Split screen in portrait mode

[CryYxx]

Guidelines

• I have searched searched open and closed issues for duplicates
• I am submitting a bug report for existing functionality that does not work as intended
• This isn't a feature request or a discussion topic

Bug description

After installing latest version of Signal, the tablet turns on split-screen mode even in portrait mode (it's unclear why). This makes it extremely difficult to use, plus every time the app is unloaded from memory, the split setting is lost.

Screenshots

Device

HUAWEI MediaPad T5 (AGS2-L09)

Android version

8.0.0

Signal version

7.63.3

Link to debug log

No response

[mtang-signal]

Could you please let us know if this is still an issue in 7.64 (when it comes out)?

[nanonimus42]

Same issue here (less the Cyrillic chars)
Newer Android 11. Samsung Tab A8.

PS. Just curious, any LLM involvement in the culprit "fix" to Landscape that broke the Portrait?

[nanonimus42]

Could you please let us know if this is still an issue in 7.64 (when it comes out)?

I could do, for my variant. Any estimate of timing for the release?

[imaluschi]

Same here.
Signal 7.63.3 - not an issue in previous releases.
LineageOS 23.0 (23.0-20251104-NIGHTLY), Android 16
Samsung Galaxy Tab A7

[alex-signal]

Please include a debug log, as it'll give us useful information about what size configuration your screen thinks it is in. Ensure the debug log is taken while in portrait. If you don't want to include the full log, please at least give me the line that contains the WindowSizeClass information :-)

[furai]

I'm affected by this issue. This design shouldn't be responsive based on device width/height but rather a toggable option, there's just too many variables out there. Or just the orientation.

Sysinfo (click to expand)

=============== SYSINFO ===============
Time              : 1763100515400
Manufacturer      : OnePlus
Model             : LE2123
Product           : OnePlus9Pro
SoC Manufacturer  : Qualcomm
SoC Model         : SM8350
Screen            : 1080x2412, xhdpi (288), 60.00 hz
WindowSizeClass   : WindowSizeClass {windowWidthSizeClass=WindowWidthSizeClass: MEDIUM, windowHeightSizeClass=WindowHeightSizeClass: EXPANDED }
Font Scale        : 0.85
Animation Scale   : 1.0
Android           : 15, API 35 (8f73031cd5, lineage_lemonadep-userdebug 15 BP1A.250505.005 8f73031cd5)
ABIs              : arm64-v8a, armeabi-v7a, armeabi
Memory            : 129M (3.90% free, 512M max)
Memclass          : 256
MemInfo           : availMem: 6868 mb, totalMem: 11251 mb, threshold: 216 mb, lowMemory: false
OS Host           : 2149539d7a11
RecipientId       : RecipientId::266
ACI               : ********-****-****-****-*********467
Device ID         : 1
Censored          : false
Network Status    : [isOnVpn: false, isMetered: true]
Play Services     : false (9)
FCM               : false
Locale            : en_GB
Linked Devices    : true
First Version     : 1247
Days Installed    : 926
Build Variant     : websiteProdRelease
Emoji Version     : 12 (xhdpi)
RenderBigEmoji    : true
DontKeepActivities: false
Server Time Offset: 1050 ms (last updated: 1763100411258)
Telecom           : false
User-Agent        : Signal-Android/7.63.3 Android/35
SlowNotifications : false
IgnoringBatteryOpt: false
BkgRestricted     : false
Data Saver        : DISABLED
APNG Animation    : true
ApkManifestUrl    : https://updates.signal.org/android/latest.json
App               : Signal 7.63.3 (1611, 161100) (3258e9dc3912) 
Package           : org.thoughtcrime.securesms (doDiFGKPO1r)

[CryYxx]

SYSINFO

=============== SYSINFO ===============
Time              : 1763114500405
Manufacturer      : HUAWEI
Model             : AGS2-L09
Product           : AGS2-L09
SoC Manufacturer  : N/A
SoC Model         : N/A
Screen            : 1200x1852, xxhdpi (320), 60.00 hz
WindowSizeClass   : WindowSizeClass {windowWidthSizeClass=WindowWidthSizeClass: MEDIUM, windowHeightSizeClass=WindowHeightSizeClass: EXPANDED }
Font Scale        : 1.0
Animation Scale   : 1.0
Android           : 8.0.0, API 26 (317(OCEC432), AGS2-L09 8.0.0.317(OCEC432))
ABIs              : arm64-v8a, armeabi-v7a, armeabi
Memory            : 37M (1.62% free, 512M max)
Memclass          : 384
MemInfo           : availMem: 1043 mb, totalMem: 2748 mb, threshold: 216 mb, lowMemory: false
OS Host           : cn-central-1b-74acc8e3b1596532005802-1393457121-04cvb
RecipientId       : RecipientId::2
ACI               : ********-****-****-****-*********ace
Device ID         : 1
Censored          : false
Network Status    : [isOnVpn: false, isMetered: false]
Play Services     : true
FCM               : true
Locale            : ru_UA
Linked Devices    : false
First Version     : 1085
Days Installed    : 1219
Build Variant     : playProdRelease
Emoji Version     : 12 (xhdpi)
RenderBigEmoji    : false
DontKeepActivities: false
Server Time Offset: 3678 ms (last updated: 1763113774101)
Telecom           : false
User-Agent        : Signal-Android/7.63.3 Android/26
SlowNotifications : false
IgnoringBatteryOpt: false
BkgRestricted     : N/A
Data Saver        : DISABLED
APNG Animation    : false
App               : Signal 7.63.3 (1611, 161100) (3258e9dc3912) 
Package           : org.thoughtcrime.securesms (doDiFGKPO1r)

[imaluschi]

signal-log-1763120463780.zip

See the relevant comment: #14412 (comment)

[alex-signal]

Please note in the meantime you can use the handle in the middle of the screen to expand either side. We can also look into persisting that between restarts, which'd be a good "toggle" of sorts.

Based off the WindowSizeClass information I'm seeing, we likely don't want split pane appearing on WidthClass{MEDIUM} devices, we want to ensure that:

1. Height is at least MEDIUM
2. Width is at least EXPANDED

(Also based on checking my personal foldable to ensure we'd still get a split pane experience there)

I'll bring this up these two points with design and make sure this is tweaked in the next release.

(Also, of course, please note that there could be small issues here and there on tablet form-factors, tablets are not an officially supported form-factor at this point)

[ralle666]

Same look

Fairphone 4
IodeOS 6.9-20251031-FP4
Signal 7.64.2

[nanonimus42]

Updated to 7.64.2
No fix. (Samsung Tab A8)
It looks to me like the app doesn't detect it's in Portrait mode. Navigation bar is on the left side rather than at the bottom of the screen, as would be expected.

[furai]

It should most likely detect portrait mode and only on actually few devices that are foldable should it show the split view. Check actual device capabilities, not just size.

[alex-signal]

The fix for this is in 7.65.x which is currently in beta.