bug(splash-screen): splashImmersive and splashFullScreen have no effect on Android 8–10 #2636

🤖 Automated review by Claude — posted via @ibrahimkhatib365's account; not written by them personally.

Bug Report

Plugin(s)

@capacitor/splash-screen 8.0.2. The same code is in the current main.

Capacitor Version

Installed Dependencies:

  @capacitor/cli: 8.5.2
  @capacitor/core: 8.5.2
  @capacitor/android: 8.5.2
  @capacitor/ios: 8.5.2

Platform(s)

Android 8–10 (API 26–29), the legacy splash path. Reproduced on API 28.

Current Behavior

With splashImmersive: true (or splashFullScreen: true), the launch splash keeps the navigation bar and status bar visible below Android 11.

In show(), the legacy path adds two windows: splashImage first, then spinnerBar. spinnerBar is always created in buildViews() and always added, even with showSpinner: false. legacyImmersive() and legacyFullscreen() then set the system UI flags on splashImage only. Below Android 11 the focused window decides the system bars, and that's spinnerBar, the window added last, which has no flags. So the flags never take effect.

A related gap: both windows are added with the activity's flags, without FLAG_LAYOUT_NO_LIMITS, so the splash image starts below the status bar. While it shows, the status bar area shows the activity window behind it. During startup that window changes colour (theme background, then the WebView), so the status bar flickers before settling on the splash colour.

Expected Behavior

Below Android 11, splashImmersive hides the system bars and splashFullScreen hides the status bar while the splash shows, the same as on Android 11+. The splash covers the status bar area from the first frame.

Code Reproduction

1. npm init @capacitor/app and add @capacitor/splash-screen. Set SplashScreen.launchShowDuration: 3000 and splashImmersive: true in capacitor.config.
2. Run on an Android 9 (API 28) emulator. The plugin takes the legacy path there (see [@capacitor/splash-screen] Android 8–11: failed Android 12 API attempt leaves a pre-draw hold, so nothing is drawn for launchShowDuration #2635).
3. Launch the app: the navigation buttons, and the status bar above the splash, stay visible for the whole splash.

Other Technical Details

• Reproduced on an Android 9 (API 28) emulator
• minSdkVersion 26

Additional Context

We work around it with a patch, which applies flags to the focused window and lets the image draw under the status bar:

             // Required to enable the view to actually fade
             params.format = PixelFormat.TRANSLUCENT;

+            if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.S) {
+                params.flags |= WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_LAYOUT_NO_LIMITS;
+            }
+
             try {
                 windowManager.addView(splashImage, params);
 ...
                 windowManager.addView(spinnerBar, params);

+                if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.S && config.isImmersive()) {
+                    spinnerBar.setSystemUiVisibility(
+                        View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION | View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_HIDE_NAVIGATION | View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_STABLE
+                    );
+                }

We only hide the navigation bar, because we wanted the status bar kept. A general fix would apply the same flags as legacyImmersive() / legacyFullscreen() to spinnerBar too, or to whichever window is added last. Avoid IMMERSIVE_STICKY on the spinner, because on some versions it shows the system's "Viewing full screen" hint over the splash.

We haven't checked Android 11 (API 30). Its insets-controller branch also targets splashImage's window, so it may have the same problem.

Related: #2635 (the same legacy path, on reopen).