Picking Flutter Web in 2025? | 8 Make-or-Break Issues

Understand the state of Flutter Web in 2025 and its limitations. In this comprehensive analysis, we examine the top 8 most active Flutter Web issues as of March 2025 on the Flutter’s github page to help you decide if it’s ready for your production or not.

The Top 8 Flutter Web Issues You Should Know

1. Hot Reload Functionality for Flutter Web

Issue #53041 (Comments: 154, Reactions: 1276)

One of the most popular Flutter Web issues concerns the hot reload functionality, which doesn’t work as expected in web development. When developers perform a hot restart, the browser fully restarts the app instead of maintaining the current view.

• Originally opened in March 2020
• Still being actively discussed as of February 2025
• Significantly impacts development workflow efficiency
• Causes frustration by forcing developers to navigate back to their testing point

This issue illustrates how Flutter Web’s development experience differs from its mobile counterpart, where hot reload is one of Flutter’s most celebrated features.

2. SEO Challenges with Flutter Web Applications

Issue #46789 (Comments: 202, Reactions: 859)

Search Engine Optimisation remains a critical concern for Flutter Web applications. The issue, open since December 2019, highlights ongoing challenges with indexability. This is probably the most concerning issue which can be a deal breaker for choosing Flutter Web in 2025.

• Web applications need proper SEO for discoverability
• Flutter’s canvas rendering approach makes traditional SEO techniques challenging
• Canvas kit rendering makes it difficult for search engines like Google to index and rank your site properly since it can not read the HTML contents properly.
• From flutter’s official webpage: “You should also consider separating your primary application experience—created in Flutter—from your landing page, marketing content, and help content—created using search-engine optimized HTML.”
• Despite significant community interest, complete solutions remain elusive
• Last updated in January 2025, showing this remains an active concern

For content-focused applications where search traffic is essential, this limitation could be a dealbreaker when considering Flutter for web production.

3. Browser Print and Search Functionality Issues

Flutter Web applications lack support for standard browser features that users expect in web applications:

• Issue #32249 Web Browser Print (Comments: 9, Reactions: 13)
  • Ctrl + P or Windows + P keyboard shortcuts don’t work. Results in a blank page.
  • Previously there was a workaround via “–web-renderer html” but now it has been deprecated.
  • Issue opened since late 2020 with no updates from contributors
  • Workarounds exist for implementing custom print buttons, but the native behaviour of browser doesn’t work.
• Issue #65504 Web Browser Search (Comments: 38, Reactions: 188)
  • Ctrl + F in-page search functionality doesn’t work
  • Issue also opened since late 2020 with no contributor updates
  • Currently no fool-proof workarounds available

4. Browser Scroll Recognition Problems

Issue #69529 (Comments: 138, Reactions: 191)

Flutter Web applications face significant issues with scroll recognition by browsers, creating usability problems across different browsers and devices.

• Opened in November 2020 and updated as recently as March 2025
• Affects critical mobile web experiences like address bar collapsing
• Prevents standard iOS behaviours like tapping the status bar to scroll to top

This issue demonstrates how Flutter Web’s canvas-based rendering approach can conflict with native browser behaviours that users expect.

5. Large Bundle Size Concerns

Issue #46589 (Comments: 104, Reactions: 160)

The size of Flutter Web applications presents another significant challenge, with many developers reporting that main.dart.js is excessively large. This could be a deal breaker for choosing Flutter Web in 2025.

• Creates longer initial loading times
• Results in blank screens during the loading process
• Lacks efficient code-splitting and lazy-loading capabilities
• Issue dates back to December 2019 with updates through December 2024

Performance optimisation is crucial for web applications, and these bundle size concerns can significantly impact user experience, particularly for users on slower connections.

6. Google AdSense Integration Difficulties

Issue #40376 (Comments: 83, Reactions: 142)

Monetisation remains challenging for Flutter Web applications, with developers struggling to implement Google AdSense. If monetising is your first priority think twice before choosing Flutter Web in 2025.

• Open since September 2019
• Last updated in January 2025
• Critical for content publishers needing ad-based revenue
• Demonstrates broader challenges with integrating third-party JavaScript
• AdSense integration is currently being evaluated by the AdSense team with a small test group of customers. The team indicates that AdSense widgets should eventually be available for all Flutter Web apps, not just games

This limitation affects the business viability of Flutter Web for content-focused applications that rely on advertising revenue.

7. iOS Text Input Positioning Issues

Issue #124205 (Comments: 87, Reactions: 79)

Flutter Web applications face specific challenges on iOS devices when handling text input fields and keyboard interactions.

• Text input fields are positioned with incorrect offsets above the keyboard
• Creates usability problems when typing on iOS devices
• Particularly problematic for form-heavy applications
• Here is a workaround for the Flutter keyboard issues if you are interested.

These platform-specific issues highlight the challenges of achieving consistent behaviour across the various browsers and devices that web applications must support.

8. Accessibility Issues

There are many issues related to accessibility in context of Flutter web. We have already covered this topic in detail where we analysed top 10 flutter web accessibility issues. Try this out:

Conclusion

Consider picking Flutter Web in 2025 for Production If:

• Your application is primarily functionality-focused rather than content-focused
• SEO is not a critical requirement for your project
• Your target audience primarily uses desktop browsers
• You’re already using Flutter for mobile and want to leverage code sharing
• Your application doesn’t heavily rely on native browser behaviours

Have you encountered any of these Flutter Web issues in your projects? What strategies have you used to work around them? Share your experiences in the comments below!

Note: This analysis is based on GitHub issues as of March 2025. Check the latest status of these issues before making decisions based on this information.