default Text widget's letter spacing is a bit off

The flutter's line seems to be a bit more spaced out, what do you think?

Steps to Reproduce

Create two views, one in flutter with

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      title: 'my_app',
      home: Scaffold(
        backgroundColor: Colors.white,
        body: Center(
          child: Text(
            'hello from flutter yay',
            style: TextStyle(
              fontSize: 18.0,
              fontWeight: FontWeight.w400,
              color: Colors.black,
            ),
          ),
        ),
        floatingActionButton: FloatingActionButton(
          onPressed: () {},
          child: Icon(Icons.add),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

and one in swift / objc with

  override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    view.backgroundColor = .white

    let helloLabel = UILabel()
    helloLabel.text = "hello from ios"
    helloLabel.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
    view.addSubview(helloLabel)
    helloLabel.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerYAnchor).isActive = true
    helloLabel.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerXAnchor).isActive = true
  }

Please add the output of flutter doctor -v.

I am going to agree that the text doesn't even feel like the same weight as native text; I haven't like, taken a screenshot of it to compare, so it could be that something else is doing it, but it just feels less thick/dense.

I took the image from #22572 (comment) and pasted the 2 "hello"s next to each other. I think any pixel differences are just tricks of antialiasing and not really representative of a different kern. It would be helpful if we had the companion iOS code that is using to compare.

This issue seems to be reproducible on the latest master channel.

Flutter	iOS native

I tried putting 2 screenshots (ios native is red text, flutter is black text) with the first letter matching, the issue will be more visible (not sure if this is the right test):

Sample code (Flutter and iOS)

Flutter:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

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

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      title: 'my_app',
      home: Scaffold(
        backgroundColor: Colors.white,
        body: Center(
          child: Text(
            'hello from flutter yay',
            style: TextStyle(
              fontSize: 28.0,
            ),
          ),
        ),
        floatingActionButton: FloatingActionButton(
          onPressed: () {},
          child: Icon(Icons.add),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

iOS native:

class ViewController: UIViewController {

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        // Do any additional setup after loading the view.
        
        view.backgroundColor = .white

        let helloLabel = UILabel()
        helloLabel.text = "hello from flutter yay"
        helloLabel.font = helloLabel.font.withSize(28)
        helloLabel.textColor = UIColor.red
        helloLabel.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        view.addSubview(helloLabel)
        helloLabel.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerYAnchor).isActive = true
        helloLabel.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerXAnchor).isActive = true
    }
}

flutter doctor -v (stable and master)

[✓] Flutter (Channel stable, 3.3.10, on macOS 13.0.1 22A400 darwin-x64, locale en-VN)
    • Flutter version 3.3.10 on channel stable at /Users/huynq/Documents/GitHub/flutter
    • Upstream repository https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
    • Framework revision 135454af32 (13 hours ago), 2022-12-15 07:36:55 -0800
    • Engine revision 3316dd8728
    • Dart version 2.18.6
    • DevTools version 2.15.0

[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 31.0.0)
    • Android SDK at /Users/huynq/Library/Android/sdk
    • Platform android-33, build-tools 31.0.0
    • ANDROID_HOME = /Users/huynq/Library/Android/sdk
    • Java binary at: /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jre/Contents/Home/bin/java
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.13+0-b1751.21-8125866)
    • All Android licenses accepted.

[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 14.1)
    • Xcode at /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
    • Build 14B47b
    • CocoaPods version 1.11.3

[✓] Chrome - develop for the web
    • Chrome at /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome

[✓] Android Studio (version 2021.3)
    • Android Studio at /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents
    • Flutter plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/9212-flutter
    • Dart plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/6351-dart
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.13+0-b1751.21-8125866)

[✓] IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition (version 2022.1.1)
    • IntelliJ at /Users/huynq/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/IDEA-C/ch-0/221.5591.52/IntelliJ IDEA CE.app
    • Flutter plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/9212-flutter
    • Dart plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/6351-dart

[✓] VS Code (version 1.73.1)
    • VS Code at /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents
    • Flutter extension version 3.54.0

[✓] Connected device (3 available)
    • SM T225 (mobile) • R9JT3004VRJ • android-arm64  • Android 12 (API 31)
    • macOS (desktop)  • macos       • darwin-x64     • macOS 13.0.1 22A400 darwin-x64
    • Chrome (web)     • chrome      • web-javascript • Google Chrome 108.0.5359.124

[✓] HTTP Host Availability
    • All required HTTP hosts are available

• No issues found!

