When the maintainers of ffmpeg-kit announced its deprecation, many Flutter developers were left wondering how to continue using it, especially when customizations like full-gpl builds were needed.

If you’re working on Flutter apps for iOS and need a local build of ffmpeg-kit, this guide walks you through compiling it on a Mac, solving common build errors along the way.

Let’s dive right in.

Step 1 — Install Required Build Tools for Flutter + iOS

First, ensure you have the necessary tools installed on your Mac:

brew install pkg-config meson autogen libtool nasm automake autoconf gtk-doc
xcode-select --install
sudo xcodebuild -license accept

🎯 These are critical for both Flutter plugin development and building native libraries like FFmpegKit.

Step 2 — Clone the FFmpegKit Repository for Your Flutter Plugin

Inside your Flutter project (or any workspace), create a plugin folder and clone the repository:

mkdir plugin
cd plugin
git clone https://github.com/arthenica/ffmpeg-kit.git

This sets up the ffmpeg-kit source code locally for building.

Step 3 — Build the FFmpegKit Full-GPL Version for iOS

Navigate into the cloned folder and start the build process:

cd ffmpeg-kit
./ios.sh --full --enable-gpl --target=12.1 --xcframework --disable-armv7 --disable-armv7s --disable-i386 --disable-lib-gnutls

✅ This generates an .xcframework ready to be used as a Flutter plugin dependency.

After running the script, the compiled frameworks will be generated under:

prebuilt/bundle-apple-framework-ios

Once the process is complete, make sure to check the build.log file — it should not contain any errors.

Step 4 — Integrate FFmpegKit Frameworks into Your Flutter iOS Project

Now it’s time to connect the compiled FFmpegKit frameworks with your Flutter iOS app.

4.1 Copy the Generated Frameworks

mkdir -p flutter/flutter/ios/Frameworks
cp -r prebuilt/bundle-apple-framework-ios/* flutter/flutter/ios/Frameworks/

This copies the .xcframework files into your Flutter plugin’s ios/Frameworks directory.

4.2 Update the ffmpeg_kit_flutter.podspec File

Next, open ffmpeg-kit/flutter/flutter/ios/ffmpeg_kit_flutter.podspec and update it:

1. Change the default subspec:

# Change from 'https' to your custom precompiled spec name
s.default_subspec = 'precompiled-gpl'

2. Add the new subspec section:

s.subspec 'precompiled-gpl' do |ss|
    ss.vendored_frameworks = 'Frameworks/ffmpegkit.xcframework',
                             'Frameworks/libavcodec.xcframework',
                             'Frameworks/libavdevice.xcframework',
                             'Frameworks/libavfilter.xcframework',
                             'Frameworks/libavformat.xcframework',
                             'Frameworks/libavutil.xcframework',
                             'Frameworks/libswresample.xcframework',
                             'Frameworks/libswscale.xcframework'
end

This tells CocoaPods to link your project against the locally built FFmpeg frameworks instead of downloading prebuilt binaries.

Troubleshooting FFmpegKit Build Issues on Mac for Flutter

Building ffmpeg-kit isn’t always smooth. Here are the most frequent problems — and how to fix them.

Final Thoughts — Using Your Compiled FFmpegKit in a Flutter Project

Once you successfully compile the .xcframework and configure your podspec, you’ll have a fully working, license-compliant FFmpegKit build tailored for Flutter on iOS.

By doing it yourself, you gain:

• Full control over FFmpeg’s build options
• Ability to enable GPL libraries (e.g., x264, libfdk-aac)
• Freedom from relying on outdated prebuilt binaries

Happy building! 🚀

👉 Need more help? Check out the official troubleshooting page.