[syncfusion_flutter_pdfviewer] OOM issue when reading a large PDF file on Android

[Tom3652]

Bug description

I am receiving some OOM issues from my released app on Android only (this happens much less than before with the latest release) when people are loading large PDFs (80MB+).

The app is crashing because of OOM, while i was hoping for a preloading of 1 page before / after, but not the whole document when a pdf is read.

Steps to reproduce

Try to read a very large PDF (80MB+ is crashing in my app because my app already uses 200MB more or less so the threshold is lowered than in an example app).

Code sample

Code sample

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Screenshots or Video

Screenshots / Video demonstration

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Stack Traces

Stack Traces

          Fatal Exception: java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Failed to allocate a 82052854 byte allocation with 25165824 free bytes and 95MB until OOM, target footprint 193959104, growth limit 268435456
       at dalvik.system.VMRuntime.newNonMovableArray(VMRuntime.java)
       at java.nio.DirectByteBuffer$MemoryRef.<init>(DirectByteBuffer.java:73)
       at java.nio.ByteBuffer.allocateDirect(ByteBuffer.java:347)
       at io.flutter.plugin.common.StandardMethodCodec.encodeSuccessEnvelope(StandardMethodCodec.java:62)
       at io.flutter.plugin.common.MethodChannel$IncomingMethodCallHandler$1.success(MethodChannel.java:272)
       at com.syncfusion.flutter.pdfviewer.SyncfusionFlutterPdfViewerPlugin.getPage(SyncfusionFlutterPdfViewerPlugin.java:187)
       at com.syncfusion.flutter.pdfviewer.SyncfusionFlutterPdfViewerPlugin.onMethodCall(SyncfusionFlutterPdfViewerPlugin.java:72)
       at io.flutter.plugin.common.MethodChannel$IncomingMethodCallHandler.onMessage(MethodChannel.java:267)
       at io.flutter.embedding.engine.dart.DartMessenger.invokeHandler(DartMessenger.java:292)
       at io.flutter.embedding.engine.dart.DartMessenger.lambda$dispatchMessageToQueue$0(DartMessenger.java:319)
       at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:958)
       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
       at android.os.Looper.loopOnce(Looper.java:230)
       at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:319)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:9063)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java)
       at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:588)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:1103)
        

On which target platforms have you observed this bug?

Android

Flutter Doctor output

Doctor output

[✓] Flutter (Channel stable, 3.29.3, on macOS 15.4.1 24E263 darwin-x64, locale fr-FR) [1 611ms]
    • Flutter version 3.29.3 on channel stable at /Users/foxtom/Desktop/flutter
    • Upstream repository https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
    • Framework revision ea121f8859 (2 weeks ago), 2025-04-11 19:10:07 +0000
    • Engine revision cf56914b32
    • Dart version 3.7.2
    • DevTools version 2.42.3

[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 36.0.0) [4,6s]
    • Android SDK at /Users/foxtom/Library/Android/sdk
    • Platform android-36, build-tools 36.0.0
    • Java binary at: /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jbr/Contents/Home/bin/java
      This is the JDK bundled with the latest Android Studio installation on this machine.
      To manually set the JDK path, use: `flutter config --jdk-dir="path/to/jdk"`.
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 21.0.6+-13355223-b631.42)
    • All Android licenses accepted.

[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 16.3) [3,1s]
    • Xcode at /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
    • Build 16E140
    • CocoaPods version 1.16.2

[✓] Chrome - develop for the web [31ms]
    • Chrome at /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome

[✓] Android Studio (version 2024.3) [30ms]
    • 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 21.0.6+-13355223-b631.42)

[✓] VS Code (version 1.99.3) [27ms]
    • VS Code at /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents
    • Flutter extension can be installed from:
      🔨 https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Dart-Code.flutter

[✓] Connected device (3 available) [8,7s]
    • Now You See Me (wireless) (mobile) • 00008020-001204401E78002E • ios            • iOS 18.4.1 22E252
    • macOS (desktop)                    • macos                     • darwin-x64     • macOS 15.4.1 24E263 darwin-x64
    • Chrome (web)                       • chrome                    • web-javascript • Google Chrome 135.0.7049.115
      The device must be opted into Developer Mode to connect wirelessly. (code -27)

[✓] Network resources [816ms]
    • All expected network resources are available.

