="nav-link collapsed collapsible" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#sidenav-31" role="button" aria-expanded="false" 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aria-hidden="true">expand_more</span></button><ul class="nav collapse" id="sidenav-31-9"><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/dash"><div><span>Who is Dash?</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/reference/widgets"><div><span>Widget index</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="/reference/flutter-cli"><div><span>flutter CLI</span></div></a></li><li class="nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="https://api.flutter.dev" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div><span>API docs</span><span class="material-symbols" aria-hidden="true">open_in_new</span></div></a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></nav></div><main class="site-content"><div id="site-toc--side" class="site-toc"><header class="site-toc__title">Contents</header><ul class="section-nav"><li class="toc-entry nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="#ephemeral-state">Ephemeral state</a></li><li class="toc-entry nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="#app-state">App state</a></li><li class="toc-entry nav-item"><a class="nav-link" href="#there-is-no-clear-cut-rule">There is no clear-cut rule</a></li></ul></div><article><header class="site-content__title"><h1 id="document-title">Differentiate between ephemeral state and app state</h1><nav class="breadcrumbs" aria-label="breadcrumb"><ol vocab="https://schema.org/" typeof="BreadcrumbList"><li class="breadcrumb-item" property="itemListElement" typeof="ListItem"><a href="/data-and-backend" property="item" typeof="WebPage"><span property="name">Data & backend</span></a><meta property="position" content="0"><span class="material-symbols child-icon" aria-hidden="true">chevron_right</span></li><li class="breadcrumb-item" property="itemListElement" typeof="ListItem"><a href="/data-and-backend/state-mgmt" property="item" typeof="WebPage"><span property="name">State management</span></a><meta property="position" content="1"><span class="material-symbols child-icon" aria-hidden="true">chevron_right</span></li><li class="breadcrumb-item active" property="itemListElement" typeof="ListItem" aria-current="page"><a href="/data-and-backend/state-mgmt/ephemeral-vs-app" property="item" typeof="WebPage"><span property="name">Differentiate between ephemeral state and app state</span></a><meta property="position" content="2"></li></ol></nav></header><div id="site-toc--inline" class="site-toc"><header class="site-toc__title">Contents</header><ul class="section-nav"><li class="toc-entry"><a href="#ephemeral-state">Ephemeral state</a></li><li class="toc-entry"><a href="#app-state">App state</a></li><li class="toc-entry"><a href="#there-is-no-clear-cut-rule">There is no clear-cut rule</a></li></ul></div><p><em>This doc introduces app state, ephemeral state, and how you might manage each in a Flutter app.</em></p><p>In the broadest possible sense, the state of an app is everything that exists in memory when the app is running. This includes the app's assets, all the variables that the Flutter framework keeps about the UI, animation state, textures, fonts, and so on. While this broadest possible definition of state is valid, it's not very useful for architecting an app.</p><p>First, you don't even manage some state (like textures). The framework handles those for you. So a more useful definition of state is "whatever data you need in order to rebuild your UI at any moment in time". Second, the state that you <em>do</em> manage yourself can be separated into two conceptual types: ephemeral state and app state.</p><div class="header-wrapper"><h2 id="ephemeral-state">Ephemeral state</h2><a class="heading-link" href="#ephemeral-state" aria-label="Link to 'Ephemeral state' section">#</a></div><p>Ephemeral state (sometimes called <em>UI state</em> or <em>local state</em>) is the state you can neatly contain in a single widget.</p><p>This is, intentionally, a vague definition, so here are a few examples.</p><ul><li>current page in a <a href="https://api.flutter.dev/flutter/widgets/PageView-class.html"><code>PageView</code></a></li><li>current progress of a complex animation</li><li>current selected tab in a <code>BottomNavigationBar</code></li></ul><p>Other parts of the widget tree seldom need to access this kind of state. There is no need to serialize it, and it doesn't change in complex ways.</p><p>In other words, there is no need to use state management techniques (ScopedModel, Redux, etc.) on this kind of state. All you need is a <code>StatefulWidget</code>.</p><p>Below, you see how the currently selected item in a bottom navigation bar is held in the <code>_index</code> field of the <code>_MyHomepageState</code> class. In this example, <code>_index</code> is ephemeral state.</p> <?code-excerpt "state_mgmt/simple/lib/src/set_state.dart (ephemeral)" plaster="// ... items ..."?> <div class="code-block-wrapper language-dart"><div class="code-block-body"><span class="code-block-language" title="Language dart">dart</span><pre class="shiki dash-light" tabindex="0"><code><span class="line"><span style="color:#BD2314">class</span><span style="color:#0468D7"> MyHomepage</span><span style="color:#BD2314"> extends</span><span style="color:#0468D7"> StatefulWidget</span><span style="color:#222222"> {</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#BD2314"> const</span><span style="color:#0468D7"> MyHomepage</span><span style="color:#222222">({</span><span style="color:#BD2314">super</span><span style="color:#222222">.key});</span></span> <span class="line"></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#BD2314"> @override</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#0468D7"> State</span><span style="color:#222222"><</span><span style="color:#0468D7">MyHomepage</span><span