---
title: Patrol 3.0 is here
---

Patrol 3.0 is the new major version of Patrol.

## `patrol v3` and DevTools extension

The highlight of this release is the **Patrol DevTools Extension**. We created
it to enhance your UI test development experience with `patrol develop` by
making it much easier to explore the native view hierarchy. With Patrol's new
DevTools extension, you can effortlessly inspect the currently visible
Android/iOS views and discover their properties. This information can be then
used in native selectors like `$.native.tap()`, eliminating the need for
external tools.

Patrol is one of the first packages in the whole Flutter ecosystem to have a
DevTools extension. We have started working on it as soon as the Flutter team
has announced that they're working on making DevTools extensible. We immediately
realized how powerful this feature is and how it can enable us to deliver better
UI testing experience.

This is, of course, just the beginning, and we have plans to introduce more
features in future updates of our DevTools extension.

### Changes in `patrol` v3:

The DevTools extension is not the only new feature in this release. Other
changes include:

- **Minimum Flutter version**: The minimum supported Flutter version has been
  bumped to 3.16 to make it compatible with a few breaking changes that were
  introduced to the `flutter_test` package that `patrol` and `patrol_finders`
  depend on. We hope you'll have an easy time upgrading to 3.16, but if not, you
  can always use Patrol v2 until you're ready to upgrade.

- **A few breaking changes**:
  - The `bindingType` parameter has been removed from the `patrolTest()`
    function. Now, only `PatrolBinding` is used and it's also automatically
    initialized.
  - The `nativeAutomation` parameter has also been removed from the
    `patrolTest()` function. Now `patrolTest()` implies native automation and
    you can use `patrolWidgetTest()` if you don't need it.
  - `PatrolTester` class has been renamed to `PatrolIntegrationTester`. Now
    `PatrolTester` is used with `patrolWidgetTest()` *without* native automation
    and `PatrolIntegrationTester` is used with `patrolTest()` *with* native
    automation.
- **Patrol CLI version requirement**: Patrol v3 requires Patrol CLI v2.3.0 or
  newer, so make sure to `patrol update`!

## `patrol_finders` v2

Along with `patrol` v3, we are releasing the v2 of [patrol_finders]. In case you
missed it, we split `patrol_finders` from `patrol` a few months ago in response
to our community members who loved Patrol's lean finders syntax, but weren't
interested in developing integration tests. [Here's the docs
page][patrol_finders_docs] about `patrol_finders` in case you missed it.

### Changes in `patrol_finders` v2:

- **Minimum Flutter version**: The minimum supported Flutter version of
  `patrol_finders` has been bumped to 3.16, just like in `patrol`'s case.
- The deprecated `andSettle` method has been removed from all `PatrolTester` and
  `PatrolFinder` methods like `tap()`, `enterText()`, and so on. Developers
  should now use `settlePolicy` as a replacement, which has been available since
  June.
- The default `settlePolicy` has been changed to [SettlePolicy.trySettle].

## Wrapping up

As you can see, these updates have a little bit of everything - a large new
feature, support for the latest Flutter version, and a clean-up of a few
deprecations. We encourage you to explore our new DevTools extension and look
forward to your feedback and ideas for new features as we continue to evolve the
Patrol ecosystem. Meanwhile, we're getting back to work on Patrol, with a single
goal in mind – to make it the go-to UI testing framework for Flutter apps.

[patrol_finders]: https://pub.dev/packages/patrol_finders
[patrol_finders_docs]: https://patrol.leancode.co/patrol-finders-release
[SettlePolicy.trySettle]: https://pub.dev/documentation/patrol_finders/latest/patrol_finders/SettlePolicy.html#trySettle