🐛 Severe Performance Degradation with Shorebird Code Push Patches on iOS

[augustodia]

🐛 Severe Performance Degradation with Shorebird Code Push Patches on iOS

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📋 Package Information

Property	Value
Package Version	11.14.0
Flutter Version	3.35.0+
Platform	iOS
Shorebird	Latest

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📝 Description

I'm experiencing severe performance degradation when using pro_image_editor with Shorebird Code Push patches on iOS.

When any Shorebird patch is installed on iOS, the image editing functionality becomes extremely slow and practically unusable.

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🔴 Problem Summary

• Image saving takes 1+ minute to complete when applying changes to photos
• Performance degrades with each successive patch — the more patches applied, the slower it gets
• Even trivial patches cause slowness — changing a single translation string or adding a space in a database definition is enough to trigger the issue
• The slowness is cumulative — after multiple patches, the app becomes practically unusable for image editing

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🔧 Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a Flutter app using pro_image_editor
2. Deploy it with Shorebird
3. Make any change to the code (even a single character change in a string)
4. Create a Shorebird patch for iOS
5. Test the app with the patch installed on an iOS device
6. Try to edit an image and save it
7. Observe: Extreme slowness (1+ minute to save)
8. Create another patch (any change)
9. Test again — performance is even worse

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✅ Expected Behavior

• Image editing should work smoothly even when running as a Shorebird patch
• Image saving should complete in reasonable time (< 10 seconds)
• Performance should remain consistent across multiple patches

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❌ Actual Behavior

• Image editing becomes extremely slow when running as a patch
• Image saving takes 1+ minute or more
• Performance degrades cumulatively with each new patch

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🖥️ Environment Details

Device:              iOS (multiple devices tested)
iOS Version:         15.0+
Shorebird Version:   Latest
pro_image_editor:    11.14.0
Flutter Version:     3.35.0+

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📌 Additional Context

• This issue appears to be specific to iOS — the same patches work fine on Android
• The slowness is particularly noticeable when applying changes to photos
• Image processing and saving operations are extremely slow
• The issue occurs with any patch, regardless of the nature of the change

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❓ Questions

1. Is anyone else experiencing this issue with Shorebird patches on iOS?
2. Are there any known workarounds or configuration options that might help?

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📎 Related Information

This appears to be related to how Shorebird handles code execution on iOS. For context, here's the official Shorebird documentation on patch performance:

The iOS App Store requires all app update systems (like Shorebird's) to use an interpreter. An interpreter is a software program that can run other programs rather than running the program directly on hardware. Interpreters are slow.

Shorebird Patch Performance Documentation

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Note: I'm reporting this here in case there are any known issues or workarounds specific to pro_image_editor when used with Shorebird.

[hm21]

Hi @augustodia,

Thanks for sharing that in detail with the community.

Personally, I don't have experience with using Shorebird in projects that rely on my image editor. However, I can still share a few performance tips below that you might be able to apply in your configs to potentially improve performance.

late final _configs = ProImageEditorConfigs(
  imageGeneration: const ImageGenerationConfigs(
    // This configuration starts generating the output image every time the image changes. 
    // Disabling it will only generate the image once the user presses "Done".
    enableBackgroundGeneration: false,
    // This will generate the image in separate threads, but in your case, it might be better to 
    // render in the main thread. Be careful, though; that could freeze the UI.
    enableIsolateGeneration: false,
    // The higher the output resolution, the longer it takes to generate the image. 
    // If possible, you can limit the size here.
    maxOutputSize: Size(1440, 1440),
    // By default, the editor detects how many processors are available. However, it may be 
    // better to just use "one" here, as Shorebird may use it for other stuff.
    processorConfigs: ProcessorConfigs(processorMode: ProcessorMode.minimum),
  ),