iOS Rive initialization crash: init -> rive_text_ffi not found

[julianfalcionelli]

Description

On iOS my rive animations are failing on initialization.

flutter: ----------------FIREBASE CRASHLYTICS----------------
flutter: Invalid argument(s): Failed to lookup symbol 'init': dlsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, init): symbol not found
flutter: 
#0      DynamicLibrary.lookup (dart:ffi-patch/ffi_dynamic_library_patch.dart:33:70)
#1      init (package:rive_common/src/rive_text_ffi.dart:497:16)
#2      init (package:rive_common/src/rive_text_ffi.dart)
#3      initFont (package:rive_common/src/rive_text_ffi.dart:814:3)
#4      Font.initialize (package:rive_common/rive_text.dart:463:7)
#5      RiveFile.initialize (package:rive/src/rive_file.dart:392:33)
#6      RiveFile._initTextAndImport (package:rive/src/rive_file.dart:414:13)
#7      RiveFile.asset (package:rive/src/rive_file.dart:444:12)
<asynchronous suspension>
#8      RiveAnimationState._configure (package:rive/src/widgets/rive_animation.dart:212:11)
<asynchronous suspension>
flutter: ----------------------------------------------------

On Android this is working as expected.

Rive version

rive: ^0.13.16

Flutter Doctor

Doctor summary (to see all details, run flutter doctor -v):
[✓] Flutter (Channel stable, 3.24.3, on macOS 14.1.2 23B92 darwin-x64, locale en-AR)
[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 33.0.1)
[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 15.0.1)
[✓] Chrome - develop for the web
[✓] Android Studio (version 2024.2)
[✓] VS Code (version 1.93.1)
[✓] Connected device (4 available)
    ! Error: Browsing on the local area network for Julian’s iPhone. Ensure the device is unlocked and attached with a cable or associated with the same local area network as this Mac.
      The device must be opted into Developer Mode to connect wirelessly. (code -27)
[✓] Network resources

Rive File

get_started.riv.zip

Code

....

SizedBox(
            height: 400,
            child: RiveAnimation.asset(
              'assets/animations/rive/get_started.riv',
              artboard: 'Artboard',
              onInit: _onRiveInit,
            ),
          ),
....

  void _onRiveInit(Artboard artboard) {
    final controller =
        StateMachineController.fromArtboard(artboard, 'State Machine 1', onStateChange: (stateMachine, state) {
      LogHelper.d('State: $stateMachine -> $state');
      if (state == 'ExitState') {
        context.read<InitialBloc>().add(const InitialEvent.onGetStartedClicked());
      }
      if (state == 'Exit') {
        setState(() {
          _accessAccountOpacity = 0.0;
        });
      }
      if (state == 'KidsBlink') {
        setState(() {
          _accessAccountOpacity = 1.0;
        });
      }
    });
    if (controller == null) {
      LogHelper.e('State machine not found');
      return;
    }
    artboard.addController(controller);
    _controller = controller;
  }

[HayesGordon]

Hi @julianfalcionelli, is this failing for you locally?

• Which version of Flutter are you using?
• What device is this reproducing on?

Can you try running flutter clean and rebuilding.

You can also try initializing Rive earlier in your app lifecycle. For example, at the start of main:

void main() {
  /// Initialize Rive's text, audio, and layout engines.
  /// This will automatically be called the first time a RiveFile is loaded if
  /// it has not been initialized. And does not need to be called.
  ///
  /// However, calling it early here makes the first
  /// visible Rive graphic load faster.
  unawaited(RiveFile.initialize());

...
  }

[julianfalcionelli]

Hi @HayesGordon , thanks for your reply.

My Flutter version is:

Flutter 3.24.3 • channel stable • https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
Framework • revision 2663184aa7 (9 weeks ago) • 2024-09-11 16:27:48 -0500
Engine • revision 36335019a8
Tools • Dart 3.5.3 • DevTools 2.37.3

We can reproduce this in all the iOS devices we have (I can get you the list of models and iOS versions next week since I have to contact QA), for me I am testing on an iPhone SE and emulator (iPhone 15 Pro - iOS 17).

I tried by cleaning everything and rebuilding (flutter clean).

I also tried calling the RiveFile.initialize() as you said but I got the same error when calling that function:

flutter: Invalid argument(s): Failed to lookup symbol 'init': dlsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, init): symbol not found
flutter: 
#0      DynamicLibrary.lookup (dart:ffi-patch/ffi_dynamic_library_patch.dart:33:70)
#1      init (package:rive_common/src/rive_text_ffi.dart:497:16)
#2      init (package:rive_common/src/rive_text_ffi.dart)
#3      initFont (package:rive_common/src/rive_text_ffi.dart:814:3)
#4      Font.initialize (package:rive_common/rive_text.dart:463:7)
#5      RiveFile.initialize (package:rive/src/rive_file.dart:392:33)
#6      LoadDependenciesGraphWidget.setupDependenciesGraph (package:earthrangers/ui/app/app.dart:190:20)
<asynchronous suspension>

---

Just got a replay from QA, the iOS devices they are using are:

• iPhone 7: iOS 15
• iPad pro 12.9" 3rd gen: iOS 18
• iPad 6th gen iOS 17.5.1

[dimnocode]

Hi,
Same issue here

Description

Simply calling RiveAnimation.asset('assets/animations/loading.riv')

No animation displayed and the following error appears in the logs.