[!] Flutter (Channel master, 3.7.0-13.0.pre.92, on macOS 13.0.1 22A400 darwin-x64, locale en-VN)
    • Flutter version 3.7.0-13.0.pre.92 on channel master at /Users/huynq/Documents/GitHub/flutter_master
    ! Warning: `flutter` on your path resolves to /Users/huynq/Documents/GitHub/flutter/bin/flutter, which is not inside your current Flutter SDK checkout at /Users/huynq/Documents/GitHub/flutter_master. Consider adding /Users/huynq/Documents/GitHub/flutter_master/bin to the front of your path.
    ! Warning: `dart` on your path resolves to /Users/huynq/Documents/GitHub/flutter/bin/dart, which is not inside your current Flutter SDK checkout at /Users/huynq/Documents/GitHub/flutter_master. Consider adding /Users/huynq/Documents/GitHub/flutter_master/bin to the front of your path.
    • Upstream repository https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
    • Framework revision 4e08ebb2bf (2 hours ago), 2022-12-27 19:31:24 -0500
    • Engine revision 8294e2693a
    • Dart version 3.0.0 (build 3.0.0-66.0.dev)
    • DevTools version 2.20.0
    • If those were intentional, you can disregard the above warnings; however it is recommended to use "git" directly to perform update checks and upgrades.

[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 31.0.0)
    • Android SDK at /Users/huynq/Library/Android/sdk
    • Platform android-33, build-tools 31.0.0
    • ANDROID_HOME = /Users/huynq/Library/Android/sdk
    • Java binary at: /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jre/Contents/Home/bin/java
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.13+0-b1751.21-8125866)
    • All Android licenses accepted.

[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 14.1)
    • Xcode at /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
    • Build 14B47b
    • CocoaPods version 1.11.3

[✓] Chrome - develop for the web
    • Chrome at /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome

[✓] Android Studio (version 2021.3)
    • Android Studio at /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents
    • Flutter plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/9212-flutter
    • Dart plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/6351-dart
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.13+0-b1751.21-8125866)

[✓] IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition (version 2022.1.1)
    • IntelliJ at /Users/huynq/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/IDEA-C/ch-0/221.5591.52/IntelliJ IDEA CE.app
    • Flutter plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/9212-flutter
    • Dart plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/6351-dart

[✓] VS Code (version 1.74.2)
    • VS Code at /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents
    • Flutter extension version 3.56.0

[✓] Connected device (2 available)
    • macOS (desktop) • macos  • darwin-x64     • macOS 13.0.1 22A400 darwin-x64
    • Chrome (web)    • chrome • web-javascript • Google Chrome 108.0.5359.124

[✓] HTTP Host Availability
    • All required HTTP hosts are available

! Doctor found issues in 1 category.

Hi all, is this being worked on? The issue still persists on master

I have been watching this issue from
years. This is the main reason I can't choose flutter as a alternative to native. Anyone know if there is any solution exists as a temp fix until the issue is resolved

Wow 6 years without solution, I'm shocked. Also eagerly waiting for a solution here

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default Text widget's letter spacing is a bit off #22572

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default Text widget's letter spacing is a bit off #22572

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Steps to Reproduce

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zoechi commented on Oct 3, 2018

saurik commented on Nov 27, 2018

4 remaining items

gaaclarke commented on Oct 12, 2020

huycozy commented on Dec 29, 2022

paaspaas00 commented on May 16, 2024

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m41w4r3exe commented on Dec 4, 2025

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