style="color:#222222">> </span><span style="color:#6200EE">createState</span><span style="color:#222222">() => </span><span style="color:#0468D7">_MyHomepageState</span><span style="color:#222222">();</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#222222">}</span></span> <span class="line"></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#BD2314">class</span><span style="color:#0468D7"> _MyHomepageState</span><span style="color:#BD2314"> extends</span><span style="color:#0468D7"> State</span><span style="color:#222222"><</span><span style="color:#0468D7">MyHomepage</span><span style="color:#222222">> {</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#0468D7"> int</span><span style="color:#222222"> _index = </span><span style="color:#0C7064">0</span><span style="color:#222222">;</span></span> <span class="line"></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#BD2314"> @override</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#0468D7"> Widget</span><span style="color:#6200EE"> build</span><span style="color:#222222">(</span><span style="color:#0468D7">BuildContext</span><span style="color:#222222"> context) {</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#BD2314"> return</span><span style="color:#0468D7"> BottomNavigationBar</span><span style="color:#222222">(</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#222222"> currentIndex: _index,</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#222222"> onTap: (newIndex) {</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#6200EE"> setState</span><span style="color:#222222">(() {</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#222222"> _index = newIndex;</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#222222"> });</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#222222"> },</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#6E6E70"> // ... items ...</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#222222"> );</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#222222"> }</span></span> <span class="line"><span style="color:#222222">}</span></span></code></pre></div></div><p>Here, using <code>setState()</code> and a field inside the StatefulWidget's State class is completely natural. No other part of your app needs to access <code>_index</code>. The variable only changes inside the <code>MyHomepage</code> widget. And, if the user closes and restarts the app, you don't mind that <code>_index</code> resets to zero.</p><div class="header-wrapper"><h2 id="app-state">App state</h2><a class="heading-link" href="#app-state" aria-label="Link to 'App state' section">#</a></div><p>State that is not ephemeral, that you want to share across many parts of your app, and that you want to keep between user sessions, is what we call application state (sometimes also called shared state).</p><p>Examples of application state:</p><ul><li>User preferences</li><li>Login info</li><li>Notifications in a social networking app</li><li>The shopping cart in an e-commerce app</li><li>Read/unread state of articles in a news app</li></ul><p>For managing app state, you'll want to research your options. Your choice depends on the complexity and nature of your app, your team's previous experience, and many other aspects. Read on.</p><div class="header-wrapper"><h2 id="there-is-no-clear-cut-rule">There is no clear-cut rule</h2><a class="heading-link" href="#there-is-no-clear-cut-rule" aria-label="Link to 'There is no clear-cut rule' section">#</a></div><p>To be clear, you <em>can</em> use <code>State</code> and <code>setState()</code> to manage all of the state in your app. In fact, the Flutter team does this in many simple app samples (including the starter app that you get with every <code>flutter create</code>).</p><p>It goes the other way, too. For example, you might decide that鈥攊n the context of your particular app鈥攖he selected tab in a bottom navigation bar is <em>not</em> ephemeral state. You might need to change it from outside the class, keep it between sessions, and so on. In that case, the <code>_index</code> variable is app state.</p><p>There is no clear-cut, universal rule to distinguish whether a particular variable is ephemeral or app state. Sometimes, you'll have to refactor one into another. For example, you'll start with some clearly ephemeral state, but as your application grows in features, it might need to be moved to app state.</p><p>For that reason, take the following diagram with a large grain of salt:</p><img src="/assets/images/docs/development/data-and-backend/state-mgmt/ephemeral-vs-app-state.png" width="100%" alt="A flow chart. Start with 'Data'. 'Who needs it?'. Three options: 'Most widgets', 'Some widgets' and 'Single widget'. The first two options both lead to 'App state'. The 'Single widget' option leads to 'Ephemeral state'."><p>When asked about React's setState versus Redux's store, the author of Redux, Dan Abramov, replied:</p><blockquote><p>"The rule of thumb is: <a href="https://github.com/reduxjs/redux/issues/1287#issuecomment-175351978">Do whatever is less awkward</a>."</p></blockquote><p>In summary, there are two conceptual types of state in any Flutter app. Ephemeral state can be implemented using <code>State</code> and <code>setState()</code>, and is often local to a single widget. The rest is your app state. Both types have their place in any Flutter app, and the split between the two depends on your own preference and the complexity of the app.</p><nav class="site-nextprev-nav"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="/data-and-backend/state-mgmt/declarative">Start thinking declaratively</a></li><li class="next"><a href="/data-and-backend/state-mgmt/simple">Simple app state management</a></li></ul></nav><p id="page-github-links"><span>Unless stated otherwise, the documentation on this site reflects the latest stable version of Flutter. 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