webview_win_floating

A desktop Flutter WebView plugin for Windows and Linux.

It exposes the same API as webview_flutter, so you can reuse familiar WebView code while targeting desktop platforms.

BREAKING CHANGES

For developers upgrading from version 2.x to 3.x, please refer to API BREAKING CHANGES

Platform Support

Platform Support Use Library
Windows ✅ WebView2
Linux ✅ webkit2gtk-4.1

You can write your app against the webview_flutter API and use this package as the desktop implementation.

Highlights

  • Native WebView rendering on Windows and Linux.
  • High-performance video playback and scrolling.
  • Compatible with the webview_flutter API on supported platforms.

Limitations

This package places a native WebView directly on top of the Flutter window instead of rendering it as a texture.

That design has a tradeoff:

  • You get native WebView performance and smooth video playback.
  • Flutter widgets CANNOT render above the WebView on Windows and Linux.
  • You cannot push a new route above the WebView.
  • Tab-key focus switching between Flutter and WebView has some limitations.
  • Flutter cannot clip the WebView, so it may remain visible even when scrolled outside its parent area.
  • If the WebView is placed inside a scrollable widget, you may need a ScrollController so it can be repositioned while scrolling.

Hmm... there are so many limitations.

Workaround

If your application targets only Windows or Linux, refer to the Standalone mode section below and use controller.setVisibility(bool) to toggle the WebView visibility.

When to Use It

Use this package if:

  • You need smooth video playback.
  • You care about scroll performance.
  • You do not need Flutter overlays above the WebView.

For Linux platform

Linux has a few build-time considerations. See README_Linux.md for details.

Installation

Add the package to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  webview_win_floating: ^3.0.0
  webview_flutter: ^4.13.0

Usage

Use webview now

NOTE: all the interface are supplied by webview_flutter

final controller = WebViewController();

@override
void initState() {
  super.initState();
  controller.setJavaScriptMode(JavaScriptMode.unrestricted);
  controller.loadRequest(Uri.parse("https://www.google.com/"));
}

@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
  return WebViewWidget(controller: controller);
}

Javascript

Enable JavaScript before loading pages that need it:

controller.setJavaScriptMode(JavaScriptMode.unrestricted);

For example, to disable the facebook / twitter links in youtube website:

controller.setNavigationDelegate(NavigationDelegate(
  onNavigationRequest: (request) {
    return request.url.contains("youtube")
      ? NavigationDecision.navigate
      : NavigationDecision.prevent;
  },
));

Communication with javascript

Hint: you can rename the name 'myChannelName' in the following code

controller.addJavaScriptChannel("myChannelName",
  onMessageReceived: (JavaScriptMessage jmsg) {
    String message = jmsg.message;
    print(message);  // print "This message is from javascript"
  }
);

controller.loadHtmlString(htmlContent);
controller.runJavascript("callByDart(100)");


var htmlContent = '''
<html>
<body>
<script>
function callByDart(int value) {
    console.log("callByDart: " + value);
}
myChannelName.postMessage("This message is from javascript");
</script>
</body>
</html>
''';

Events

Supported callbacks include:

  • onPageStarted
  • onPageFinished
  • onUrlChange
  • onHttpError (e.g. 404 Not Found)
  • onSslAuthError (e.g. SSL certification expired, revoked, untrust)
  • onWebResourceError (for non-ssl error and non-http error. e.g. connect timeout, hostname not found)
controller.setNavigationDelegate(NavigationDelegate(
  onPageStarted: (url) {
    print("onPageStarted: $url");
  },
  onPageFinished: (url) {
    print("onPageFinished: $url");
  },
  onUrlChange: (change) {
    String url = change.url ?? "";
    print("onUrlChange: $url"),
  },
  onHttpError: (error) {
    int httpCode = error.response!.statusCode; // e.g. 403 (Not Found)
    String url = error.response!.uri.toString();
    print("onHttpError: code=$httpCode, url : $url");
  },
  onSslAuthError: (error) {
    if (error is WinSslAuthError) {
      print("onSslAuthError: ${(error as WinSslAuthError).url}");
    } else {
      print("onSslAuthError: unknown url}");
    }
    error.cancel();
  },
  onWebResourceError: (error) {
    print("onWebResourceError: ${error.url} => ${error.description}");
  },
));

Controller APIs

  • controller.loadRequest(uri)
  • controller.runJavascript( jsStr )
  • controller.runJavaScriptReturningResult( jsStr ) // return javascript function's return value
  • controller.reload()
  • controller.canGoBack()
  • controller.goBack()
  • controller.goForward()
  • controller.canGoForward()
  • controller.currentUrl()
  • controller.clearCache()
  • controller.enableZoom()

dispose controller (cleanup webview instance)

controller = null;
// and make sure no any WebViewWidget keep that controller object.

