Switch proposal: Expose _SwitchConfig configuration

[rydmike]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues
• I have read the guide to filing a bug

Use case

The Switch has many useful styling configuration options hidden in a private mixin class called _SwitchConfig.

    mixin _SwitchConfig {
    double get trackHeight;
    double get trackWidth;
    double get switchWidth;
    double get switchHeight;
    double get switchHeightCollapsed;
    double get activeThumbRadius;
    double get inactiveThumbRadius;
    double get pressedThumbRadius;
    double get thumbRadiusWithIcon;
    List<BoxShadow>? get thumbShadow;
    MaterialStateProperty<Color> get iconColor;
    double? get thumbOffset;
    Size get transitionalThumbSize;
    int get toggleDuration;
}

flutter/packages/flutter/lib/src/material/switch.dart

Line 1626 in 0ff68b8

mixin _SwitchConfig {

The addition of it is a part of what enables the same component to change its look from Material2 to Material3, by using its internal configuration options.

These configuration options would be very useful when creating custom Switch designs. For example, currently the Switch in Flutter can currently not even mimic the "official" custom switch style used in Android system settings by Google's Pixel phones, shown below:

Pixel7Pro-Switch.mp4

Android System Settings Switch Style - Recorded on Pixel7Pro

In this design, the Switch thumb is fixed size, and the height of the switch is more narrow and without a border.

While we could remove the borders from the M3 Switch and even fake the Switch thumb being fixed sized by adding a transparent icon, we cannot change the size of the thumb radius, or even height of the Switch track.

Screen.Recording.2023-07-28.at.15.41.16.mov

Fake fixed thumb size is doable, but size changes are not

Fixed Switch Size Example Code

The code sample used for the fixed

Code sample

// MIT License
//
// Copyright (c) 2023 Mike Rydstrom
//
// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
// of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
// in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
// to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
// copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
// furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
//
// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
// copies or substantial portions of the Software.
//
// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
// IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
// FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
// AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
// LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
// OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
// SOFTWARE.
import 'package:flutter/cupertino.dart';
import 'package:flutter/foundation.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

// This issue reported here: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues/131478

// A seed color for the M3 ColorScheme.
const Color seedColor = Color(0xFF2E747D);

// Example theme
ThemeData theme(Brightness brightness, ThemeSettings settings) {
  // Make M3 ColorSchemes from a seed color.
  final ColorScheme colorScheme = ColorScheme.fromSeed(
    brightness: brightness,
    seedColor: seedColor,
  );
  return ThemeData(
    colorScheme: colorScheme,
    useMaterial3: settings.useMaterial3,
    visualDensity: VisualDensity.standard,
    switchTheme: settings.customTheme
        ? SwitchThemeData(
            thumbIcon: MaterialStateProperty.resolveWith<Icon?>(
              (Set<MaterialState> states) {
                return const Icon(Icons.minimize, color: Colors.transparent);
              },
            ),
          )
        : null,
  );
}

void main() {
  runApp(const IssueDemoApp());
}

class IssueDemoApp extends StatefulWidget {
  const IssueDemoApp({super.key});

  @override
  State<IssueDemoApp> createState() => _IssueDemoAppState();
}

class _IssueDemoAppState extends State<IssueDemoApp> {
  ThemeMode themeMode = ThemeMode.light;
  ThemeSettings settings = const ThemeSettings(
    useMaterial3: true,
    customTheme: true,
  );

