In this online world, customer care plays a major role in the success of a company. Users are quite satisfied when they converse with the executives through calls. This has forced companies to add phone numbers to their apps for their customers to contact them easily. But dialing those numbers from the app into the default phone app makes it quite cumbersome. So, to improve the user experience, Flutter has come up with a feature where the user can call the other, just with a click.
In Flutter, there are two ways to make a phone call.
- Launching the Default Phone Dialer App
- Making Direct Phone Calls (Without Opening Dialer)
Launching the Default Phone Dialer App
In this process, the default phone app will be used to make a call; it will open the app directly, and the number will be automatically filled in the text field.
Steps to Implement Making Calls in Flutter application
Step 1: Create a New Flutter Application
Create a new Flutter application using the command Prompt. To create a new app, write the below command and run it.
flutter create app_name
To know more about it refer this article: Creating a Simple Application in Flutter
Step 2: Adding the Dependency
To add the dependency to the pubspec.yaml file, add url_launcher as a dependency in the dependencies part of the pubspec.yaml file, as shown below:
Dart
dependencies:
flutter:
sdk: flutter
url_launcher: ^6.3.1
Now run the below command in the terminal.
flutter pub get
Step 3: Importing the Dependency
Use the below line of code in the main.dart file, to import the url_launcher dependency :
import 'package:url_launcher/url_launcher.dart';
Step 4: Follow the Below Steps
1. _makingPhoneCall function
Now, let’s create a function that can be called whenever the user clicks a button,that’s linked to a phone number, o make a call.
Dart
_makingPhoneCall() async {
var _url = Uri.parse("tel:1234567890");
if (!await launchUrl(_url, mode: LaunchMode.externalApplication)) {
throw Exception('Could not launch $_url');
}
}
- The function is named here as “_makingPhoneCall” and the function is declared as “async”, so that it returns a promise.
- The “url” variable is assigned with the required phone number, as a string. The "tel:" syntax here before the phone number, makes Flutter realize that the following number is a phone number that has to be opened in the default Phone App. It is declared as a “const”, so that the variable is not changed under any circumstance.
- If there is a possibility to launch the URL, only then the URL is launched by calling the launch() function with the URL variable as an attribute.
- Otherwise, it will throw/print a text with the URL value as an error message.
2. Calling the function
The above function can be called when needed inside the program by calling the name of the functions as it is. The example is as follows:
- This creates a raised button having the text “Call” on it.
- For the onPressed attribute, we are calling "_makingPhoneCall" so that when the button is pressed, the default Phone app is opened and the phone number in the URL variable is dialed automatically, making it easier for the user.
Complete Source Code
main.dart
Dart
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:url_launcher/url_launcher.dart';
void main() => runApp(const MyApp());
_makingPhoneCall() async {
var _url = Uri.parse("tel:1234567890");
if (!await launchUrl(_url, mode: LaunchMode.externalApplication)) {
throw Exception('Could not launch $_url');
}
}
class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
const MyApp({Key? key}) : super(key: key);
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return MaterialApp(
debugShowCheckedModeBanner: false,
home: Scaffold(
appBar: AppBar(
title: const Text('Geeks for Geeks'),
backgroundColor: Colors.green,
), // AppBar
body: SafeArea(
child: Center(
child: Column(
children: [
Container(
height: 250.0,
),//Container
const Text(
'Welcome to GFG!',
style: TextStyle(
fontSize: 30.0,
color: Colors.green,
fontWeight: FontWeight.bold,
),//TextStyle
),//Text
Container(
height: 20.0,
),
const Text(
'For further Updates',
style: TextStyle(
fontSize: 20.0,
color: Colors.green,
fontWeight: FontWeight.bold,
),
),
Container(
height: 20.0,
),
ElevatedButton(
onPressed: _makingPhoneCall,
style: ElevatedButton.styleFrom(
backgroundColor: Colors.green,
foregroundColor: Colors.white
),
child: const Text('Here'),
), // ElevatedButton
],
),
),
),
),
);
}
}
Output:
Making Direct Phone Calls (Without Opening Dialer)
In this process, the specific number will be called directly from our Flutter app, unlike the previous method, which opens the default phone app on your mobile device.
