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What I Learned Fixing UI Issues Across Android 9 and Android 16

While testing my Android app Hierarchy Star Reports, I ran into an interesting real-world problem: the app worked perfectly on my phone running Android 9, but my client experienced layout issues on a device running Android 16.

In this post, I’ll explain what went wrong, why it happened, and how I fixed it properly so the UI works consistently across Android versions.

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🔍 The Problems Reported

• Text overlapping with the system navigation bar
• Some content (like “Entertainment never sleeps…”) not appearing on newer Android versions
• Legal / Copyright screen opening but showing blank content
• Too much or too little spacing depending on the device

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📱 Why It Worked on Android 9 but Not Android 16

Newer Android versions (Android 12+) handle system insets differently. This includes:

• Status bar height
• Navigation gesture areas
• Edge-to-edge layouts

Layouts that look fine on older Android versions may:

• Push content under the status bar
• Cut off text near screen edges
• Hide content if scrolling is not handled correctly

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🛠️ Solution 1: Always Use ScrollView for Text-Heavy Screens

Pages like About Us and Legal / Copyright must always scroll. Without a ScrollView, long text can be clipped on some devices.

Correct pattern:

<ScrollView
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:padding="16dp"
    android:fillViewport="true"
    android:fitsSystemWindows="true">

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:orientation="vertical">

        <!-- Content goes here -->

    </LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>

The key properties here are:

• fillViewport="true" → prevents awkward empty space
• fitsSystemWindows="true" → avoids overlap with system bars

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🛠️ Solution 2: Avoid wrap_content for Long Text

Using wrap_content for long paragraphs caused text to extend off-screen on some devices.

Fixed by using:

android:layout_width="match_parent"

This ensures text wraps correctly regardless of screen size or font scaling.

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🛠️ Solution 3: Use String Resources (Not Hardcoded Text)

Hardcoded text caused warnings and made debugging harder. All text was moved into strings.xml.

Example:

<string name="subtitle_home">
Entertainment never sleeps—and neither do we.
</string>

This improves:

• Consistency across devices
• Accessibility
• Future localization support

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🛠️ Solution 4: Fix Blank Legal Screen

The Legal screen opened but appeared blank on newer Android versions. The cause was simple:

• No ScrollView
• Content clipped outside visible bounds

Wrapping the content in a ScrollView immediately resolved the issue.

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🎨 Solution 5: Adjust Spacing for Professional Look

Too much or too little spacing can look fine on one phone and broken on another. Margins were standardized using:

• layout_marginTop="8dp"
• layout_marginBottom="16dp"
• Consistent padding via parent layouts

This eliminated:

• Overlapping headers
• Content touching screen edges
• Excessive white space

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✅ Final Result

After these fixes:

• The app displays correctly on Android 9 through Android 16
• No text overlaps system UI
• All content is readable and scrollable
• Client confirmed everything works as expected

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📌 Key Takeaway

If your app works on one Android version but not another, it’s usually a layout issue — not logic.

Always:

• Use ScrollView for text-heavy screens
• Respect system insets
• Test on multiple Android versions

Small layout decisions make a big difference.