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      debugShowCheckedModeBanner: false,
      themeMode: themeMode,
      theme: theme(Brightness.light, settings),
      darkTheme: theme(Brightness.dark, settings),
      home: Scaffold(
        extendBodyBehindAppBar: true,
        appBar: AppBar(
          title: settings.useMaterial3
              ? const Text('Switch features (M3)')
              : const Text('Switch features (M2)'),
          actions: [
            IconButton(
              icon: settings.useMaterial3
                  ? const Icon(Icons.filter_3)
                  : const Icon(Icons.filter_2),
              onPressed: () {
                setState(() {
                  settings =
                      settings.copyWith(useMaterial3: !settings.useMaterial3);
                });
              },
              tooltip: "Switch to Material ${settings.useMaterial3 ? 2 : 3}",
            ),
            IconButton(
              icon: themeMode == ThemeMode.dark
                  ? const Icon(Icons.wb_sunny_outlined)
                  : const Icon(Icons.wb_sunny),
              onPressed: () {
                setState(() {
                  if (themeMode == ThemeMode.light) {
                    themeMode = ThemeMode.dark;
                  } else {
                    themeMode = ThemeMode.light;
                  }
                });
              },
              tooltip: "Toggle brightness",
            ),
          ],
        ),
        body: HomePage(
          settings: settings,
          onSettings: (ThemeSettings value) {
            setState(() {
              settings = value;
            });
          },
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

class HomePage extends StatefulWidget {
  const HomePage({
    super.key,
    required this.settings,
    required this.onSettings,
  });

  final ThemeSettings settings;
  final ValueChanged<ThemeSettings> onSettings;

  @override
  State<HomePage> createState() => _HomePageState();
}

class _HomePageState extends State<HomePage> {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return ListView(
      children: [
        const SizedBox(height: 8),
        const Padding(
          padding: EdgeInsets.symmetric(horizontal: 16),
          child: Text('More Switch config options'),
        ),
        const Divider(),
        SwitchListTile(
          title: const Text('Fake fixed size thumb'),
          value: widget.settings.customTheme,
          onChanged: (bool value) {
            widget.onSettings(widget.settings.copyWith(customTheme: value));
          },
        ),
        const Padding(
          padding: EdgeInsets.all(16.0),
          child: SwitchShowcase(),
        ),
        const Divider(),
        const Padding(
          padding: EdgeInsets.symmetric(horizontal: 16),
          child: ShowColorSchemeColors(),
        ),
      ],
    );
  }
}

/// A Theme Settings class to bundle properties we want to modify on our
/// theme interactively.
@immutable
class ThemeSettings with Diagnosticable {
  final bool useMaterial3;
  final bool customTheme;

  const ThemeSettings({
    required this.useMaterial3,
    required this.customTheme,
  });

  /// Flutter debug properties override, includes toString.
  @override
  void debugFillProperties(DiagnosticPropertiesBuilder properties) {
    super.debugFillProperties(properties);
    properties.add(DiagnosticsProperty<bool>('useMaterial3', useMaterial3));
    properties.add(DiagnosticsProperty<bool>('customCheckTheme', customTheme));
  }

  /// Copy the object with one or more provided properties changed.
  ThemeSettings copyWith({
    bool? useMaterial3,
    bool? customTheme,
  }) {
    return ThemeSettings(
      useMaterial3: useMaterial3 ?? this.useMaterial3,
      customTheme: customTheme ?? this.customTheme,
    );
  }

  /// Override the equality operator.
  @override
  bool operator ==(Object other) {
    if (identical(this, other)) return true;
    if (other.runtimeType != runtimeType) return false;
    return other is ThemeSettings &&
        other.useMaterial3 == useMaterial3 &&
        other.customTheme == customTheme;
  }

  /// Override for hashcode, dart.ui Jenkins based.
  @override
  int get hashCode => Object.hashAll(<Object?>[
        useMaterial3.hashCode,
        customTheme.hashCode,
      ]);
}

class SwitchShowcase extends StatefulWidget {
  const SwitchShowcase({super.key, this.showCupertinoSwitches = false});
  final bool showCupertinoSwitches;

  @override
  State<SwitchShowcase> createState() => _SwitchShowcaseState();
}

class _SwitchShowcaseState extends State<SwitchShowcase> {
  bool isOn1 = true;

