Flipper, a cutting-edge desktop debugging platform for mobile developers, is making a significant change by shifting away from its Electron distribution to an in-browser experience. But what does this mean for you? In this article, we'll dive into the details and explore how Flipper's new direction impacts your workflow.

Functionality remains unchanged, with the same user interface and features you've come to rely on. However, instead of running as a standalone application, Flipper will now open in your default browser. If you build from source, the platform will also launch in-browser. For those who prefer a native experience, we're providing a MacOS app for the Flipper runtime.

As part of this transition, our last Electron release is v0.239.0. This means that future releases won't include Electron artifacts. Specifically, if you're debugging React Native applications, v0.239.0 will be your last chance to use Flipper with support for it due to technical limitations for React Dev Tools and Hermes Debugger plugins. We recommend referring to this release when debugging React Native apps.

In the meantime, we're actively developing dedicated debug tooling for React Native at Meta. In the short term, we suggest exploring this blog post for guidance on how to leverage Flipper's capabilities through alternative solutions.

What is Flipper?

Flipper is a powerful platform for debugging mobile apps on iOS and Android, as well as JavaScript applications in your browser or Node.js environment. With its intuitive desktop interface, you can visualize, inspect, and control your apps with ease. Whether you're building a new app or extending an existing one, Flipper's flexibility makes it the perfect companion for any developer.

Extending Flipper

As a platform, Flipper is designed to be extensible. You can create custom plugins to visualize and debug data from your mobile apps, leveraging Flipper's robust API. With open-source code and MIT licensing, you can explore how we've built plugins and even contribute to the community to improve Flipper.

Getting Started with Flipper

Ready to start exploring? This repository includes all parts of Flipper, including:

  • Flipper's desktop app built using Electron
  • Native Flipper SDKs for iOS and Android
  • Cross-platform C++ SDK
  • React Native Flipper SDK
  • JS Flipper SDK
  • Plugins
  • Website and documentation

To get started, refer to our comprehensive Getting Started guide. Alternatively, run npx flipper-server for a browser-based version of Flipper.

System Requirements

For the best experience with Flipper, make sure you have:

  • node >= 18
  • yarn >= 1.16
  • iOS developer tools (for developing iOS plugins)
  • Android SDK and adb

Building Flipper

To build Flipper from source, follow these steps:

  1. Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/facebook/flipper.git
  2. Navigate to the desktop directory: cd flipper/desktop
  3. Run yarn to install dependencies
  4. Start Flipper with yarn start

Platform-Specific Builds

To build a release zip file for a specific platform, run:

  • yarn build --mac (for MacOS)
  • yarn build --win (for Windows)
  • yarn build --linux (for Linux)

The resulting artifact will be available in the dist/ folder.

Tutorials and Guides

For detailed tutorials and guides on using Flipper, please visit our website at [fbflipper.com](http://fbflipper.com). Our documentation is built with Docusaurus, and you can build it locally by running cd website && yarn start.

Contributing to Flipper

Want to help shape the future of Flipper? Check out our CONTRIBUTING file for guidance on how to get involved.

License Information

Flipper is MIT licensed, as specified in the LICENSE file.