Flutter clean and rebuild didn't help.

Works fine on Android

[ERROR:flutter/runtime/dart_vm_initializer.cc(41)] Unhandled Exception: Invalid argument(s): Failed to lookup symbol 'init': dlsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, init): symbol not found
#0      DynamicLibrary.lookup (dart:ffi-patch/ffi_dynamic_library_patch.dart:33:70)
#1      init (package:rive_common/src/rive_text_ffi.dart:497:16)
#2      init (package:rive_common/src/rive_text_ffi.dart)
#3      initFont (package:rive_common/src/rive_text_ffi.dart:814:3)
#4      Font.initialize (package:rive_common/rive_text.dart:463:7)
#5      RiveFile.initialize (package:rive/src/rive_file.dart:392:33)
#6      RiveFile._initTextAndImport (package:rive/src/rive_file.dart:414:13)
#7      RiveFile.asset (package:rive/src/rive_file.dart:444:12)
<asynchronous suspension>
#8      RiveAnimationState._configure (package:rive/src/widgets/rive_animation.dart:221:11)

Rive version

0.13.17

Flutter Doctor

Doctor summary (to see all details, run flutter doctor -v):
[✓] Flutter (Channel stable, 3.24.5, on macOS 14.7 23H124 darwin-x64, locale fr-BE)
[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 35.0.0)
[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 16.1)
[✓] Chrome - develop for the web
[✓] Android Studio (version 2024.1)
[✓] Connected device (4 available)
[✓] Network resources

Tested devices

Iphone SE 2020 ios 16.6.1
Emulator iphone 16 Plus ios 18.0

[HayesGordon]

We've not been able to reproduce this issue, and I'm trying to isolate the cause.

Are you potentially overriding the rive_common package in your pubspec to be a particular version?

It'll be incredibly helpful if you can provide a small example project that reproduces this that we can run. And if you can provide info on the following:

• Does this reproduce in a new project for you?
• Does it only reproduce for release builds, or can you verify this error locally?
• Did this break after a certain version of Rive Flutter, or are you adding Rive for the first time?

I see there is a similar issue on the Dart repository, can you experiment with this suggestion to see if it works for you: dart-lang/native#897 (comment)

[julianfalcionelli]

Hi @HayesGordon,

I am using the latest rive: ^0.13.20 package, I am not overriding any rive_common package (on Android is working fine, so I don't think it could be related to that).

• I haven't tried a new project yet.
• This is happening on Release and Debug builds.
• I am adding Rive for the first time.

I also found that thread you mentioned there and tried changing that from XCode but didn't work.

I am now updating XCode to the latest version and try again.

[Kal-Elx]

Hi, this problem has recently surfaced in our app as well and we can reproduce it on all iOS devices in release, TestFlight and debug builds.

We are using

• flutter: 3.27.1
• xcode 16.2
• rive: 0.13.20

I've tried to call RiveFile.initialize() during app initialization which makes the error appear when that code is called instead of when a rive animation is built.

I also tried to change Strip Style from "All Symbols" to "Non-Global Symbols" according to dart-lang/native#897 (comment) but no difference.

[Kal-Elx]

@HayesGordon I tried to create a small example project to reproduce the issue but unfortunately it works then which explains why you can't reproduce it. This means that the problem most likely lies with bigger/older projects or is caused by some other dependency.

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you debug this further.

[Kal-Elx]

We bisected our history and found the commit that caused the issue. It configured CocoaPods to use static frameworks instead of dynamic ones.

To reproduce:

• Create a new flutter project
• Add rive as a dependency
• Open ios/Podfile and then replace use_frameworks! with use_frameworks! :linkage => :static
• Initialize rive by e.g.

import 'package:rive/rive.dart';

void main() {
  unawaited(RiveFile.initialize());
  runApp(const MyApp());
}

This will lead to the error Unhandled Exception: Invalid argument(s): Failed to lookup symbol 'init': dlsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, init): symbol not found.

@julianfalcionelli @dimnocode Can this be what you did as well and reverting it would fix your issue?

[julianfalcionelli]

@Kal-Elx, thank you for following this. Your comment was very useful. Since the project I am working on is five years old, testing like that is a bit complicated.

I removed this use_frameworks! :linkage => :static and after that I was getting error "include of non-modular header inside framework module 'firebase_core.FLTFirebasePlugin'", but I was able to fix that by changing the following Setting in the iOS Project:

Xcode => Runner => Build Settings: Search for "Allow Non-modular Includes In Framework Modules" to "yes"

and now is working as expected.

cc: @HayesGordon

[dimnocode]

Hi @Kal-Elx,

It was indeed the issue for my case too.

Thank you very much all

[Tom3652]

the problem is that i need use_frameworks! :linkage => :static for google mobile ads...

How to fix it without removing use_frameworks! :linkage => :static ?

[HayesGordon]

Glad you all got it resolved.

Closing this issue as it's quite stale and we've made updates to the build process and how we include the native libs from version 0.14.0-dev.1.

You can read more here:

• Migration Guide
• Rive Native for Flutter
• Rive Flutter Docs

If you're having issues updating to the latest, please open a new issue with reproducible steps.