Android API 35: Fixing Status Bar and Navigation Bar Color Issues

When Android releases a new API level, developers often face subtle but frustrating UI bugs. With Android 14 (API Level 35), many developers reported that the AppBar (Toolbar) color, Status Bar color, and Navigation Bar color don’t behave consistently as they used to.

If your app suddenly shows:

• Status bar turning black despite setting a color,

• Navigation bar ignoring your theme colors, or

• AppBar overlapping system bars,

👉 then this blog is for you.

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What Changed in API 35?

Starting with Android 14, Google made changes to system UI visibility and theme overlay behavior. The status bar & navigation bar color handling now relies more strictly on:

1. WindowInsetsController instead of legacy flags.

2. Edge-to-edge rendering principles (apps are expected to draw behind system bars).

3. Dynamic theme enforcement (Material You colors may override your hardcoded values if not properly set).

Because of this, old code like:

window.statusBarColor = ContextCompat.getColor(this, R.color.primaryDark)
window.navigationBarColor = ContextCompat.getColor(this, R.color.primaryDark)

…may not behave consistently anymore on API 35+.

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The Right Way to Handle It in API 35

To fix this, we now need to explicitly set system bar behavior using WindowInsetsControllerCompat.

Here’s the correct approach:

import android.os.Bundle
import androidx.activity.ComponentActivity
import androidx.core.content.ContextCompat
import androidx.core.view.WindowCompat
import androidx.core.view.WindowInsetsControllerCompat

class MainActivity : ComponentActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

        // Enable edge-to-edge
        WindowCompat.setDecorFitsSystemWindows(window, false)

        // Set status bar & navigation bar colors
        window.statusBarColor = ContextCompat.getColor(this, R.color.my_status_bar_color)
        window.navigationBarColor = ContextCompat.getColor(this, R.color.my_navigation_bar_color)

        // Control light/dark icons
        val insetsController = WindowInsetsControllerCompat(window, window.decorView)
        insetsController.isAppearanceLightStatusBars = true // for dark text/icons
        insetsController.isAppearanceLightNavigationBars = false // for light icons
    }
}

✅ This ensures consistent colors across API 21 → 35+.
✅ Works with Material 3 themes as well.
✅ Allows you to opt-in to edge-to-edge design.

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Common Pitfalls

1. Theme.xml not updated
   Make sure you declare transparent system bar overlays in your theme if you’re using edge-to-edge:

    <style name="Theme.MyApp" parent="Theme.Material3.DayNight.NoActionBar">
        <item name="android:statusBarColor">@android:color/transparent</item>
        <item name="android:navigationBarColor">@android:color/transparent</item>
        <item name="android:windowLightStatusBar">true</item>
    </style>
   

   2. Using fitsSystemWindows incorrectly
      Don’t rely on android:fitsSystemWindows in layouts anymore — it can break immersive UI on API 35. Instead, handle insets programmatically.

   3. Forgetting Dark Mode
      Always test both light theme & dark theme, because system icons adapt differently.

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Migration Checklist for API 35

• ✅ Replace window.statusBarColor calls with WindowInsetsControllerCompat handling.

• ✅ Use WindowCompat.setDecorFitsSystemWindows(window, false) for edge-to-edge rendering.

• ✅ Test in both light and dark modes.

• ✅ Update your theme.xml with transparent system bar values.

• ✅ If you use Jetpack Compose → prefer SystemUiController from Accompanist.

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Jetpack Compose Fix

If your project uses Jetpack Compose, you can fix it like this:

@Composable
fun MyAppTheme(content: @Composable () -> Unit) {
    val systemUiController = rememberSystemUiController()
    val useDarkIcons = MaterialTheme.colorScheme.isLight

    SideEffect {
        systemUiController.setStatusBarColor(
            color = Color.Transparent,
            darkIcons = useDarkIcons
        )
        systemUiController.setNavigationBarColor(
            color = Color.Black,
            darkIcons = !useDarkIcons
        )
    }

    MaterialTheme(
        colorScheme = myColorScheme,
        content = content
    )
}

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Final Thoughts

Migrating to API 35+ means fully embracing edge-to-edge UI. Instead of fighting system bar colors, design your app to feel natural with them. The combination of WindowInsetsControllerCompat (Views) or Accompanist SystemUiController (Compose) is the future-proof way forward.

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📌 Reference: Android Developers – Edge-to-edge guide

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