After official API interface webview_flutter: 4.0.0, controller is disposed after the WebViewController object is garbage collected.

So the controller object may not be disposed immediately when no any pointer keep the controller object.

Permission request (e.g., Notification, Camera)

Some websites request permissions such as notifications or camera access.

If you do not provide onPermissionRequest, all permission requests are denied by default.

For example, you can test Notification permission with the following code, in this site

final controller = WebViewController(onPermissionRequest: (request) {
  if (Platform.isWindows) {
    var req = request.platform as WinWebViewPermissionRequest;
    print("permission: ${req.kind} , ${req.url}");
    
    // only allow "notification", deny all others
    if (req.kind == WinWebViewPermissionResourceType.notification) {
      req.grant();
    } else {
      req.deny();
    }
  }
});

If onPermissionRequest is not provided, all the permission requests will be denied automatically:

final controller = WebViewController();

Diffrent platforms have different implementations. Windows WebView2 allow you to grant/deny the following permission types:

enum WinWebViewPermissionResourceType {
  unknown,
  microphone,
  camera,
  geoLocation,
  notification,
  otherSensors,
  clipboardRead
}

User Data Folder & Profiles (Windows only)

User Data Folder:

  • You can configure custom storage paths for browser data, including cache, cookies, and session information.
  • If your app is installed in a read-only location such as C:\Program Files\, set a custom user data folder.

Profiles:

  • You can specify a Profile Name, similar to the "User Profile" mechanism in Google Chrome.
  • Data for each profile is stored in: <UserDataFolder>/EBWebView/WV2Profile_<ProfileName>/
  • Isolation: Cookies, cache, and other browser data are stored separately.
String cacheDir = "c:\\test";
String profileName = "UserA";
var params = WindowsWebViewControllerCreationParams(userDataFolder: cacheDir, profileName: profileName);
var controller = WebViewController.fromPlatformCreationParams(params);

Build with InnoSetup

Or if application installed in "C:/Program Files/" or other read-only dir

If your application build with InnoSetup, or can be installed in "C:/Program Files/" or other read-only system directory, the webview cannot create data folder in read-only directory, so it won't work.

In this case, you should specify user data folder as mentioned above.

Standalone Mode

If your app only targets Windows and you want fewer dependencies, you can remove the webview_flutter dependency:

dependencies:
  webview_win_floating: ^3.0.0
  # webview_flutter: ^4.13.0  # mark this line for Windows only app

Then rename the core classes:

WebViewWidget -> WinWebViewWidget  // add "Win" prefix
WebViewController -> WinWebViewController  // add "Win" prefix
NavigationDelegate  -> WinNavigationDelegate  // add "Win" prefix

just only modify class names. All the properties / method are the same with webview_flutter

For permission grant/deny:

final controller = WinWebViewController(onPermissionRequest: (req) {
  print("permission: ${req.kind} , ${req.url}");
    
  // only allow "notification", deny all others
  if (req.kind == WinWebViewPermissionResourceType.notification) {
    req.grant();
  } else {
    req.deny();
  }
});

Windows and Linux only APIs

The standalone Windows API also includes:

  • controller.setVisibility(bool): show / hide webview
  • onPageTitleChanged` callback in WinNavigationDelegate
  • onHistoryChanged` callback in WinNavigationDelegate
  • controller.openDevTools()
  • controller.dispose()
  • controller.setStatusBar(bool isEnable): show/hide status bar (Windows-only)

show / hide webview

final controller = WinWebViewController();
controller.setVisibility(false); // hide webview

TroubleShooting

Build Fails with MSB3073

If your build fails with an error containing MSB3073, run the build command from an Administrator terminal.

javascript 'history.back()' issue

If you use history.back() in JavaScript, remove your NavigationDelegate.onNavigationRequest() implementation. That callback can interfere with back navigation.

Example

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:webview_win_floating/webview_win_floating.dart';
import 'package:webview_flutter/webview_flutter.dart';

void main() {
  runApp(const MyApp());
}

class MyApp extends StatefulWidget {
  const MyApp({Key? key}) : super(key: key);

  @override
  State<MyApp> createState() => _MyAppState();
}

class _MyAppState extends State<MyApp> {
  final controller = WebViewController();

  @override
  void initState() {
    super.initState();
  
    controller.setJavaScriptMode(JavaScriptMode.unrestricted);
    controller.loadRequest(Uri.parse("https://www.google.com/"));
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      home: Scaffold(
        appBar: AppBar(
          title: const Text('Windows Webview example app'),
        ),
        body: WebViewWidget(controller: controller),
      ),
    );
  }
}

Libraries

layout_notify_widget
webview
webview_plugin
webview_win_floating
webview_win_floating_method_channel
webview_win_floating_platform_interface