• No issues found!

[tungthanh1497]

I met the same issues with file pdf 21mb only

Device
Brand:Samsung
Model:Galaxy A54 5G
Orientation:Portrait
RAM free: 1.67 GB
Disk free: 8.29 GB

Operating System
Version:Android 14
Orientation:Portrait
Rooted: No

[immankumarsync]

Hi,
The OOM (Out of Memory) exception is not related to the overall size of the PDF document but rather to the content and dimension of individual pages. Could you please try enabling the largeHeap option in your AndroidManifest.xml file and check if this resolves the issue?

If the above solution does not work on your end, could you please share the PDF file in which the issue occurs, as this problem appears to be specific to the document? This will help us identify the root cause and provide you with a prompt solution.

If you feel that the documents cannot be shared publicly, you may create a ticket in our support portal to share the requested files securely.

[Tom3652]

Thanks for your answer, i will try to start with the largeHeap parameter to see if it's enough and get back to you after my next app release this week !

[Tom3652]

My app is released, will wait one more week to see some user activity and check if it's working 👍

[Tom3652]

Unfortunately @Deepak1799 the largeHeap parameter was not enough, i have received a new crash :

          Fatal Exception: java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Failed to allocate a 87550986 byte allocation with 25165824 free bytes and 84MB until OOM, target footprint 205045568, growth limit 268435456
       at dalvik.system.VMRuntime.newNonMovableArray(VMRuntime.java)
       at java.nio.DirectByteBuffer$MemoryRef.<init>(DirectByteBuffer.java:73)
       at java.nio.ByteBuffer.allocateDirect(ByteBuffer.java:347)
       at io.flutter.plugin.common.StandardMethodCodec.encodeSuccessEnvelope(StandardMethodCodec.java:62)
       at io.flutter.plugin.common.MethodChannel$IncomingMethodCallHandler$1.success(MethodChannel.java:272)
       at com.syncfusion.flutter.pdfviewer.SyncfusionFlutterPdfViewerPlugin.getPage(SyncfusionFlutterPdfViewerPlugin.java:99)
       at com.syncfusion.flutter.pdfviewer.SyncfusionFlutterPdfViewerPlugin.onMethodCall(SyncfusionFlutterPdfViewerPlugin.java:53)
       at io.flutter.plugin.common.MethodChannel$IncomingMethodCallHandler.onMessage(MethodChannel.java:267)
       at io.flutter.embedding.engine.dart.DartMessenger.invokeHandler(DartMessenger.java:292)
       at io.flutter.embedding.engine.dart.DartMessenger.lambda$dispatchMessageToQueue$0(DartMessenger.java:319)
       at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:958)
       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
       at android.os.Looper.loopOnce(Looper.java:230)
       at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:319)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:9063)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java)
       at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:588)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:1103)
        

Which seems weird because when i look at the data of my Crashlytics dashboard it seems the user has a lot of RAM available :

Also unfortunately, i can't share the PDF file since it's medical and secure data that i also have no access to...

[immankumarsync]

Hi @Tom3652,

We have confirmed that the out-of-memory issue occurs when loading PDF documents with large page dimensions on the Android platform. is a defect in our product and logged a bug report for the same. The fix for this issue will be included in the upcoming weekly release scheduled for May 27, 2025.

Please use the feedback link to track the status of the bug: (Android) Out of memory exception on loading large documents in Flutter | Feedback Portal

Disclaimer: “Inclusion of this solution in the weekly release may change due to other factors including but not limited to QA checks and works reprioritization.”

[Tom3652]

Hi @immankumarsync thank you very much for the detailed answer and confirmation, happy to hear that and thanks again for your work ! 🚀