Hello! I’m having a problem with the interface of my App Inventor projects.
A few days ago, my app looked exactly the same both in MIT AI2 Companion and in the exported APK.
However, starting today, when I export my app, the entire interface appears reduced/scaled down compared to how it looks in Companion.
What makes it even stranger is that when I open the keyboard, the interface becomes even smaller.
This happens when exporting different projects, so I don’t think it is related to a specific project or its design.
Everything looks normal in MIT AI2 Companion, but after exporting and installing the APK, the interface is reduced, and opening the keyboard reduces it even further.
Has anyone experienced this recently? Could this be related to a recent App Inventor update or an Android compatibility issue?
I found the solution. For now, you need to use pixels instead of height percentages, as there appears to be a bug with percentage-based height settings.
The recommended method is:
First, add a Vertical Arrangement or Horizontal Arrangement and set it to Fill Parent.
Then, add a TextBox or any other component, such as an Image or Layout, inside the arrangement.
Set the component’s Height and Width using pixels (px) rather than percentages.
Once the dimensions are set in pixels, the keyboard should open and function normally.
For now, it is better to avoid using percentage-based height until the bug is resolved.
While waiting for an official fix, I found a temporary workaround: self-hosting your own local App Inventor server from the open-source repo (appinventor-sources), pinned to a commit from before the SDK 36 update (before Aug 28, 2026). Since you control exactly which version of the code builds your APKs, this sidesteps the scaling bug entirely — it builds the same way App Inventor did before the regression.
It does mean running your own local server on your PC (a main server plus a build server) instead of using the official site, and you need a matching Companion APK built from that same commit if you want to test with AI2 Companion, since the Play Store version won't connect to a mismatched server. It's more setup than most people probably want to deal with, but it's working reliably for me as a stopgap.
Obviously not a permanent fix — just sharing in case it helps anyone who needs to keep shipping correctly-scaled builds while the real fix is in progress. Happy to share more details if anyone wants to try it.
