Toast in Flutter

In Flutter, Toast isn’t a built-in widget, but it’s a common term used for lightweight pop-up messages that appear very briefly, typically at the bottom of the screen. They’re similar to Snackbars but often simpler and disappear even faster without any user interaction required.

Here’s a breakdown of Toasts in Flutter:

Key characteristics of Toasts:

• Extremely Brief: They appear for a very short duration (usually less than 2 seconds) and vanish automatically.
• Simple Message: They typically display a single line of text or a small icon to provide quick feedback.
• Non-intrusive: They don’t require user interaction and fade away quickly, minimizing disruption to the main app content.

Use Cases for Toasts:

• Short confirmations: Briefly acknowledge user actions (e.g., “Item saved”).
• Status updates: Provide quick updates on background processes (e.g., “Logging in…”).
• Validation errors: Briefly highlight simple validation issues (e.g., “Username cannot be empty”).

Using a Toast Package:

There are popular third-party packages like fluttertoast that enable you to display Toasts in your Flutter app. Here's an example using fluttertoast:

1. Add the dependency:

Add the following line to your pubspec.yaml file under dependencies:

fluttertoast: ^8.2.5

2. Import the package:

Import the package in the file where you want to show the Toast:

import 'package:fluttertoast/fluttertoast.dart';

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:fluttertoast/fluttertoast.dart';

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

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  const MyApp({super.key});
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      title: 'Flutter Demo',
      theme: ThemeData(
        colorScheme: ColorScheme.fromSeed(seedColor: Colors.deepPurple),
        useMaterial3: true,
      ),
      home: const MyHomePage(title: 'Flutter Demo'),
    );
  }
}

class MyHomePage extends StatefulWidget {
  const MyHomePage({super.key, required this.title});
  final String title;

  @override
  State<MyHomePage> createState() => _MyHomePageState();
}

class _MyHomePageState extends State<MyHomePage> {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        backgroundColor: Theme.of(context).colorScheme.inversePrimary,
        title: Text(widget.title),
      ),
      body: Center(
          child: ElevatedButton(
            onPressed: () {
              Fluttertoast.showToast(
                msg: 'Item added to cart!',
                toastLength: Toast.LENGTH_SHORT,
                gravity: ToastGravity.BOTTOM, // Position at bottom
                backgroundColor: Colors.green,
                textColor: Colors.white,
              );
            },
            child: Text('Add to Cart'),
          ),
      )

    );
  }

}

Explanation:

• We call Fluttertoast.showToast to display the Toast.
• We provide the message (msg), duration (toastLength), position (gravity), background color (backgroundColor), and text color (textColor) for customization.

Remember: This is a basic example. Explore the fluttertoast documentation for more options like customizing the Toast's appearance and handling user interaction if needed (although not typical for Toasts).

By using Toast packages effectively, you can enhance your Flutter app’s user experience by providing quick, unobtrusive feedback mechanisms.