Contents

Navigate to a new screen and back

Contents

Most apps contain several screens for displaying different types of information. For example, an app might have a screen that displays products. When the user taps the image of a product, a new screen displays details about the product.

In Android, a route is equivalent to an Activity. In iOS, a route is equivalent to a ViewController. In Flutter, a route is just a widget.

This recipe uses the Navigator to navigate to a new route.

The next few sections show how to navigate between two routes, using these steps:

  1. Create two routes.
  2. Navigate to the second route using Navigator.push().
  3. Return to the first route using Navigator.pop().

1. Create two routes

First, create two routes to work with. Since this is a basic example, each route contains only a single button. Tapping the button on the first route navigates to the second route. Tapping the button on the second route returns to the first route.

First, set up the visual structure:

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

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: const Text('First Route'),
      ),
      body: Center(
        child: ElevatedButton(
          child: const Text('Open route'),
          onPressed: () {
            // Navigate to second route when tapped.
          },
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

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

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: const Text('Second Route'),
      ),
      body: Center(
        child: ElevatedButton(
          onPressed: () {
            // Navigate back to first route when tapped.
          },
          child: const Text('Go back!'),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

2. Navigate to the second route using Navigator.push()

To switch to a new route, use the Navigator.push() method. The push() method adds a Route to the stack of routes managed by the Navigator. Where does the Route come from? You can create your own, or use a MaterialPageRoute, which is useful because it transitions to the new route using a platform-specific animation.

In the build() method of the FirstRoute widget, update the onPressed() callback:

// Within the `FirstRoute` widget
onPressed: () {
  Navigator.push(
    context,
    MaterialPageRoute(builder: (context) => const SecondRoute()),
  );
}

3. Return to the first route using Navigator.pop()

How do you close the second route and return to the first? By using the Navigator.pop() method. The pop() method removes the current Route from the stack of routes managed by the Navigator.

To implement a return to the original route, update the onPressed() callback in the SecondRoute widget:

// Within the SecondRoute widget
onPressed: () {
  Navigator.pop(context);
}

Interactive example

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

void main() {
  runApp(const MaterialApp(
    title: 'Navigation Basics',
    home: FirstRoute(),
  ));
}

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

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: const Text('First Route'),
      ),
      body: Center(
        child: ElevatedButton(
          child: const Text('Open route'),
          onPressed: () {
            Navigator.push(
              context,
              MaterialPageRoute(builder: (context) => const SecondRoute()),
            );
          },
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

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

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: const Text('Second Route'),
      ),
      body: Center(
        child: ElevatedButton(
          onPressed: () {
            Navigator.pop(context);
          },
          child: const Text('Go back!'),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}