I have Issues with image picker - flutter

Question

I created a method to pick images in the authcontroller class like so
class AuthController{
pickImage(ImageSource source)async{
final ImagePicker _picker = ImagePicker();
XFile? _file = await _picker.pickImage(source: source);
if(_file != null){
await _file.readAsBytes();
}else{
print('no image selected');
}
}
}
In my main code I created two functions to specify from where exactly we should pick the images after creating a global variable called _image
Uint8List? _image;
selectGalleryImage()async{
Uint8List? _im=await _authController.pickImage(ImageSource.gallery);
setState(() {
_image = _im;
});
}
selectCameraImage()async{
Uint8List? _im=await _authController.pickImage(ImageSource.camera);
setState(() {
_image = _im;
});
}
the problem is when i try to call display _image from either my camera or gallery, it does not display. I can pick images from both mediums, it is just that the image does not display even though i pass it through MemoryImage in the CircleAvater Widget
_image != null ? CircleAvatar(
radius: 44,
backgroundImage: MemoryImage(_image!,)
):const CircleAvatar(
radius: 44,
backgroundColor: Colors.black,
backgroundImage: NetworkImage('https://t4.ftcdn.net/jpg/00/64/67/63/360_F_64676383_LdbmhiNM6Ypzb3FM4PPuFP9rHe7ri8Ju.jpg'),
),
I have added everything addable in the androidmanifest in the main folder.
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
<application
and i have run flitter clean multiple times but it still give me the same result. help would be very much appreciated

Answer 1

As one comment says, pickImage is not returning anything.
Change it to this,
class AuthController{
Future<Uint8List?> pickImage(ImageSource source)async{
final ImagePicker _picker = ImagePicker();
XFile? _file = await _picker.pickImage(source: source);
if(_file != null){
return await _file.readAsBytes();
}else{
print('no image selected');
return null;
}
}
}