[Bug]: App launches with persistent area equal to keyboard height

[bcampru]

Capacitor Version

Latest Dependencies:

@capacitor/cli: 8.0.0
@capacitor/core: 8.0.0
@capacitor/android: 8.0.0
@capacitor/ios: 8.0.0

Installed Dependencies:

@capacitor/ios: not installed
@capacitor/cli: 8.0.0
@capacitor/android: 8.0.0
@capacitor/core: 8.0.0

[success] Android looking great! 👌

Other API Details

npm: 10.9.4
node: v22.21.1

Platforms Affected

• iOS
• Android
• Web

Current Behavior

• The app opens with a gray space at the bottom (roughly the keyboard height), and the content can scroll into that empty area.
• The gap persists even after opening/closing the keyboard; only fully closing and reopening the app clears it.
• Reproducible when launching the app from the app drawer while the keyboard is open (e.g., after typing in the app search).
• Observed on physical devices Pixel 8 and Pixel 8a running Android 16 (SDK 36).

behavior.mp4

Expected Behavior

• The WebView should render at full height when the keyboard is not visible.
• No persistent gray space or extra scroll area should appear after launch.

Project Reproduction

https://github.com/bcampru/capacitor-scroll-space-bug/tree/main

Additional Information

• Devices: Pixel 8 / Pixel 8a (physical), Android 16.
• Device props: ro.build.version.sdk = 36, ro.product.cpu.abi = arm64-v8a.
• Debug overlay snapshots when the issue happens show visualViewport.height reduced by ~310px while innerHeight and document/body heights remain full, and keyboardState.visible = false (suggesting stale IME insets despite no keyboard visible).
• Things we tried without success:
  • windowSoftInputMode=adjustNothing in AndroidManifest.
  • Forcing layout recalculation in JS (visualViewport/listeners).
  • CapacitorUpdater reload / JS reload.
  • Native fix in MainActivity: hide IME, toggle SOFT_INPUT_ADJUST_NOTHING → ADJUST_RESIZE, requestApplyInsets(), requestLayout(),

[bcampru]

After some more testing we have found that this issue is caused by the plugin @capacitor/splash-screen, uninstalling it solves the issue