Safari high memory usage

[vixez]

Details

Target Platform: Web
Target OS version/browser: macOS Big Sur 11.5.2 (20G95) - Safari 14.1.2 (16611.3.10.1.6)
Devices: Mac

Unless I'm looking at the wrong place, it looks like Safari is using a lot of memory for my Flutter app.
In comparison with Chrome, this is not the case.

Left Safari, right Chrome.

If I should be measuring the memory differently, please let me know (I'm not a web developer).
Both are by loading the main page, exact same state.

We are building with
flutter build web --dart-define=SENTRY_RELEASE=$SENTRY_RELEASE -t lib/$FLAVOR_ENTRYPOINT --release --source-maps --web-renderer canvaskit

Logs

Logs

   info • The declaration '_createRide' isn't referenced • lib/screens/drivers/detail/drivers_detail_screen.dart:82:8 • unused_element
   info • The declaration '_formatBillingAddress' isn't referenced • lib/screens/drivers/detail/tabs/general/driver_details_general_info_tab.dart:270:10 • unused_element
   info • Don't import implementation files from another package • lib/screens/signin_signup/views/mobile/signin_link_not_verified_sent_mobile_view.dart:3:8 • implementation_imports
   info • Don't import implementation files from another package • lib/screens/signin_signup/views/mobile/signin_link_sent_mobile_view.dart:3:8 • implementation_imports
   info • Don't import implementation files from another package • lib/screens/signin_signup/views/mobile/signin_magic_link_sent_mobile_view.dart:3:8 • implementation_imports
   info • Don't import implementation files from another package • lib/screens/signin_signup/views/mobile/signin_register_existing_user_linked_mobile_view.dart:3:8 • implementation_imports
   info • 'vsync' is deprecated and shouldn't be used. This field is now ignored. This feature was deprecated after v2.2.0-10.1.pre. • lib/screens/signin_signup/views/mobile/signin_signup_mobile_view.dart:56:31 •
          deprecated_member_use
   info • 'vsync' is deprecated and shouldn't be used. This field is now ignored. This feature was deprecated after v2.2.0-10.1.pre. • lib/screens/signin_signup/views/tablet/signin_signup_tablet_view.dart:76:37 •
          deprecated_member_use

8 issues found. (ran in 11.7s)

[✓] Flutter (Channel stable, 2.5.3, on macOS 11.5.2 20G95 darwin-x64, locale en-GB)
    • Flutter version 2.5.3 at /Users/glennruysschaert/development/flutter
    • Upstream repository https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
    • Framework revision 18116933e7 (4 weeks ago), 2021-10-15 10:46:35 -0700
    • Engine revision d3ea636dc5
    • Dart version 2.14.4

[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 30.0.2)
    • Android SDK at /Users/glennruysschaert/Library/Android/sdk
    • Platform android-31, build-tools 30.0.2
    • Java binary at: /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jre/Contents/Home/bin/java
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.10+0-b96-7281165)
    • All Android licenses accepted.

[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS
    • Xcode at /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
    • Xcode 13.1, Build version 13A1030d
    • CocoaPods version 1.11.2

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

[✓] Android Studio (version 2020.3)
    • 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 11.0.10+0-b96-7281165)

[✓] VS Code (version 1.62.0)
    • VS Code at /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents
    • Flutter extension version 3.28.0

[✓] Connected device (3 available)
    • Glenn’s iPad (mobile) • 00008101-000D4D112139003A • ios            • iOS 15.0.2 19A404
    • macOS (desktop)       • macos                     • darwin-x64     • macOS 11.5.2 20G95 darwin-x64
    • Chrome (web)          • chrome                    • web-javascript • Google Chrome 95.0.4638.69

• No issues found!

[mamuseferha]

Hi @vixez
This seems to be more of an issue with your browser than flutter. Can you confirm if the behavior persists when running native web pages and see if there is a significant memory difference?

[vixez]

@mamuseferha
I tried various websites (Facebook, Twitter, ..) and Safari does seem to be using more memory than Chrome, but not 10x more than Chrome like in the screenshot. Usually it's 1,5x or 2x more than Chrome.

