False positive: "Impeller opt-out deprecated" warning shown even when EnableImpeller is true

[Dhruv-1312]

Description

After upgrading to Flutter 3.35.5, I see this warning:

Warning

I/flutter (22300): [IMPORTANT:flutter/shell/common/shell.cc(477)] [Action Required]: Impeller opt-out deprecated.
I/flutter (22300):     The application opted out of Impeller by either using the
I/flutter (22300):     `--no-enable-impeller` flag or the
I/flutter (22300):     `io.flutter.embedding.android.EnableImpeller` `AndroidManifest.xml` entry.
I/flutter (22300):     These options are going to go away in an upcoming Flutter release. Remove
I/flutter (22300):     the explicit opt-out. If you need to opt-out, please report a bug describing
I/flutter (22300):     the issue.
I/flutter (22300): 
I/flutter (22300):     https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues/new?template=02_bug.yml
I/flutter (22300): 

Details

• I do not use the --no-enable-impeller flag anywhere.
• In my AndroidManifest, I explicitly set:
  <meta-data android:name="io.flutter.embedding.android.EnableImpeller" android:value="true"/>

On startup Flutter prints:
[IMPORTANT:flutter/shell/platform/android/android_context_vk_impeller.cc(62)] Using the Impeller rendering backend (Vulkan).

This indicates that Impeller is enabled and active.
However, Flutter prints the warning about Impeller opt-out being deprecated.

So the engine is both confirming Impeller is active AND warning that it’s opted out, which is contradictory and misleading.

Attachments

Flutter Doctor Output

Flutter (Channel stable, 3.35.5, on macOS 15.2 24C101 darwin-arm64, locale
    en-IN) [559ms]
    • Flutter version 3.35.5 on channel stable at
      /Users/admin/development/flutter
    • Upstream repository https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
    • Framework revision ac4e799d23 (5 days ago), 2025-09-26 12:05:09 -0700
    • Engine revision d3d45dcf25
    • Dart version 3.9.2
    • DevTools version 2.48.0
    • Feature flags: enable-web, enable-linux-desktop, enable-macos-desktop,
      enable-windows-desktop, enable-android, enable-ios, cli-animations,
      enable-lldb-debugging

[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 36.1.0) [2.7s]
    • Android SDK at /Users/admin/Library/Android/sdk
    • Emulator version 36.1.9.0 (build_id 13823996) (CL:N/A)
    • Platform android-36.1, build-tools 36.1.0
    • ANDROID_HOME = /Users/admin/Library/Android/sdk
    • Java binary at: /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/openjdk-17.jdk/Contents/Home/bin/java
      This JDK is specified in your Flutter configuration.
      To change the current JDK, run: `flutter config --jdk-dir="path/to/jdk"`.
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment Homebrew (build 17.0.13+0)
    • All Android licenses accepted.

[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 16.2) [1,434ms]
    • Xcode at /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
    • Build 16C5032a
    • CocoaPods version 1.16.2

[✓] Chrome - develop for the web [9ms]
    • Chrome at /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome

[✓] Android Studio (version 2025.1) [8ms]
    • 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 21.0.7+-13880790-b1038.58)

[✓] VS Code (version 1.96.3) [7ms]
    • VS Code at /Users/admin/Downloads/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents
    • Flutter extension version 3.120.0

[✓] Connected device (3 available) [11.4s]
    • M2010J19SI (mobile) • 5c02ff050620 • android-arm64  • Android 10 (API 29)
    • macOS (desktop)     • macos        • darwin-arm64   • macOS 15.2 24C101 darwin-arm64
    • Chrome (web)        • chrome       • web-javascript • Google Chrome 140.0.7339.214

[✓] Network resources [462ms]
    • All expected network resources are available.

[danagbemava-nc]

Hi @Dhruv-1312, can you share the full output of flutter run -v? Do you see this in the counter app? I just tested with the counter app but I do not see the opt-out message in my logs, even in verbose mode.

[vinaykharayat]

Hi @Dhruv-1312, can you share the full output of flutter run -v? Do you see this in the counter app? I just tested with the counter app but I do not see the opt-out message in my logs, even in verbose mode.

I am also facing the same issue, maybe only getting on projects which were created on old flutter version and later upgraded

[github-actions]

Without additional information, we are unfortunately not sure how to resolve this issue. We are therefore reluctantly going to close this bug for now.
If you find this problem please file a new issue with the same description, what happens, logs and the output of 'flutter doctor -v'. All system setups can be slightly different so it's always better to open new issues and reference the related ones.
Thanks for your contribution.

[github-actions]

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.