SearchHandler causes keyboard flickering and character loss on Android

[BartoGabriel]

Description

When using the SearchHandler control inside a .NET MAUI Shell app on Android, the on-screen keyboard flickers every time a key is pressed. This leads to a poor user experience, as the keyboard appears to redraw or lose focus momentarily on each keystroke.

In addition, typing quickly can result in lost characters — for example, typing "jaja" often results in "jaa".

At first, I suspected it could be a performance issue or some debounce logic interfering with the input. However, I removed all debounce/delay logic and even tested with an empty handler (no event code at all), and the issue persisted exactly the same. This points more toward a focus management or InputConnection issue (perhaps the control is briefly losing and regaining focus or recreating the input connection).

This behavior is reproducible using the official sample app and also occurs in multiple real-world applications.

Current behavior

• The on-screen keyboard flickers (visually redraws) on each keystroke.
• If typing fast, some characters are dropped. For example, typing “jaja” results in “jj”.
• This behavior is visible in both the sample and multiple production apps.

Expected behavior

• The keyboard should remain visible and stable during typing.
• All typed characters should be registered without loss.

Test environment

• Device: Redmi Note 9 Pro
• Android Version: 10
• Tested on physical device
• Observed in both Debug and Release builds
• MAUI version: 9.0.80 SR8
• Issue occurs only with SearchHandler, not with Entry or other input controls.

Evidence
📹 Video 1 (slow motion): Demonstrates keyboard flickering while typing.

Example1.mp4

📹 Video 2 (slow motion): Attempting to type “jaja”, only “jaa” is registered.

Example2.mp4

Steps to Reproduce

1. Clone the maui-samples repository.
2. Open the Xanimals solution under maui-samples/9.0/Fundamentals/Shell.
3. Update the Microsoft.Maui.Controls NuGet package to version 9.0.80.
4. Deploy the app to a physical Android device.
5. Tap on the SearchHandler field to focus and start typing.

Link to public reproduction project repository

https://github.com/dotnet/maui-samples

Version with bug

9.0.80 SR8

Is this a regression from previous behavior?

Not sure, did not test other versions

Last version that worked well

I don't now

Affected platforms

Android

Affected platform versions

No response

Did you find any workaround?

No response

Relevant log output

[BartoGabriel]

Hi @kubaflo
Just noticed that this comment on issue #29680 mentions behavior that seems somewhat similar, particularly regarding input and focus handling on Android.

It also references PR #29561, which might be related — not sure if it impacts SearchHandler directly, but since the keyboard behavior in my case also feels focus-related, I thought it was worth mentioning in case there's a connection.

[kubaflo]

@BartoGabriel does it happen on the simulator as well? I cannot reproduce it

[deepika2509]

This issue has been verified in Visual Studio Code 1.99.3 with MAUI version 9.0.80, 9.0.70, 9.0.60, 9.0.0 & 8.0.100. It can be reproduced on Android platform from MAUI versions 9.0.70. Additionally, the issue occurs on Android 10 but is not reproducible on Android 11 and other versions.

[BartoGabriel]

@kubaflo

Even though the keyboard flickering cannot be visually reproduced in the emulator as clearly as it happens on a physical device, there is a noticeable difference in the logs that may be relevant.

When using a standard Entry, the method KeyboardViewUtil.getKeyboardHeightRatio() is called only once when the keyboard shows up.
However, when using the SearchHandler, this method is triggered on every keystroke, which could indicate some kind of layout recalculation or UI update that might be causing the flicker or delay on real devices.

