adaptive_network_image

A Flutter package built primarily for web, solving CORS restrictions when loading external images. It uses a multi-strategy fallback approach that works across all browsers. On non-web platforms (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux), it uses Flutter's default Image.network -- no extra setup needed.

How It Works

AdaptiveNetworkImage tries up to three strategies in order until one succeeds:

1. directImg -- Renders an HTML <img> element via HtmlElementView. Lightest approach; works when the server sends appropriate CORS headers.
2. corsProxy -- Fetches image bytes through a CORS proxy, then displays via Image.memory. Requires a corsProxyUrl to be provided. Skipped otherwise.
3. iframe -- Renders the image inside a sandboxed <iframe> with no inline scripts. Heaviest approach but most compatible.

The first strategy that loads successfully is used. Resolved strategies are cached so subsequent renders skip straight to what worked.

Quick Start

flutter pub add adaptive_network_image

import 'package:adaptive_network_image/adaptive_network_image.dart';

AdaptiveNetworkImage(
  imageUrl: 'https://example.com/photo.jpg',
  width: 300,
  height: 200,
  fit: BoxFit.cover,
)

Configuration

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
imageUrl	String	required	URL of the image to display.
width	double?	null	Fixed width constraint.
height	double?	null	Fixed height constraint.
fit	BoxFit	BoxFit.cover	How the image fits within its bounds.
placeholder	WidgetBuilder?	null	Builder for a widget shown while loading. Defaults to a CircularProgressIndicator.
errorWidget	AdaptiveImageErrorBuilder?	null	Builder for a widget shown when all strategies fail. Defaults to a broken-image icon.
fadeInDuration	Duration	300ms	Duration of the fade-in animation.
fadeInCurve	Curve	Curves.easeIn	Curve of the fade-in animation.
borderRadius	BorderRadius?	null	Clips the image with the given border radius.
headers	Map<String, String>?	null	HTTP headers sent with image requests.
corsProxyUrl	String?	null	CORS proxy base URL. The image URL is appended (encoded). Required for the corsProxy strategy.
onTap	VoidCallback?	null	Callback invoked when the image is tapped.
enableCache	bool	true	Whether to cache strategy resolution and image bytes.
strategies	List<ImageLoadStrategy>?	null	Ordered list of strategies to attempt. Defaults to all three.
onStrategyResolved	ImageLoadCallback?	null	Callback invoked when a strategy successfully loads the image.
preventNativeInteraction	bool	true	Prevents native browser interactions (drag, right-click) on web HTML elements.

Strategy Trade-offs

Strategy	Weight	Requires	Notes
directImg	Lightest	Server CORS headers	Best performance; may fail if the server blocks cross-origin requests.
corsProxy	Medium	corsProxyUrl	Full pixel access via Image.memory; adds a proxy hop.
iframe	Heaviest	Nothing	Always works, but creates a sandboxed iframe per image.

You can restrict or reorder strategies:

AdaptiveNetworkImage(
  imageUrl: url,
  strategies: [ImageLoadStrategy.corsProxy, ImageLoadStrategy.iframe],
  corsProxyUrl: 'https://my-proxy.example.com/',
)

Platform Support

Platform	Behavior
Web (all browsers)	Multi-strategy CORS handling (directImg, corsProxy, iframe).
Android / iOS	Uses Flutter's default Image.network.
macOS / Windows / Linux	Uses Flutter's default Image.network.

You can use AdaptiveNetworkImage as a drop-in replacement for Image.network across all platforms. On web it handles CORS automatically; everywhere else it delegates to Flutter's built-in image loading.

Cache

Image bytes and resolved strategies are cached in an LRU cache with byte-based eviction. To clear the cache manually:

AdaptiveNetworkImage.clearCache();

Disable caching per widget with enableCache: false.

Logging

Enable debug logging to diagnose CORS issues:

adaptiveImageLogging = true;

Logs are printed via debugPrint and are off by default.

License

MIT -- see LICENSE for details.