The Definitive Solution for the Edge-to-Edge Problem on Android 15 with Xamarin.Forms

Developers working with Xamarin.Forms were recently caught by surprise by a significant change in Android 15: applications began rendering in full-screen (edge-to-edge) by default, overlapping the system’s status and navigation bars. This unexpected behavior broke the user interface of many apps that previously worked perfectly.

This post provides comprehensive documentation and a robust solution to fix this issue, ensuring your application maintains a professional and functional appearance across all Android versions, including the latest one. The solution was implemented and tested in a real-world project, AppCelmi.

The Problem: A Broken UI on Android 15

With the arrival of Android 15, Google changed how apps handle screen space. Edge-to-edge mode became the default, forcing app content to extend under the system areas.

Symptoms

• UI Overlap: The application renders over the clock, notification icons, and the navigation bar.
• Inaccessible Elements: Buttons and other UI components can become hidden behind the system bars.
• Compromised User Experience (UX): The interface becomes confusing, unprofessional, and difficult to use.
• Widespread Impact: It primarily affects legacy apps or those not explicitly prepared for edge-to-edge rendering.

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The Solution: WindowInsets and ViewCompat

The correct and Google-recommended solution involves using the ViewCompat and WindowInsetsCompat APIs to dynamically manage your application’s padding, thereby respecting the system areas (insets).

Why this approach?

• Official and Modern: It follows Google’s official guidelines for Android development.
• Backward Compatible: It works perfectly from Android 5.0 (API 21) all the way to Android 15 (API 35).
• Robust and Future-Proof: It’s a durable solution that adapts to different screen sizes, notches, and navigation bars.

Code Implementation

The fix is applied entirely within the Android project (.Droid) of your Xamarin.Forms solution, with no changes needed in the shared code.

1. File: MainActivity.cs

In the OnCreate method, we orchestrate the window configuration to disable the default behavior and then apply our custom insets listener.

using Android.App;
using Android.Content.PM;
using Android.OS;
using Android.Views;
using AndroidX.Core.View;
using Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android;

namespace BalancasCelmi.Droid // Replace with your namespace
{
    [Activity(Label = "AppCelmi", Icon = "@mipmap/icon", Theme = "@style/MainTheme", /* ... other attributes ... */)]
    public partial class MainActivity : FormsAppCompatActivity
    {
        protected override void OnCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
        {
            base.OnCreate(savedInstanceState);

            // 1. Configure the window for controlled rendering
            ConfigureWindowInsets();

            global::Xamarin.Forms.Forms.Init(this, savedInstanceState);
            LoadApplication(new App());
            
            // 2. Apply the listener that will adjust the padding
            ApplyWindowInsets();
        }

        private void ConfigureWindowInsets()
        {
            // Enable control over system areas
            Window.AddFlags(WindowManagerFlags.DrawsSystemBarBackgrounds);
            Window.ClearFlags(WindowManagerFlags.TranslucentStatus | WindowManagerFlags.TranslucentNavigation);
            Window.SetStatusBarColor(Android.Graphics.Color.Rgb(246, 114, 16)); // Orange theme color

            // For Android 11+ (API 30+), tell the system the app will handle insets
            if (Build.VERSION.SdkInt >= BuildVersionCodes.R)
            {
                Window.SetDecorFitsSystemWindows(false);
            }
            // For older versions, use visibility flags
            else if (Build.VERSION.SdkInt >= BuildVersionCodes.Lollipop)
            {
                Window.DecorView.SystemUiVisibility = (StatusBarVisibility)(
                    SystemUiFlags.LayoutStable |
                    SystemUiFlags.LayoutHideNavigation |
                    SystemUiFlags.LayoutFullscreen
                );
            }
        }

        private void ApplyWindowInsets()
        {
            var contentView = FindViewById(Android.Resource.Id.Content);
            if (contentView != null)
            {
                // Set the listener on the main content view
                ViewCompat.SetOnApplyWindowInsetsListener(contentView, new WindowInsetsListener());
                ViewCompat.RequestApplyInsets(contentView);
            }
        }
    }

    // Listener that receives system insets and applies padding
    public class WindowInsetsListener : Java.Lang.Object, IOnApplyWindowInsetsListener
    {
        public WindowInsetsCompat OnApplyWindowInsets(View v, WindowInsetsCompat insets)
        {
            // Get the insets for the system bars (status, navigation) and display cutouts (notch)
            var systemBars = insets.GetInsets(
                WindowInsetsCompat.Type.SystemBars() | 
                WindowInsetsCompat.Type.DisplayCutout()
            );

            // Apply the padding to the application's main view
            v.SetPadding(
                0,                 // Left
                systemBars.Top,    // Top
                0,                 // Right
                systemBars.Bottom  // Bottom
            );

            // Tell the system that we've consumed the insets
            return WindowInsetsCompat.Consumed;
        }
    }
}

2. File: Resources/values/styles.xml

It’s crucial to ensure your theme does not force full-screen or translucent modes, allowing your C# code to manage the behavior instead.

<pre class="wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code"><?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<resources>
  <style name="MainTheme" parent="MainTheme.Base">
    <item name="colorPrimary">#F6720F</item>
    <item name="colorPrimaryDark">#F6720F</item>
    <item name="colorAccent">#F5D2BE</item>
    
    <item name="android:windowFullscreen">false</item>
    <item name="android:windowTranslucentStatus">false</item>
    <item name="android:windowTranslucentNavigation">false</item>
    <item name="android:fitsSystemWindows">false</item>
    <item name="android:windowDrawsSystemBarBackgrounds">true</item>
  </style>
</resources>
</pre>

How the Solution Works

1. Disable the Default: First, we instruct the Android system (via styles.xml and the ConfigureWindowInsets method) not to apply edge-to-edge mode automatically. We take control.
2. Listen to the System: Next, we register a WindowInsetsListener. This listener is notified by the OS whenever the dimensions of the system bars change (e.g., on screen rotation).
3. Calculate the Padding: The listener receives the exact dimensions of the status bar (top) and the navigation bar (bottom).
4. Apply Dynamic Padding: With these dimensions, it applies dynamic padding to your app’s root view, pushing your content into the safe, visible area and preventing any overlap.

Results and Benefits

Implementing this solution completely restores the application’s expected layout.

✅ Professional UI: The interface is once again clean, organized, and professional.

✅ Full Compatibility: It works consistently across all modern Android versions.

✅ Responsive Design: It natively adapts to any device, with or without a notch.

✅ Maintainability: The code is clean, follows best practices, and won’t require constant fixes with each new Android release.

Final Conclusion and Recommendation

While the changes in Android 15 caught many by surprise, the WindowInsets-based solution is the correct and definitive way to ensure your Xamarin.Forms apps behave properly. The implementation is relatively straightforward and focuses only on the native Android layer, preserving your shared business logic.

Recommendation: Adopt this practice in all your Xamarin.Forms projects to prevent future issues and guarantee a flawless user experience.

Implementation and test date: July 4, 2025.

For more technical details, refer to the official Android documentation on Edge-to-Edge.