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Samsung 3-button system navigation bar not respected

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#759 1 comment 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Assessment

Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Newbie friendliness
52/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Quiet
Tech stack
android, kotlin
Domain
accessibility, mobile

Research direction

Start with the message-thread list and About screen, where the issue reports overlap with the three-button navigation bar, and compare them with Settings, which reportedly handles it correctly. Check the relevant screen entry points and layouts for how they account for system bars. Done means scrollable content and buttons stay clear of the navigation area in three-button mode.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

bug needs triage
Checklist
  • I can reproduce the bug with the latest version given here.
  • I made sure that there are no existing issues - open or closed - to which I could contribute my information.
  • I made sure that there are no existing discussions - open or closed - to which I could contribute my information.
  • I have read the FAQs inside the app (Menu -> About -> FAQs) and my problem isn't listed.
  • I have taken the time to fill in all the required details. I understand that the bug report will be dismissed otherwise.
  • This issue contains only one bug.
  • I have read and understood the contribution guidelines.
Affected app version

1.8.0

Affected Android/Custom ROM version

Android 13 / OneUI 5.1

Affected device model

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G / SM-N986U1

How did you install the app?

F-Droid / IzzyOnDroid

Steps to reproduce the bug
  1. Have lots (idk, 20-30) of existing message threads (or create them) so the list will scroll down off screen
  2. Notice that the list is drawn on top of the 3-button system navigation bar at the bottom of the screen - this is the Samsung default.
  3. Can be visually confusing and/or possibly impede functionality and/or usability of app and/or phone, leading to misclicks, accidental delete or send, difficulty switching to other apps, etc.
Expected behavior

Just like you respect the notification bar area which also has a camera hole, you don't draw on the upper portion of the screen. If on Samsung (possibly other makes and models?) that either does not use navigation gestues, or does use the 3-button navigation bar at the bottom of the screen, then do not draw any app data or scrollable UI or but any app buttons in the system navigation area. This is also an accessibility issue. Gestures are more difficult than distinct buttons in fixed positions for someone such as myself with a disability that effects manual dexterity and fine motor controls.

Actual behavior

The scrollable activity windows like the initial message thread list of approximately 20-30 covers the system navigation bar with the 3-buttons at the bottom of the screen. It's not just an opacity issue. Also effects About. The Settings screen seems to correctly respect the 3-button nav bar.

Screenshots/Screen recordings

No response

Additional information

Samsung's default Messages app is suddenly being shut down with less than 1-month notice, and we're being force-fed Google's AI-powered spyware, so having an alternative would be a very nice thing. There might be an influx of Samsung users as a result.

Dominant language
Kotlin
Stars
1.6k
Forks
187
Avg merge
2d 9h
Merged PRs (30d)
20

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

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