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    final ColorScheme colorScheme = Theme.of(context).colorScheme;
    final bool isLight = Theme.of(context).brightness == Brightness.light;
    return RepaintBoundary(
      child: Wrap(
        crossAxisAlignment: WrapCrossAlignment.center,
        spacing: 8,
        runSpacing: 8,
        children: <Widget>[
          if (widget.showCupertinoSwitches) const Text('M3:'),
          Switch(
            value: isOn1,
            onChanged: (bool value) {
              setState(() {
                isOn1 = value;
              });
            },
          ),
          Switch(
            thumbIcon: MaterialStateProperty.resolveWith<Icon?>(
                (Set<MaterialState> states) {
              if (states.contains(MaterialState.selected)) {
                return Icon(Icons.check,
                    color:
                        isLight ? colorScheme.primary : colorScheme.onPrimary);
              }
              // All other states will use the default thumbIcon.
              return Icon(Icons.close, color: colorScheme.onPrimary);
            }),
            value: isOn1,
            onChanged: (bool value) {
              setState(() {
                isOn1 = value;
              });
            },
          ),
          Switch(
            value: isOn1,
            onChanged: null,
          ),
          Switch(
            value: !isOn1,
            onChanged: (bool value) {
              setState(() {
                isOn1 = !value;
              });
            },
          ),
          Switch(
            value: !isOn1,
            onChanged: null,
          ),
          if (widget.showCupertinoSwitches) ...<Widget>[
            const Text('iOS:'),
            CupertinoSwitch(
              activeColor: colorScheme.primary,
              value: isOn1,
              onChanged: (bool value) {
                setState(() {
                  isOn1 = value;
                });
              },
            ),
            CupertinoSwitch(
              activeColor: colorScheme.primary,
              value: isOn1,
              onChanged: null,
            ),
            CupertinoSwitch(
              activeColor: colorScheme.primary,
              value: !isOn1,
              onChanged: (bool value) {
                setState(() {
                  isOn1 = !value;
                });
              },
            ),
            CupertinoSwitch(
              activeColor: colorScheme.primary,
              value: !isOn1,
              onChanged: null,
            ),
          ],
        ],
      ),
    );
  }
}

/// Draw a number of boxes showing the colors of key theme color properties
/// in the ColorScheme of the inherited ThemeData and its color properties.
class ShowColorSchemeColors extends StatelessWidget {
  const ShowColorSchemeColors({super.key, this.onBackgroundColor});

  /// The color of the background the color widget are being drawn on.
  ///
  /// Some of the theme colors may have semi transparent fill color. To compute
  /// a legible text color for the sum when it shown on a background color, we
  /// need to alpha merge it with background and we need the exact background
  /// color it is drawn on for that. If not passed in from parent, it is
  /// assumed to be drawn on card color, which usually is close enough.
  final Color? onBackgroundColor;

  // Return true if the color is light, meaning it needs dark text for contrast.
  static bool _isLight(final Color color) =>
      ThemeData.estimateBrightnessForColor(color) == Brightness.light;

  // On color used when a theme color property does not have a theme onColor.
  static Color _onColor(final Color color, final Color bg) =>
      _isLight(Color.alphaBlend(color, bg)) ? Colors.black : Colors.white;

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    final ThemeData theme = Theme.of(context);
    final ColorScheme colorScheme = theme.colorScheme;
    final bool useMaterial3 = theme.useMaterial3;
    const double spacing = 4;

    // Grab the card border from the theme card shape
    ShapeBorder? border = theme.cardTheme.shape;
    // If we had one, copy in a border side to it.
    if (border is RoundedRectangleBorder) {
      border = border.copyWith(
        side: BorderSide(
          color: colorScheme.outlineVariant,
          width: 1,
        ),
      );
      // If
    } else {
      // If border was null, make one matching Card default, but with border
      // side, if it was not null, we leave it as it was.
      border ??= RoundedRectangleBorder(
        borderRadius: BorderRadius.all(Radius.circular(useMaterial3 ? 12 : 4)),
        side: BorderSide(
          color: colorScheme.outlineVariant,
          width: 1,
        ),
      );
    }

