network_speed_meter

Flutter plugin that surfaces real-time Android network throughput using TrafficStats, with optional foreground-service monitoring and notification updates.

Features

• TrafficStats-based download/upload/total bytes-per-second sampling
• Stream-based updates with strongly typed models
• Configurable interval (default 1000ms) and basic validation
• Optional foreground service with ongoing notification updates
• Formatting helpers for B/s, KB/s, MB/s, GB/s
• Android 14 foreground service type (dataSync) declaration

Platform support

Android only. iOS/web/desktop are not implemented.

Installation

Add to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  network_speed_meter: ^0.1.0

Android setup

• Minimum SDK: 21 (Lollipop). TrafficStats is available earlier; 21 is a modern floor and matches current Flutter defaults.
• Compile/target SDK: 35 (Android 15 ready).
• Required permissions in your app manifest (plugin declares them, but you may prefer to own them):

  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE" />
  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC" />
  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS" tools:targetApi="33" />

• Foreground service entry (already included in the plugin manifest):

  <service
      android:name="com.networkspeedmeter.network_speed_meter.NetworkSpeedForegroundService"
      android:exported="false"
      android:foregroundServiceType="dataSync" />

• Android 13+: request POST_NOTIFICATIONS at runtime before enabling foreground notifications.
• Android 14+: verify your use of FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC complies with Play policies.

Usage

import 'package:network_speed_meter/network_speed_meter.dart';

Future<void> start() async {
  const config = NetworkSpeedConfig(
    interval: Duration(seconds: 1),
    enableForegroundService: false,
    showNotification: true,
    notificationTitle: 'Network speed',
    notificationContent: 'Monitoring traffic...',
  );
  await networkSpeedMeter.startMonitoring(config: config);

  networkSpeedMeter.speedStream.listen((snapshot) {
    print('Down: ${snapshot.formattedDownload}, '
        'Up: ${snapshot.formattedUpload}, '
        'Total: ${snapshot.formattedTotal}');
  });
}

Future<void> stop() => networkSpeedMeter.stopMonitoring();

Foreground service mode

Enable enableForegroundService in NetworkSpeedConfig to keep monitoring in the background with an ongoing notification. The service:

• Uses foreground service type dataSync
• Updates the notification with current speeds
• Broadcasts updates back to Flutter via the event channel

Formatting helpers

SpeedFormatter converts byte-per-second values into readable strings:

speedFormatter.format(1024); // "1.0 KB/s"
speedFormatter.format(5 * 1024 * 1024); // "5.0 MB/s"

Example app

example/lib/main.dart mirrors the Play Store reference app with four tabs:

• Dashboard: live download/upload/total cards, chart, controls, session stats
• Usage: daily counters, session usage, peaks, notification preview
• History: per-session archive with averages and peaks
• Settings: interval, auto-start, foreground/notification toggles and demo reset

Run it from example/ with flutter run -d android.

Testing

• Dart unit tests: flutter test (formatter, config validation, platform wiring)
• Android instrumentation scaffold: android/src/androidTest/... contains a smoke test placeholder; extend with TrafficStats monitor tests using an emulator.

Manual test checklist

• Start monitoring in app, observe steady stream updates
• Validate first sample does not spike (baseline is skipped)
• Stop monitoring: stream stops and state resets
• Toggle foreground mode: notification appears with speeds, background updates continue
• Android 13+: request notification permission and confirm notification shows
• Android 14+: verify service starts with dataSync type and no policy warnings

Limitations and notes

• TrafficStats reports per-device counters; OEM status-bar values may differ because of smoothing/rounding.
• Values represent throughput since the previous sample, not latency or server-side speed tests.
• Foreground service behavior depends on OEM policies and battery optimizations; document requirements for your app.
• Plugin is Android-only; other platforms throw unimplemented errors.

Differences from reference implementation

• Rebuilt as a Flutter plugin (not a standalone Android app) with MethodChannel for control and EventChannel for streaming.
• Kotlin-based monitor and optional foreground service with structured callbacks instead of UI-bound logic.
• Strongly typed Dart API/models, formatting helpers, and unit tests for core utilities.
• Configurable interval and notification metadata provided from Flutter rather than hard-coded.
• Conceptually informed by TrafficStats-based monitoring in https://github.com/thanush0/InternetSpeedMeter, but fully refactored into plugin architecture with new code.

Commands

• Create/update dependencies: flutter pub get
• Run tests: flutter test
• Run example (Android): flutter run -d android from example/
• Build debug APK: flutter build apk --debug from example/ (automatically signed, can be installed)
• Build release APK: Configure signing in example/android/app/build.gradle first, then flutter build apk --release

Building installable APKs

The example app can be built as an APK for installation on Android devices:

Debug builds (recommended for testing)

Debug APKs are automatically signed with a debug keystore and can be installed directly:

cd example
flutter build apk --debug

The APK will be at example/build/app/outputs/flutter-apk/app-debug.apk.

Release builds (for production)

Release APKs require signing configuration. Add to example/android/app/build.gradle:

android {
    signingConfigs {
        release {
            storeFile file(System.getenv("KEYSTORE_FILE") ?: "release-keystore.jks")
            storePassword System.getenv("KEYSTORE_PASSWORD")
            keyAlias System.getenv("KEY_ALIAS")
            keyPassword System.getenv("KEY_PASSWORD")
        }
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            signingConfig signingConfigs.release
        }
    }
}

Then build:

cd example
flutter build apk --release

Note: The GitHub Actions workflow builds debug APKs to ensure they can be installed without additional signing setup.