android_multicast_lock #

A Flutter plugin for managing Android WiFi multicast locks. This plugin allows you to acquire and release multicast locks on Android devices, which is necessary for receiving multicast UDP packets.

Features #

• ✅ Acquire WiFi multicast locks on Android
• ✅ Release WiFi multicast locks on Android
• ✅ Check if multicast lock is currently held
• ✅ Cross-platform compatible (no-op on iOS/other platforms)
• ✅ Automatic permission handling

Installation #

Add this to your package's pubspec.yaml file:

dependencies:
  android_multicast_lock: ^1.0.0

Android Setup #

The plugin automatically includes the required Android permission. No additional setup is needed.

However, if you want to explicitly declare the permission in your app's android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml, add:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CHANGE_WIFI_MULTICAST_STATE" />

Usage #

import 'package:android_multicast_lock/android_multicast_lock.dart';

final androidMulticastLock = AndroidMulticastLock();

// Acquire the multicast lock
await androidMulticastLock.acquireMulticastLock();

// Check if lock is held
bool isHeld = await androidMulticastLock.isMulticastLockHeld();
print('Multicast lock held: $isHeld');

// Release the multicast lock
await androidMulticastLock.releaseMulticastLock();

API Reference #

acquireMulticastLock() #

Acquires the WiFi multicast lock. This allows the device to receive multicast UDP packets.

Returns: Future<void>

Throws: PlatformException if the lock cannot be acquired.

releaseMulticastLock() #

Releases the WiFi multicast lock.

Returns: Future<void>

Throws: PlatformException if the lock cannot be released.

isMulticastLockHeld() #

Checks whether the multicast lock is currently held.

Returns: Future<bool> - true if the lock is held, false otherwise.

Platform Support #

On non-Android platforms, all methods complete successfully but perform no operations.

Why Use Multicast Locks? #

Android devices normally filter out multicast packets to save battery. When your app needs to receive multicast UDP packets (common in networking protocols, device discovery, etc.), you must acquire a multicast lock to ensure these packets are delivered to your app.

Example #

See the example/ directory for a complete Flutter app demonstrating how to use this plugin.

Contributing #

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.