How to Build a Bottom Navigation Bar in Flutter Step-by-Step

About This Video

Learn how to build a modern Bottom Navigation Bar in Flutter step-by-step. Master Material 3 design, handle tab switching, and preserve widget state using IndexedStack. Perfect for beginners and scalable apps. Want to build a flawless bottom navigation bar in Flutter without losing your user's page data or scroll position? In this step-by-step Flutter tutorial, we are building a clean, modern Bottom Navigation Bar from scratch. Most beginners build bottom bars that completely reset the screen every time a user switches tabs. I'll show you exactly how to fix that using IndexedStack for absolute state persistence! Whether you are completely new to Flutter or looking to implement clean Material 3 navigation design, this video has you covered. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction & The Common State Mistake 0:45 - Project Setup & UI Screens 1:50 - Building the BottomNavigationBar Widget 3:15 - Fixing the Tab Reset Bug with IndexedStack 4:40 - Custom Styling & Material 3 Updates 5:50 - Best Practices & Wrap Up If you found this tutorial helpful, don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more clean Flutter tutorials! 🔔 #Flutter #Dart #MobileDevelopment #FlutterTutorial #AppNavigation Q: Why does my Flutter bottom navigation bar reset screen state when switching tabs? A: By default, if you switch pages by rendering them dynamically out of a standard List[index], Flutter removes the unselected widget from the widget tree entirely. This destroys its state, resetting scroll positions and input fields. To prevent this, wrap your page list in an IndexedStack widget, which keeps all tabs alive in memory. Q: What is the difference between BottomNavigationBar and NavigationBar in Flutter? A: BottomNavigationBar is the classic Material 2 component. In newer versions of Flutter, Google prefers NavigationBar, which follows Material 3 specifications, bringing updated visual container states, built-in pill shape indicators, and native fluid animations out of the box. Q: How many tabs should a bottom navigation bar have? A: According to Material Design guidelines, a bottom navigation bar should strictly contain between 3 and 5 destinations. If you have fewer than 3 options, use standard buttons or tabs. If you have more than 5, implement a side navigation drawer or a "More" menu item.