The formula for `SpringDescription` changed to correct an earlier error, affecting underdamped springs (damping ratio less than 1) with mass values other than 1. Springs created prior to this change may exhibit different bouncing behaviors after upgrading.
- Who is affected
- Applications and packages relying on the previous behaviour or signature. Code that uses SpringDescription, SpringDescription.withDampingRatio.
- Practical impact
- Behaviour or API differences that can break builds or change runtime behaviour.
- What action should I take?
- Follow the official migration guide below, update affected call sites, run `dart fix --apply` where a fix is available, then run your tests.
Before and after (from the official guide)
| 1 | const spring = SpringDescription( | |
| 2 | − | mass: 20.0, |
| 3 | − | stiffness: 10, |
| 4 | − | damping: 1, |
| 5 | ); |
| 1 | const spring = SpringDescription( | |
| 2 | + | mass: 1.0, |
| 3 | + | stiffness: 100.499375, |
| 4 | + | damping: 20, |
| 5 | ); |
Raw before / after
const spring = SpringDescription( mass: 20.0, stiffness: 10, damping: 1, );
const spring = SpringDescription( mass: 1.0, stiffness: 100.499375, damping: 20, );
Official migration guide (excerpt, © The Flutter Authors, CC BY 3.0)
Migration is necessary only for springs with damping ratios less than 1 and masses other than 1.
To restore previous animation behavior, update your spring parameters accordingly. You can calculate the required parameter adjustments using the provided [JSFiddle for migration][]. Detailed formulas and explanations follow in the next sections.
Default constructor
If the SpringDescription was built with the default constructor with
mass m, stiffness k, and damping c,
then it should be changed with the following formula:
new_m = 1
new_c = c * m
new_k = (4 * (k / m) - (c / m)^2 + (c * m)^2) / 4Code before migration:
const spring = SpringDescription(
mass: 20.0,
stiffness: 10,
damping: 1,
);Code after migration:
const spring = SpringDescription(
mass: 1.0,
stiffness: 100.499375,
damping: 20,
);.withDampingRatio constructor
If the SpringDescription was built with the .withDampingRatio constructor
with mass m, stiffness k, and ratio z, then first calculate damping:
c = z * 2 * sqrt(m * k)Then apply the formula above. Optionally, you might convert the result back to damping ratio with:
new_z = new_c / 2 / sqrt(new_m * new_k)Code before migration:
const spring = SpringDescription.withDampingRatio(
mass: 5.0,
stiffness: 6.0,
damping: 0.03,
);Code after migration:
const spring = SpringDescription.withDampingRatio(
mass: 1,
stiffness: 1.87392,
ratio: 0.60017287468545,
);AI_PROVIDER (for example to openai-compatible with a local Ollama or LM Studio endpoint) to enable grounded explanations. Everything else on this page works without an AI provider.Listed in the official breaking-changes index (docs.flutter.dev/release/breaking-changes).
An official announcement or migration guide documents an intended behaviour or API change. A verified source change (git diff) shows code changed but does not by itself prove a public API is breaking. AI interpretations are labelled and never used to classify a change.
- Official migration guide
- SpringDescription
- Issue 163858
- Fix SpringSimulation formula for underdamping
- JSFiddle for migration
- Source commit
- b3045439b7c0
- Source last updated
- Oct 21, 2026
- Last synchronized
- Oct 21, 2026
- Publication status
- published
Publication history
- Oct 21, 2026, 8:31 PM: new → published (ingestion) — Backed by an official breaking-change/migration guide.
AI_PROVIDER (for example to openai-compatible with a local Ollama or LM Studio endpoint) to enable grounded explanations. Everything else on this page works without an AI provider.