quick_look

Preview local files with Apple's native iOS Quick Look (QLPreviewController). Supports single files, a swipeable collection, capability checks, and control over swipe dismissal.

Requirements

  • Flutter 3.44+ and Dart 3.12+.
  • iOS 13+, or the higher minimum required by your Flutter SDK. The example targets iOS 15 to match Flutter 3.47.
  • Swift Package Manager enabled. CocoaPods is no longer supported as of 0.3.0.
  • iOS only; calls on other platforms fail with a platform channel error.

Migrating from CocoaPods

Flutter 3.44+ enables SwiftPM by default. If your app previously disabled it, set this in the app's pubspec.yaml, then rebuild:

flutter:
  config:
    enable-swift-package-manager: true

Flutter can still use CocoaPods for other plugins that require it. Once all your app's plugins support SwiftPM, follow Flutter's CocoaPods removal guide to remove the app's remaining integration.

Usage

Pass an absolute local file path, not a file:// URL or an HTTP URL. Files can live in documents, cache, or temporary storage; keep them readable until the preview closes. Download remote files before previewing them.

import 'dart:io';

import 'package:flutter/services.dart' show rootBundle;
import 'package:quick_look/quick_look.dart';

Future<void> previewAsset() async {
  final data = await rootBundle.load('assets/document.pdf');
  final directory = Directory.systemTemp;
  final file = await File('${directory.path}/document.pdf').writeAsBytes(
    data.buffer.asUint8List(data.offsetInBytes, data.lengthInBytes),
  );

  if (await QuickLook.canOpenURL(file.path)) {
    final dismissed = await QuickLook.openURL(file.path);
    // true after the preview closes, false if presentation was refused.
    print('Preview dismissed: $dismissed');
  }
}

To preview a collection:

final dismissed = await QuickLook.openURLs(
  resourceURLs: [pdfPath, imagePath],
  initialIndex: 1,
  isDismissable: false,
);

isDismissable: false disables the downward swipe gesture. The native Done button remains available. Both open methods complete after the preview is dismissed. They return false for invalid paths, missing/unreadable/unsupported files, an empty list, an out-of-range index, a concurrent preview, or an unavailable active presenter. Engine teardown also completes a pending preview with false. Platform channel errors are propagated.

Supported file types and rendering depend on the iOS version and file contents; canOpenURL checks file accessibility and Quick Look's capability, not whether the file is uncorrupted. See Apple's Quick Look documentation.

Libraries

quick_look
quick_look_messages.g