# WidgetSpan order in right-to-left text

> WidgetSpans now follow bidirectional visual order in right-to-left text. Remove workarounds that compensated for the previous layout.




:::important
These breaking change docs are accurate, as of the release
under which they are published. Over time, the
workarounds described here might become inaccurate.
We don't, in general, keep these breaking change docs up
to date as of each release.

The [breaking change index file](/release/breaking-changes)
lists the docs created for each release.
:::


## Summary

`WidgetSpan` widgets in right-to-left (RTL) and mixed-direction text
now follow the visual order determined by the Unicode bidirectional algorithm.
Apps that compensated for the previous incorrect order
might display inline widgets in the wrong positions after upgrading.

## Background

Skia's paragraph layout previously placed inline widget placeholders
in source order, even when the surrounding text was visually reordered.
This caused inline widgets in Arabic, Hebrew, and mixed-direction text
to appear in the wrong positions.

Paragraph layout now places inline widget placeholders in bidirectional visual
order. Your `WidgetSpan` children stay in logical reading order in your Dart
code, and layout returns placeholder boxes with the corrected visual
coordinates. No public API signatures changed.

The following example shows the corrected positions of inline widgets
in mixed-direction text:

| Before | After |
| :---: | :---: |
| ![Incorrect widget order][before] | ![Correct widget order][after] |

## Migration guide

If your app uses `WidgetSpan` widgets without compensating for the old layout,
no code changes are needed.
Otherwise, remove workarounds added specifically for this issue:

* Translating or swapping widgets on the same line using `Transform.translate`
  offsets or `GlobalKey` measurements.
* Reversing the source order of `WidgetSpan` widgets for RTL text.
  Keep spans in the logical order of the content and let text layout
  determine their visual positions.
* Mirroring placeholder-box x-coordinates in custom layout code.
  Use the returned coordinates directly.

For example, remove a translation that compensated for the old RTL order.
Here, `rtlSwapOffset` is an offset calculated by the app's workaround,
and `inlineWidget` is the widget embedded in the text.

Code before migration:

```dart
WidgetSpan(
  child: Transform.translate(
    offset: rtlSwapOffset,
    child: inlineWidget,
  ),
)
```

Code after migration:

```dart
WidgetSpan(child: inlineWidget)
```

Also remove the code that calculated the compensating offsets.
Check RTL and mixed-direction text, including wrapped lines,
and update golden tests that captured the incorrect layout.

## Timeline

Landed in version: 3.50.0-0.1.pre<br>
In stable release: Not yet

## References

GitHub issue:

* [Issue 54400][]

Relevant PRs:

* [Skia CL 1366676][]

[after]: /assets/images/docs/breaking-changes/widgetspan-rtl-after.webp
[before]: /assets/images/docs/breaking-changes/widgetspan-rtl-before.webp
[Issue 54400]: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues/54400
[Skia CL 1366676]: https://skia-review.googlesource.com/c/skia/+/1366676