Introducing the Redacted Widget for Flutter: Enhance Your Loading Experience!

3 min readFeb 23, 2024

A widget that automatically generate a loading widget from your own widget.

Are you tired of staring at dull loading screens while waiting for your content to load in your Flutter apps? Say hello to the Redacted Widget — your new best friend for sprucing up loading screens and keeping your users engaged! Whether you’re fetching data from an API or loading images, the Redacted Widget adds a touch of elegance and excitement to the waiting game with shimmer effects.

Redacted Widget

Integrating the Redacted Widget into your Flutter app is a breeze! Simply import the package into your project and start using it to wrap your loading content. The Redacted Widget takes care of the rest, providing a polished placeholder that maintains the layout and design of your final content.

import 'package:redacted_example/src/redacted_widget.dart';

// Wrap your loading content with Redacted Widget
const loadingWidget = ShoeWidget().redacted(
  context: context,
  redact: true,
);

Benefits of Using the Redacted Widget

1. Engaging User Experience

Keep your users entertained and engaged during loading periods with visually appealing placeholders.
Maintain user interest and reduce bounce rates by providing a seamless transition between loading and loaded content.

2. Customizable Design

Tailor the appearance of your placeholders to match your app’s branding and style.
Easily adjust placeholder duration, animation, and shape to fit the tone of your application.

3. Improved Perception of Speed

Create the illusion of faster loading times by presenting placeholders that resemble the final content.
Enhance user perception of your app’s performance and responsiveness.

4. Easy Integration

Integrate the Redacted Widget into your existing Flutter projects without extensive reworking.
Utilize the widget across various components of your app, from text and images to entire sections of content.

class ShoeWidget extends StatelessWidget {
  const ShoeWidget({super.key});

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Column(
      crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.start,
      children: [
        AspectRatio(
          aspectRatio: 1,
          child: Container(
            width: double.infinity,
            decoration: BoxDecoration(
              borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(16),
              color: Colors.grey.shade200,
            ),
            child: Image.asset("assets/shoe.png"),
          ),
        ),
        const SizedBox(
          height: 16,
        ),
        Row(
          children: [
            Text(
              "\$180.99",
              style: TextStyle(
                fontWeight: FontWeight.w600,
                fontSize: 18,
                color: Colors.red.shade300,
              ),
            ),
            const Spacer(),
            Icon(
              Icons.star,
              color: Colors.red.shade300,
            ),
            const Text(
              "4.1",
              style: TextStyle(
                fontWeight: FontWeight.w700,
                fontSize: 18,
              ),
            )
          ],
        ),
        const SizedBox(
          height: 8,
        ),
        const Text(
          "Nike ACG Mountain",
          style: TextStyle(
            fontSize: 16,
          ),
        ),
      ],
    );
  }
}

I hope this Tip was helpful to you. Thank you for taking the time to read it. Your feedback and suggestions are always welcome.