    // Get effective background color.
    final Color background =
        onBackgroundColor ?? theme.cardTheme.color ?? theme.cardColor;

    // Wrap this widget branch in a custom theme where card has a border outline
    // if it did not have one, but retains its ambient themed border radius.
    return Theme(
      data: Theme.of(context).copyWith(
        cardTheme: CardTheme.of(context).copyWith(
          elevation: 0,
          surfaceTintColor: Colors.transparent,
          shape: border,
        ),
      ),
      child: Column(
        crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.start,
        children: <Widget>[
          Padding(
            padding: const EdgeInsets.symmetric(vertical: 8),
            child: Text(
              'ColorScheme Colors',
              style: theme.textTheme.titleMedium,
            ),
          ),
          Wrap(
            alignment: WrapAlignment.start,
            crossAxisAlignment: WrapCrossAlignment.center,
            spacing: spacing,
            runSpacing: spacing,
            children: <Widget>[
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Primary',
                color: colorScheme.primary,
                textColor: colorScheme.onPrimary,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'on\nPrimary',
                color: colorScheme.onPrimary,
                textColor: colorScheme.primary,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Primary\nContainer',
                color: colorScheme.primaryContainer,
                textColor: colorScheme.onPrimaryContainer,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'onPrimary\nContainer',
                color: colorScheme.onPrimaryContainer,
                textColor: colorScheme.primaryContainer,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Secondary',
                color: colorScheme.secondary,
                textColor: colorScheme.onSecondary,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'on\nSecondary',
                color: colorScheme.onSecondary,
                textColor: colorScheme.secondary,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Secondary\nContainer',
                color: colorScheme.secondaryContainer,
                textColor: colorScheme.onSecondaryContainer,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'on\nSecondary\nContainer',
                color: colorScheme.onSecondaryContainer,
                textColor: colorScheme.secondaryContainer,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Tertiary',
                color: colorScheme.tertiary,
                textColor: colorScheme.onTertiary,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'on\nTertiary',
                color: colorScheme.onTertiary,
                textColor: colorScheme.tertiary,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Tertiary\nContainer',
                color: colorScheme.tertiaryContainer,
                textColor: colorScheme.onTertiaryContainer,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'on\nTertiary\nContainer',
                color: colorScheme.onTertiaryContainer,
                textColor: colorScheme.tertiaryContainer,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Error',
                color: colorScheme.error,
                textColor: colorScheme.onError,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'on\nError',
                color: colorScheme.onError,
                textColor: colorScheme.error,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Error\nContainer',
                color: colorScheme.errorContainer,
                textColor: colorScheme.onErrorContainer,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'onError\nContainer',
                color: colorScheme.onErrorContainer,
                textColor: colorScheme.errorContainer,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Background',
                color: colorScheme.background,
                textColor: colorScheme.onBackground,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'on\nBackground',
                color: colorScheme.onBackground,
                textColor: colorScheme.background,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Surface',
                color: colorScheme.surface,
                textColor: colorScheme.onSurface,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'on\nSurface',
                color: colorScheme.onSurface,
                textColor: colorScheme.surface,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Surface\nVariant',
                color: colorScheme.surfaceVariant,
                textColor: colorScheme.onSurfaceVariant,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'onSurface\nVariant',
                color: colorScheme.onSurfaceVariant,
                textColor: colorScheme.surfaceVariant,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Outline',
                color: colorScheme.outline,
                textColor: colorScheme.background,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Outline\nVariant',
                color: colorScheme.outlineVariant,
                textColor: colorScheme.onBackground,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Shadow',
                color: colorScheme.shadow,
                textColor: _onColor(colorScheme.shadow, background),
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Scrim',
                color: colorScheme.scrim,
                textColor: _onColor(colorScheme.scrim, background),
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Inverse\nSurface',
                color: colorScheme.inverseSurface,
                textColor: colorScheme.onInverseSurface,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'onInverse\nSurface',
                color: colorScheme.onInverseSurface,
                textColor: colorScheme.inverseSurface,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Inverse\nPrimary',
                color: colorScheme.inversePrimary,
                textColor: colorScheme.inverseSurface,
              ),
              ColorCard(
                label: 'Surface\nTint',
                color: colorScheme.surfaceTint,
                textColor: colorScheme.onPrimary,
              ),
            ],
          ),
        ],
      ),
    );
  }
}