We tried the Flutter site on various Macs, with different OS and Safari/Chrome versions, and the results are consistent there. The website is always using several times more memory than Chrome. So there must be something that Flutter does which makes Safari take up a lot of resources.
We also got a memory warning from Safari twice on the Flutter website, after which the website started working very slow. This behaviour did not occur on Chrome.

When you watch the memory usage in Chrome it seems like the GC is doing its job well, as the memory goes up when navigating to new routes but also goes back down when popping the routes. On Safari the memory just keeps going up, so maybe something is off with the GC? Just a guess.

[mamuseferha]

Hi @vixez I tested this issue on the latest stable and master channel using the default counter app, and memory usage on safari seems to be significantly higher than chrome.

output

safari

chrome

flutter doctor -v

[✓] Flutter (Channel stable, 2.5.3, on macOS 11.6.1 20G224 darwin-x64, locale en-US)
    • Flutter version 2.5.3 at /Users/flo/development/flutter
    • Upstream repository https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
    • Framework revision 18116933e7 (4 weeks ago), 2021-10-15 10:46:35 -0700
    • Engine revision d3ea636dc5
    • Dart version 2.14.4

[!] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 31.0.0)
    • Android SDK at /Users/flo/Library/Android/sdk
    • Platform android-31, build-tools 31.0.0
    • Java binary at: /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jre/Contents/Home/bin/java
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.10+0-b96-7281165)
    ! Some Android licenses not accepted.  To resolve this, run: flutter doctor --android-licenses

[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS
    • Xcode at /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
    • Xcode 13.0, Build version 13A5212g
    • CocoaPods version 1.11.0

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

[✓] Android Studio (version 2020.3)
    • 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 11.0.10+0-b96-7281165)

[✓] VS Code (version 1.60.0)
    • VS Code at /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents
    • Flutter extension version 3.27.0

[✓] Connected device (4 available)
    • sdk gphone x86 (mobile)    • emulator-5554                        • android-x86    • Android 11 (API 30) (emulator)
    • iPhone 12 Pro Max (mobile) • 98CBBFB1-4069-4A28-B7F7-138911ACBE72 • ios            •
      com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRuntime.iOS-15-0 (simulator)
    • macOS (desktop)            • macos                                • darwin-x64     • macOS 11.6.1 20G224 darwin-x64
    • Chrome (web)               • chrome                               • web-javascript • Google Chrome 93.0.4577.63

! Doctor found issues in 1 category.

[✓] Flutter (Channel master, 2.6.0-12.0.pre.701, on macOS 11.6.1 20G224 darwin-x64, locale en-US)
    • Flutter version 2.6.0-12.0.pre.701 at /Users/flo/fvm/versions/master
    • Upstream repository https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
    • Framework revision 24b9346c9b (7 hours ago), 2021-11-11 16:45:40 -0800
    • Engine revision aaacb670af
    • Dart version 2.15.0 (build 2.15.0-285.0.dev)
    • DevTools version 2.8.0

[!] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 31.0.0)
    • Android SDK at /Users/flo/Library/Android/sdk
    • Platform android-31, build-tools 31.0.0
    • Java binary at: /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jre/Contents/Home/bin/java
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.10+0-b96-7281165)
    ! Some Android licenses not accepted.  To resolve this, run: flutter doctor --android-licenses

[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 13.0)
    • Xcode at /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
    • CocoaPods version 1.11.0

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

[✓] Android Studio (version 2020.3)
    • 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 11.0.10+0-b96-7281165)

[✓] VS Code (version 1.60.0)
    • VS Code at /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents
    • Flutter extension version 3.27.0

[✓] Connected device (4 available)
    • sdk gphone x86 (mobile)    • emulator-5554                        • android-x86    • Android 11 (API 30) (emulator)
    • iPhone 12 Pro Max (mobile) • 98CBBFB1-4069-4A28-B7F7-138911ACBE72 • ios            • com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRuntime.iOS-15-0 (simulator)
    • macOS (desktop)            • macos                                • darwin-x64     • macOS 11.6.1 20G224 darwin-x64
    • Chrome (web)               • chrome                               • web-javascript • Google Chrome 93.0.4577.63

! Doctor found issues in 1 category.

Thank you