Steps to Implement Making Calls in Flutter application
Step 1: Create a New Flutter Application
Create a new Flutter application using the command Prompt. To create a new app, write the below command and run it.
flutter create app_name
To know more about it refer this article: Creating a Simple Application in Flutter
Step 2: Adding the Dependency
To add the dependency to the pubspec.yaml file, add direct_phone_call as a dependency in the dependencies part of the pubspec.yaml file, as shown below:
Dart
dependencies:
flutter:
sdk: flutter
direct_phone_call: ^1.0.0
Now run the below command in the terminal.
flutter pub get
Step 3: Importing the Dependency
Use the below line of code in the main.dart file, to import the direct_phone_call dependency :
import 'package:direct_phone_call/direct_phone_call.dart';
Step 4: Method to make a phone call
Dart
// Method to make a phone call
Future<void> _makeACall() async {
// Dismiss the keyboard
FocusScope.of(context).unfocus();
// Validate the form
if (_formKey.currentState!.validate()) {
bool isCalled = false;
try {
// Attempt to make the phone call
isCalled = await _directPhoneCallPlugin.callNumber(
number: _phoneNoController.text);
} catch (e) {
// Log any exceptions
log('Exception : ${e}');
}
}
}
Complete Source code
main.dart:
Dart
// For logging purposes
import 'dart:developer';
// Flutter UI framework
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
// For asynchronous programming
import 'dart:async';
// For platform-specific services
import 'package:flutter/services.dart';
// Plugin for making direct phone calls
import 'package:direct_phone_call/direct_phone_call.dart';
void main() {
// Entry point of the app
runApp(const MyApp());
}
// Main application widget
class MyApp extends StatefulWidget {
const MyApp({super.key});
@override
State<MyApp> createState() => _MyAppState();
}
// State class for MyApp
class _MyAppState extends State<MyApp> {
// Key for form validation
final GlobalKey<FormState> _formKey = GlobalKey();
// Controller for phone number input
final TextEditingController _phoneNoController = TextEditingController();
// Instance of the phone call plugin
final _directPhoneCallPlugin = DirectPhoneCall();
@override
void dispose() {
super.dispose(); // Dispose resources
_phoneNoController.dispose(); // Dispose the controller
}
// Method to make a phone call
Future<void> _makeACall() async {
// Dismiss the keyboard
FocusScope.of(context).unfocus();
// Validate the form
if (_formKey.currentState!.validate()) {
bool isCalled = false;
try {
// Attempt to make the phone call
isCalled = await _directPhoneCallPlugin.callNumber(
number: _phoneNoController.text);
} catch (e) {
// Log any exceptions
log('Exception : ${e}');
}
}
}
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return MaterialApp(
// Disable debug banner
debugShowCheckedModeBanner: false,
home: Scaffold(
appBar: AppBar(
title: const Text('Make a call'),
backgroundColor: Colors.green,
// App bar text color
foregroundColor: Colors.white,
),
body: Form(
key: _formKey, // Assign form key
child: Padding(
padding: const EdgeInsets.all(16.0),
child: Column(
children: [
const SizedBox(
height: 24,
),
TextFormField(
controller: _phoneNoController, // Assign controller
style: const TextStyle(
fontSize: 12,
fontWeight: FontWeight.w500,
),
validator: (value) {
// Validation logic
if (value == null || value.isEmpty) {
// Error for empty input
return 'Please fill phone number';
}
if (value.isNotEmpty && value.length < 7) {
// Error for invalid number
return 'Invalid number';
}
// Input is valid
return null;
},
keyboardType: TextInputType.phone, // Set keyboard type
textInputAction: TextInputAction.done, // Set action button
decoration: InputDecoration(
fillColor: Colors.white, // Input field background color
hintText: 'Phone number', // Placeholder text
hintStyle: const TextStyle(
color: Colors.black26,
fontSize: 12,
fontWeight: FontWeight.w400,
),
prefixIcon: Icon(
Icons.local_phone_rounded,
color: Colors.green.shade800,
size: 18,
), // Phone icon
contentPadding: EdgeInsets.zero, // Remove padding
border: OutlineInputBorder(
borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(10), // Rounded border
borderSide: const BorderSide(
color: Colors.black38,
),
),
enabledBorder: OutlineInputBorder(
borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(10),
borderSide: const BorderSide(
color: Colors.black38,
),
),
focusedBorder: OutlineInputBorder(
borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(10),
borderSide: const BorderSide(
color: Colors.green,
width: 1.5,
),
),
),
onFieldSubmitted: (val) =>
_makeACall(), // Call method on submit
),
const SizedBox(
height: 12,
), // Add vertical spacing
ElevatedButton(
onPressed: () => _makeACall(), // Call method on button press
style: ButtonStyle(
backgroundColor: WidgetStatePropertyAll(
Colors.green.shade900,
), // Button background color
minimumSize: const WidgetStatePropertyAll(
Size(100, 35),
), // Button size
),
child: Container(
child: const Text(
'Call', // Button text
style: TextStyle(
color: Colors.white, // Text color
fontSize: 13, // Text size
),
),
),
),
],
),
),
),
),
);
}
}
Output:
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