When to use Provider.of<X> vs. Consumer<X> in Flutter

Solution 1:

It doesn't matter. But to explain things rapidly:

Provider.of is the only way to obtain and listen to an object. Consumer, Selector, and all the *ProxyProvider calls Provider.of to work.

Provider.of vs Consumer is a matter of personal preference. But there's a few arguments for both

Provider.of

• can be called in all the widgets lifecycle, including click handlers and didChangeDependencies
• doesn't increase the indentation

Consumer

• allows more granular widgets rebuilds
• solves most BuildContext misuse

Solution 2:

For your questions:

1. Is this the correct way to distinguish Provider.of<X> and Consumer<X>. Former doesn't update UI, latter does?

Provider.of<X> depends on value of listen to trigger a new State.build to widgets and State.didChangeDependencies for StatefulWidget.

Consumer<X> always update UI, as it uses Provider.of<T>(context), where listen is true. See full source here.

2. If listen isn't set to false will the widget be rebuilt by default or not rebuilt? What if listen is set to true?

Default value is true, means will trigger a new State.build to widgets and State.didChangeDependencies for StatefulWidget. See full source here.

static T of<T>(BuildContext context, {bool listen = true}).

3. Why have Provider.of with the option to rebuild the UI at all when we have Consumer?

Pretty much covered by Rémi Rousselet's answer.

Solution 3:

Provider.of<>

applying provider, whole widget will rebuild if listen true.

Consumer<>

using consumer only specifically allowed widget will rebuild.