I’m sharing:

• A short video showing how I captured the logs (filtered by the word keyboard for clarity)

• And the raw logs below, ordered newest to oldest, for both cases:

Video

Capture.mp4

🔍 SearchHandler Logs

Time	Device Name	Type	PID	Tag	Message
06-21 17:10:42.697	pixel_5_-_api_30	Warning	1386	KeyboardModeManager	KeyboardModeManager.setInputView():302 setInputView() : inputView = com.google.android.apps.inputmethod.libs.framework.core.InputView{ecbba35 V.E...... ......ID 0,0-1080,2119}
06-21 17:10:42.610	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:42.594	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:42.581	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardViewUtil	KeyboardViewUtil.getKeyboardHeightRatio():128 systemKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000; userKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000.
06-21 17:10:42.343	pixel_5_-_api_30	Warning	1386	KeyboardModeManager	KeyboardModeManager.setInputView():302 setInputView() : inputView = com.google.android.apps.inputmethod.libs.framework.core.InputView{ecbba35 V.E...... ......ID 0,0-1080,2119}
06-21 17:10:42.297	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:42.281	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:42.259	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardViewUtil	KeyboardViewUtil.getKeyboardHeightRatio():128 systemKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000; userKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000.
06-21 17:10:40.642	pixel_5_-_api_30	Warning	1386	KeyboardModeManager	KeyboardModeManager.setInputView():302 setInputView() : inputView = com.google.android.apps.inputmethod.libs.framework.core.InputView{ecbba35 V.E...... ......ID 0,0-1080,2119}
06-21 17:10:40.533	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:40.514	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:40.495	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardViewUtil	KeyboardViewUtil.getKeyboardHeightRatio():128 systemKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000; userKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000.
06-21 17:10:40.349	pixel_5_-_api_30	Warning	1386	KeyboardModeManager	KeyboardModeManager.setInputView():302 setInputView() : inputView = com.google.android.apps.inputmethod.libs.framework.core.InputView{ecbba35 V.E...... ......ID 0,0-1080,2119}
06-21 17:10:40.296	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:40.272	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:40.263	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardViewUtil	KeyboardViewUtil.getKeyboardHeightRatio():128 systemKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000; userKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000.
06-21 17:10:38.921	pixel_5_-_api_30	Warning	1386	KeyboardModeManager	KeyboardModeManager.setInputView():302 setInputView() : inputView = com.google.android.apps.inputmethod.libs.framework.core.InputView{ecbba35 V.E...... ......ID 0,0-1080,2119}
06-21 17:10:38.848	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:38.835	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:38.827	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardViewUtil	KeyboardViewUtil.getKeyboardHeightRatio():128 systemKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000; userKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000.
06-21 17:10:38.690	pixel_5_-_api_30	Warning	1386	KeyboardModeManager	KeyboardModeManager.setInputView():302 setInputView() : inputView = com.google.android.apps.inputmethod.libs.framework.core.InputView{ecbba35 V.E...... ......ID 0,0-1080,2119}
06-21 17:10:38.658	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:38.642	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:38.624	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardViewUtil	KeyboardViewUtil.getKeyboardHeightRatio():128 systemKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000; userKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000.
06-21 17:10:34.223	pixel_5_-_api_30	Warning	1386	KeyboardModeManager	KeyboardModeManager.setInputView():302 setInputView() : inputView = com.google.android.apps.inputmethod.libs.framework.core.InputView{ecbba35 V.E...... ......ID 0,0-1080,2119}
06-21 17:10:34.169	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:34.159	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardViewUtil	KeyboardViewUtil.getKeyboardHeightRatio():128 systemKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000; userKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000.
06-21 17:10:33.218	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)

✏️ Entry Logs

Time	Device Name	Type	PID	Tag	Message
06-21 17:10:18.226	pixel_5_-_api_30	Warning	1386	KeyboardModeManager	KeyboardModeManager.setInputView():302 setInputView() : inputView = com.google.android.apps.inputmethod.libs.framework.core.InputView{ecbba35 V.E...... ......ID 0,0-1080,2119}
06-21 17:10:18.174	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardWrapper	KeyboardWrapper.consumeEvent():264 Skip consuming an event as current keyboard is deactivated (state=0, keyboard existence=true)
06-21 17:10:18.139	pixel_5_-_api_30	Info	1386	KeyboardViewUtil	KeyboardViewUtil.getKeyboardHeightRatio():128 systemKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000; userKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000.

This behavior might not fully explain the flickering on physical devices, but it suggests there's something different going on internally when using SearchHandler.

Let me know if you'd like me to upload the video or provide more details.