Hi everyone,
I’m facing a persistent issue when running my Flutter iOS app on a physical iPhone and iOS simulator (iOS 26.1). I am using the latest Flutter and Dart versions and my project is integrated with Firebase Storage and Firebase Core.
The app builds successfully using Xcode, but when it launches on the device, Firebase fails to initialize and the app crashes with the following error:
Xcode build done. 234.3s
flutter: ❌ Firebase initialization failed: PlatformException(channel-error, Unable to establish connection on channel., null, null)
[ERROR:flutter/runtime/dart_vm_initializer.cc(40)] Unhandled Exception: PlatformException(channel-error, Unable to establish connection on channel., null, null)
#0 FirebaseCoreHostApi.initializeCore (messages.pigeon.dart:210:7)
#1 MethodChannelFirebase._initializeCore (...)
#2 MethodChannelFirebase.initializeApp (...)
#3 Firebase.initializeApp (...)
#4 initializeFirebase (main.dart:72)
#5 main (main.dart:37)
What I already tried
Updated Flutter to the latest stable
Updated Dart
Reinstalled iOS dependencies
Removed and re-added Firebase using Swift Package Manager
Cleaned Xcode build folder (Shift + Cmd + K)
flutter clean / flutter pub get
Verified GoogleService-Info.plist inside Runner target
Environment
- Flutter: latest stable
- Dart: latest
- iPhone: iOS 26.1
- Firebase Core / Storage
- Integration method: Swift Package Manager
- macOS: Tahoe (M2)
What I need help with
- Why does Firebase fail with PlatformException(channel-error) on a physical device and iOS simulator?
- Is there a known issue with iOS 26.1 and Firebase initialization?
- How to properly clean/remove and re-add Firebase when Xcode blocks deleting package dependencies?
Any guidance would really help. Thank you!