---
title: "Edit Flutter translation files"
description: "How to use BabelEdit with Flutter for translating your applications using Application Resource Bundle files (.arb)."
canonical: "https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/flutter"
product: "babeledit"
source: "html"
---

# Flutter

BabelEdit supports Application Resource Bundle Files (.arb) used to translate Flutter applications.

The way Flutter works with the translation files has changed over time.

Older versions of the framework used an extraction tool to create .arb files from source code. BabelEdit up to 2.9.2 supported this behaviour.

This behaviour was inverted with newer versions of Flutter: You now write the .arb file and create the code instead. Which is way simpler than doing it in the other direction.

*   New language files can be created inside BabelEdit
*   Descriptions are now editable via the comments' field in BabelEdit. They are stored in the .arb file of the primary language. Comments in other language files are ignored and will be removed on save!
*   Existing comments from 2.x.x projects are merged with the descriptions from the .arb file.
*   Use the new placeholder editor to edit placeholder data (name, type, description,...)

## Translation description and placeholders

  ![ARB file editor: Edit placeholders and descriptions in BabelEdit](https://www.codeandweb.com/static/a3298bf47ecb049f2058a4eec68db1ec/283d3/arb-file-editor-placeholders%402x.png)

## Application Resource Bundle files (.arb)

A JSON based file format that also supports meta data for each entry.

```json
{
    "@@last_modified": "2020-01-08T11:39:22.562134",
    "pushCounterText": "You have pushed the button this many times:",
    "@pushCounterText": {
        "description": "A description for the push counter",
        "type": "text",
        "placeholders": {}
    }
}
```

## In this section

- [Installation](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation.md)
- [Framework selection](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/framework-selection.md)
- [Main screen](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/main-screen.md)
- [Project configuration](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/project-configuration.md)
- [Configure languages](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/configure-languages.md)
- [Adding translations](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/adding-translations.md)
- [Search & filters](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/search-and-filters.md)
- [Editing tools](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/editing-tools.md)
- [Import & export](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/import-export.md)
- [.NET (.resx)](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/dotnet.md)
- [Angular](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/angular.md)
- [Ember.js](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/ember-js.md)
- [Gettext (.po, .pot)](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/po-files.md)
- [i18next (json)](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/i18next.md)
- [Java](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/java.md)
- [JSON](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/json.md)
- [Laravel (php/json)](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/laravel.md)
- [React](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/react.md)
- [Ruby On Rails](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/ruby-on-rails.md)
- [Svelte](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/svelte.md)
- [Vue.js](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/vue-js.md)
- [YAML](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/frameworks/yaml.md)
- [Overview](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/features.md)
- [Machine Translation](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/machine-translation.md)
- [ConsistencyAI](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/consistency-ai.md)
- [Spell Checker](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/spellchecker.md)
- [Similar Phrases](https://www.codeandweb.com/babeledit/documentation/translation-memory.md)