timeago_plus #

timeago_plus is a Dart library that converts a DateTime into a human-friendly string.
Instead of showing a date like 2020-12-12 18:30, you can display text such as:

• "now"
• "15 minutes ago"
• "an hour ago"
• "~1y"
• "in 3 days"

This package is a maintained fork of the original timeago package by Andres Araujo.
It keeps the original MIT license and remains fully open-source.

Package	Pub	Description
timeago_plus		Core library
timeago_plus_flutter		Flutter widgets

Usage #

The easiest way to use this library is the top-level format(date) function:

import 'package:timeago_plus/timeago_plus.dart' as timeago;

void main() {
  final fifteenAgo = DateTime.now().subtract(Duration(minutes: 15));

  print(timeago.format(fifteenAgo)); // 15 minutes ago
  print(timeago.format(fifteenAgo, locale: 'en_short')); // 15m
  print(timeago.format(fifteenAgo, locale: 'es')); // hace 15 minutos
}

Important Notes #

timeago_plus includes only en and es by default.

To add more supported languages, call:

timeago.setLocaleMessages('fr', timeago.FrMessages());

Language Codes #

This library uses ISO 639-1 language codes. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes

Custom / Overridden Locales #

// Override "en" locale messages with custom messages
timeago.setLocaleMessages('en', MyCustomMessages());

// my_custom_messages.dart
class MyCustomMessages implements LookupMessages {
  @override String prefixAgo() => '';
  @override String prefixFromNow() => '';
  @override String suffixAgo() => '';
  @override String suffixFromNow() => '';
  @override String lessThanOneMinute(int seconds) => 'now';
  @override String aboutAMinute(int minutes) => '${minutes}m';
  @override String minutes(int minutes) => '${minutes}m';
  @override String aboutAnHour(int minutes) => '${minutes}m';
  @override String hours(int hours) => '${hours}h';
  @override String aDay(int hours) => '${hours}h';
  @override String days(int days) => '${days}d';
  @override String aboutAMonth(int days) => '${days}d';
  @override String months(int months) => '${months}mo';
  @override String aboutAYear(int years) => '${years}y';
  @override String years(int years) => '${years}y';
  @override String wordSeparator() => ' ';
}

Scope / Philosophy #

timeago_plus aims to remain lightweight and dependency-free. The goals of this fork remain:

1. Provide a simple format() function to convert dates into human text
2. Allow users to define custom locales
3. Support community-contributed locales without bloating the core
4. Keep the package dependency-free and easy to maintain

timeago_plus_flutter Widgets #

• Timeago

• TimerRefresh

• TimerRefreshWidget

Local Development #

1. Install Melos:

 dart pub global activate melos

2. Bootstrap dependencies:

  melos bootstrap

3. Open the desired package in your editor (VSCode, IntelliJ, etc.)

Migration from timeago to timeago_plus #

Most APIs remain the same. To switch: Before

import 'package:timeago/timeago.dart';

After

import 'package:timeago_plus/timeago_plus.dart';

Locale messages and Flutter widget usage remain compatible.

Differences from the original timeago #

1. Actively maintained
2. Updated for modern Dart / Flutter versions
3. Bug fixes and PR improvements merged from community requests
4. Cleaner code organization
5. Published as a separate, community-maintained package (timeago_plus)

License #

This project retains the original MIT license and attribution.

Copyright (c) 2015 Andres Araujo

Additional modifications

© 2025 Elvis Ngatia