[Google3 Bug]: ImageStream & ImageProvider provide no way to pause GIF animations

Related: #130976

Help us understand the severity of this issue

causing severe production issues e.g. malfunctions or data loss
blocking next binary release
blocking a client feature launch within a quarter
nice-to-have but does not block a launch within the next quarter

Steps to reproduce

Load a GIF asset into ImageProvider/ImageStream via CachedNetworkImage.

Expected results

Either one of the following:

The ImageProvider/ImageStream library provides a way to disable any animation of the provided image.
MediaQuery.of(context).disableAnimations is respected by the ImageProvider/ImageStream library by default.

Actual results

Neither ImageProvider/ImageStream provide a way to disable animation of an image
MediaQuery.of(context).disableAnimations is not respected by the ImageProvider/ImageStream library.

Code sample

yaml:

dependencies:
  flutter:
    sdk: flutter
  cached_network_image: ^3.3.1 # Use the latest version

Dart File:

import 'package:cached_network_image/cached_network_image.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

void main() => runApp(const MyApp());

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  const MyApp({super.key});

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      title: 'GIF Loading with CachedNetworkImage',
      home: Scaffold(
        appBar: AppBar(title: const Text('Cached GIF')),
        body: Center(
          child: CachedNetworkImage(
            imageUrl:
                'https://media1.tenor.com/m/Ps_NnXFTyRYAAAAC/send-link-send.gif',
            placeholder: (context, url) => const CircularProgressIndicator(),
            errorWidget: (context, url, error) => const Icon(Icons.error),
          ),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

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This is a feature request/issue that affects the "Chalk" app.

I was able to put together a local change that piped a new boolean down to MultiFrameImageStreamCompleter that determined whether we should draw past the first frame here. I'm not certain whether this is the preferred approach by the Flutter team, but it did work.

Thanks for the report. Since you are using cached_network_image library which is third party, a related issue is open in it.

I was able to put together a local change that piped a new boolean down to MultiFrameImageStreamCompleter that determined whether we should draw past the first frame here. I'm not certain whether this is the preferred approach by the Flutter team, but it did work.

I'll label this as a proposal in the framework and for team's tracking.

Thanks for triaging the issue Darshan, once the framework fix is in I'll do the work to get it implemented in our codebase.

I was wondering how updates to severity work? This issue will eventually block a binary release, am I supposed to update the initial post when that time comes or should I provide a timeline here?

I was wondering how updates to severity work? This issue will eventually block a binary release, am I supposed to update the initial post when that time comes or should I provide a timeline here?

This will depend on the priority it'll receive.

I was able to put together a local change that piped a new boolean down to MultiFrameImageStreamCompleter that determined whether we should draw past the first frame here. I'm not certain whether this is the preferred approach by the Flutter team, but it did work.

You may raise PR for this to get framework team's feedback.

@evantea

Here's a much simpler workaround:

TickerMode(
  enabled: !_isPaused,
  child: Image(image: myImage),
),

This is probably the canonical way to pause a gif. It's pretty explicitly built into Image:

flutter/packages/flutter/lib/src/widgets/image.dart

Lines 1126 to 1130 in d938e30

    
           if (TickerMode.of(context)) { 
        
             _listenToStream(); 
        
           } else { 
        
             _stopListeningToStream(keepStreamAlive: true); 
        
           }

I will plan to open a PR that explains this in the docs a little bit better and then resolve this issue. Let me know if this does not solve your problem @evantea .

@justinmc

@justinmc Should we consider any change in the framework that would make animated gifs/pngs respect MediaQuery.of(context).disableAnimations ?

Great point, I forgot about that property from above. That would go a long way towards helping our users support accessibility. I'll see if I can wire that up.

@justinmc

Discussed offline with @justinmc, if we use TickerMode all animations are disabled, which is a good and bad thing.

The bad: in our case it breaks FadeInImage and just makes Images in our app only show the provided PlaceholderImage.

Image GIF pausing (#176492)

Image GIF pausing (flutter#176492)

This thread has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. If you are still experiencing a similar issue, please open a new bug, including the output of flutter doctor -v and a minimal reproduction of the issue.

Image GIF pausing (flutter#176492)

Image GIF pausing (#176492)

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[Google3 Bug]: ImageStream & ImageProvider provide no way to pause GIF animations #175516

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	if (TickerMode.of(context)) {
	_listenToStream();
	} else {
	_stopListeningToStream(keepStreamAlive: true);
	}

[Google3 Bug]: ImageStream & ImageProvider provide no way to pause GIF animations #175516

Description

Help us understand the severity of this issue

Steps to reproduce

Expected results

Actual results

Code sample

Screenshots or Video

Logs

Flutter Doctor output

Activity

evantea commented on Sep 17, 2025

darshankawar commented on Sep 18, 2025

evantea commented on Sep 18, 2025

darshankawar commented on Sep 19, 2025

13 remaining items

justinmc commented on Oct 2, 2025

zanderso commented on Oct 2, 2025

justinmc commented on Oct 2, 2025

evantea commented on Oct 2, 2025

github-actions commented on Nov 28, 2025

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