/// A [SizedBox] with a [Card] and string text in it. Used in this demo to
/// display theme color boxes.
///
/// Can specify label text color and background color.
class ColorCard extends StatelessWidget {
  const ColorCard({
    super.key,
    required this.label,
    required this.color,
    required this.textColor,
    this.size,
  });

  final String label;
  final Color color;
  final Color textColor;
  final Size? size;

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    const double fontSize = 11;
    const Size effectiveSize = Size(86, 58);

    return SizedBox(
      width: effectiveSize.width,
      height: effectiveSize.height,
      child: Card(
        margin: EdgeInsets.zero,
        clipBehavior: Clip.antiAlias,
        color: color,
        child: Center(
          child: Text(
            label,
            style: TextStyle(color: textColor, fontSize: fontSize),
            textAlign: TextAlign.center,
          ),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

Used Flutter version

Channel master, 3.13.0-11.0.pre.24

Flutter doctor

flutter doctor -v
[✓] Flutter (Channel master, 3.13.0-11.0.pre.24, on macOS 13.4.1 22F770820d darwin-arm64, locale en-US)
    • Flutter version 3.13.0-11.0.pre.24 on channel master at ...
    • Upstream repository https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
    • Framework revision 0ff68b8c61 (5 hours ago), 2023-07-28 04:09:52 -0400
    • Engine revision cfa5427dc4
    • Dart version 3.2.0 (build 3.2.0-11.0.dev)
    • DevTools version 2.25.0
    • If those were intentional, you can disregard the above warnings; however it is recommended to use "git" directly to
      perform update checks and upgrades.

[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 33.0.0)
    • Android SDK at /Users/rydmike/Library/Android/sdk
    • Platform android-33, build-tools 33.0.0
    • Java binary at: /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jbr/Contents/Home/bin/java
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 17.0.6+0-17.0.6b802.4-9586694)
    • All Android licenses accepted.

[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 14.3.1)
    • Xcode at /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
    • Build 14E300c
    • CocoaPods version 1.11.3

[✓] Chrome - develop for the web
    • Chrome at /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome

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    • Android Studio at /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents
    • Flutter plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/9212-flutter
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    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 17.0.6+0-17.0.6b802.4-9586694)

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    • IntelliJ at /Applications/IntelliJ IDEA CE.app
    • Flutter plugin version 74.0.4
    • Dart plugin version 231.9161.14

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    • VS Code at /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents
    • Flutter extension version 3.62.0

[✓] Connected device (2 available)
    • macOS (desktop) • macos  • darwin-arm64   • macOS 13.4.1 22F770820d darwin-arm64
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[✓] Network resources
    • All expected network resources are available.

Proposal

Refactor _SwitchConfig class to a public class SwitchConfig and add it as a public configuration property switchConfig (or named switchStyle) to the Switch widget and its SwitchThemeData.

This type of configuration class would be much in-line with current sub-config classes ButtonStyle and MenyStyle, used in many themes and widgets. Considering those name precedents, maybe a better name would be SwitchStyle.

A public SwitchStyle (or SwitchConfig) would need to use mixin Diagnosticable" and implement debugFillProperties, copyWith, merge, lerp, hashCode and operator ==.

It should be reasonably straight forward to do this refactoring.

[HansMuller]

This is a good idea and although a SwitchStyle parameter would be an obvious way to translate what we have, it wouldn't blend with the existing cloud of singleton Switch parameters. PRs that incrementally add Switch parameters along with examples would probably work better in this case.

This is marked P3, not because it's unimportant, but because we're not planning to do the work in the near term. We're happy to accept PRs of course.