[Bug] Website flickers during "X Trackers Blocked" flyout animation

[JRHaven]

Describe the bug

Any time the "X Trackers Blocked" flyout in the URL bar occurs, the website in view flickers violently during the animation. This would be a huge problem for people with epilepsy. I took a screen recording and created an unlisted YouTube video showing the behavior here. I've noticed this happening happening for a few days now, not sure when it started. DuckDuckGo from the Play Store, doesn't appear to be any updates for me to download.

How to Reproduce

1. Go to a website for which the "X Trackers Block" animation occurs
2. Experience the behavior. Reloading the page does the same.

Not every website triggers the behavior; I'm almost positive it is connected to the flyout animation. I was able to recreate it by going to m.youtube.com, genius.com, and hymnary.org. For what it's worth, I use the dark theme.

Expected behavior

No flicker. The flyout animation shouldn't cause any other screen artifacts.

Environment

- DDG App Version: 5.254.1 (52541000)
- Device: OnePlus 9
- OS: Android 14

[github-actions]

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[CDRussell]

Thank you for reporting this, @JRHaven. We have disabled some config that should be picked up automatically from your device soon, if it hasn't already happened. This config will disable the new animation while we investigate what's happening with that flickering.

If you notice the flicker vanish, can you comment back here to let us know? That will help us confirm the animation is indeed what's causing the flicker. We're unable to reproduce this so far, so still trying to work out root cause. Can you share what you have set for theming options in Settings -> Appearance, for:

• Theme (Dark or System default)
• Force Websites To Use Dark Theme enabled or not
• (or just screenshot that whole appearance page)

Many thanks

[JRHaven]

I can see that it has reverted to the old animation, and yes from my brief testing it appears the flicker is gone (though I will let you know if I notice it in the coming day or two with this configuration)

Here's a screenshot of my appearance settings. Dark mode, don't force websites to follow

[CDRussell]

@JRHaven , thank you for confirming that the flicker is gone. One thing to confirm, in case it's important for the problem to appear, I see the video you shared was using German but the appearance screenshot you shared is in English. Was it only when your device was set to German that you saw the flickering?

[JRHaven]

Tested it, and it is flickering with the old animation and my language set to German, but it wasn't when it was set to English. I usually have it in German because I am learning the language and want the immersion. But when I sent the screenshot I thought it would be more helpful to have the language in English.

That's really strange, and it only started happening recently. Had no idea that that may be part of the issue.

[aj8xr0]

I'm also seeing the flickering issue, which started fairly recently. I'm running version 5.254.1 on Android 15. My device is set to English. Appearance settings are as follows:

Theme: Light
Force Websites to Use Dark Theme: Disabled

Please let me know if there is anything you need to help diagnose.

I've included a screen recording showing the issue when reloading the web page.

I should add that flickering is not seen with alternate browser (Vivaldi).

screen-20251103-182519.mp4

[CDRussell]

Thanks @aj8xr0 and @JRHaven.

A request for both of you: it would be useful to know which version of the Android System WebView is installed for each of you. The steps to obtain that version might differ slightly by device. Here is an example from Samsung device:

1. Go to Settings
2. Scroll and and tap Apps
3. Tap on Android System WebView
4. Scroll to the bottom for the version number

[CDRussell]

Tested it, and it is flickering with the old animation and my language set to German, but it wasn't when it was set to English

@JRHaven, can you provide a recording of it flickering with the old animation too if possible, and one showing it working? i.e., if it flickers it in one language but not another, record both as that might reveal a crucial difference 🙏

Still can't find out how to reproduce this yet, so looking for any clues on why it's happening for some people but not others. Thanks!

[aj8xr0]

Thanks @aj8xr0 and @JRHaven.

A request for both of you: it would be useful to know which version of the Android System WebView is installed for each of you. The steps to obtain that version might differ slightly by device. Here is an example from Samsung device:

1. Go to Settings
2. Scroll and and tap Apps
3. Tap on Android System WebView
4. Scroll to the bottom for the version number

I have version 141.0.7390.122

[JRHaven]

Ok there's some interesting things going on.

So actually I think language may not be part of it, and instead it's slightly inconsistent. It flickers in both English and German, but m.youtube.com doesn't flicker anymore for me this morning. Genius and Hymnary do, and others as well (my college's website luther.edu does, not sure what makes one flicker but not the other). Here's the video.

Curiously the animation of my built-in screen recorder to give me the option to stop recording caused flickering too. It usually lives in the notification bar, and I tap on it to expand options then tap the stop button.

My Android System WebView is 141.0.7390.122

[CDRussell]

it's slightly inconsistent

@JRHaven do you have a sense of whether it was happening more often before #7043 (comment) vs since?

[JRHaven]

it's slightly inconsistent

@JRHaven do you have a sense of whether it was happening more often before #7043 (comment) vs since?

I haven't noticed it change much at all, though I haven't had to use my phone's web browser much in the past couple days

[JRHaven]

Yeah definately neither more often nor less often then it was when I created the issue. It happens often enough that I usually see it at least once while using the browser (there's a chance it happens every time a page loads for any reason it seems like)

Stumbled across an interesting piece of information tonight - if you start scrolling during the flickering (scrolling hides the address bar and animation), the flickering stops as well. Really seems to point to the animation being the source of the issue.

Here's a video of me trying to demonstrate: https://youtu.be/33wwM0wwn7U