Screen shrink when keyboard is displayed on iOS

App Inventor for iOS
1

I am facing the same issue as: # Keyboard for text box changes screen size but with iOS. It works fine with Android with Responsive & scrollable screen.
But with iOS, the problem is still there and the overall screen is shrink when keyboard is displayed

1 Like
2

Here is my Test Application:
TestKeyboard.aia (9.4 KB)

Here are the screeenshot on iPhone (Shrink display)

IMG_0052.PNG
IMG_0052.PNG1242×2688 189 KB

IMG_0051.PNG
IMG_0051.PNG1242×2688 252 KB

and the Android Screenshot: (display OK)

Screenshot_2025-08-26-14-06-10-693_appinventor.ai_Jacques_Dumarest.TestKeyboard
Screenshot_2025-08-26-14-06-10-693_appinventor.ai_Jacques_Dumarest.TestKeyboard1080×2400 191 KB

Screenshot_2025-08-26-14-06-01-358_appinventor.ai_Jacques_Dumarest.TestKeyboard
Screenshot_2025-08-26-14-06-01-358_appinventor.ai_Jacques_Dumarest.TestKeyboard1080×2400 256 KB

3

An other issue is that the Textbox HideKeyboard feature does not work with iOS
image

Attached is the updated test App using this function: OK with Android, failing with iOS:
TestKeyboard.aia (9.8 KB)

4

This is a known issue:

5

Thanks for the info. Actually, I am going to use Screen.HideKeyboard which is working for iOS

@ewpatton

  • Actually I discovered Screen.HideKeyboard, so why is there also TextBox.HideKeyboard?
  • What about the screen shrink when kbd is displayed? Is it a known issue? Workaround? Plan for fix?

Thanks a lot

6

There's a historic reason for that that predates me. I think it was the case that originally just the TextBox had the HideKeyboard block, but other components eventually had the ability to obtain keyboard focus so it just made sense to have the ability to hide the keyboard from anywhere on the Screen regardless what components were available.

That said, the blocks really should have the same outcome so the fact that they behave differently needs to be addressed.

Edit: In particular, older Android phones used to have a trackball that could be used to navigate the UI, so things like Buttons could be focused even if the screen wasn't touched. This is also why Button has GotFocus/LostFocus even though these days it's very difficult to focus a button.

7

Thanks for these technical and historicall information

Please could you let us know the situation regarding the main topic off this post:
What about the screen shrink when keyboard is displayed?

  • Is it a known issue?
  • Workaround?
  • Plan for fix?

Thanks

8

Yes it is a known issue. For a workaround, you can either make your screen scrollable, or you can put textboxes toward the top of your screen. We will eventually get around to fixing it but we have a small team with a lot of obligations.

9

Good to know it is a known issue (Would be good to have a place to list limiations, issues, ... this would save time for all of us)

Screen is not scrollable with iOS (see: Scrolling Screen Issue in iOS - #12 by Anke), and even using a VerticalScrollArrangement. screen is shrinked when keyboard is displayed :frowning: .

Issue is the same when Textbox is at the top of the screen.

Attached is the updated Test App: TestKeyboard.aia (10.2 KB)

I undertsand you have plenty of request with a small team, but I hope a temporary workarond will help (Specific layout ? ....?)

10

Hmm. This sounds familiar and I thought we had already published a fix for scrolling related issues. I'll need to take a look.

11

To overcome this, I tried with only the textbox in the screen, but even in this configuration/layout, the textbox is shrunk (see TestKeyboard.aia (10.1 KB))
I did not find any alternative / workaround to use textbox / soft keyboard :frowning:

12

Try this: TestKeyboard_2.aia (11.1 KB)

grafik
grafik1238×647 65.9 KB

(Tested on iPhone 15 Pro Max, iOS 18.6.2)

13

Thanks for this workaround for iOS!
This definitively help until the pb is fixed
Vielen Dank