[Luccacvb]

Summary

Fixes the Android 9.x regression of #219.

On Android 9.x, a pager that mounts with no pages stays blank when its pages arrive later, for example after a fetch. onPageSelected fires, so the app can show "Photo 1 of 4", but nothing is drawn until the user touches the pager, and setPage does nothing until then. The same happens when all pages are removed and added back. 8.x laid the ViewPager2 out again when pages were added or removed (refreshViewChildrenLayout, from #408 for #219 and from #929), and the Compose rewrite (#1092) dropped it.

reproduction

pager-view-219-before-after.mp4

What happened

• When the first page arrives, Compose adds the pager under its root node, so AndroidComposeView asks for a layout pass with requestLayout() instead of just redrawing.
• The request goes up to the pager's React parent, where ReactViewGroup.requestLayout() is a no-op, and Fabric only calls layout() on the pager when its frame changes. So the pass never runs.
• While that request is pending, AndroidComposeView doesn't schedule any other layout or redraw (scheduleMeasureAndLayout returns early when isLayoutRequested). A touch runs Compose's own measure and layout, which is why the page shows up after one.
• In a screen pushed with the native stack, the pager already has an unanswered request from when it was attached, so it goes blank on the first load. A pager mounted into a visible screen can show its first pages, but stays blank once its pages are removed and added back.

Fix

• Override requestLayout() in ComposePagerView and post a measure and layout at the pager's current size, like 8.x's refreshViewChildrenLayout. react-native-screens does the same in ScreenContainer, StackHost and TabsHost.
• Do the same in forceLayout(). A configuration change handled in place, like dark mode with the template's configChanges, calls it on every view instead of requestLayout(). Without it, empty pagers went blank again after the first dark mode switch. TabsHost overrides it for the same reason.
• It runs from requestLayout() and not from addPage(), because Compose only asks for layout after it recomposes, on the next frame. A measure posted from addPage() ran too early, and the pager stayed blank.
• The pass is skipped while the pager has no size, so the zero-width case in [Android] v9: pager starts on the last page (initialPage ignored) when first laid out with zero width, e.g. inside display: 'none' #1191 doesn't change. It's also skipped after dispose(), which requests a layout too: measuring then would create a new composition on the dropped view, the same layout-after-unmount case fix(android): fix crash on pager unmount #1001 handled in 8.x.
• Extra posts are no-ops once the pager is laid out (same size, no pending request), so they aren't deduplicated.

Behavior notes

• Pages added to an empty pager now show right away, on the first mount and after all pages are removed and added back, and setPage works right away.
• Only one layout request reaches the pager when pages arrive, and none while idle or swiping (checked with temporary logging), so normal use gets no extra layout passes.
• With an accessibility service on (TalkBack, or apps like password managers that run as one), main doesn't go blank: Compose lays itself out to update its accessibility tree. Test with them off.
• iOS is untouched. It already shows pages that arrive later (checked on an iOS 26 simulator). The new e2e test is Android-only because iOS reports page 0 before it has any pages.
• fix: exit pager animation #1180 and fix(android): keep the pager's Compose state out of the host's saved state #1194 also change ComposePagerView, in other places. fix(android): keep the pager's Compose state out of the host's saved state #1194's diff applies cleanly on top of this one; I haven't tested them together.
• [Android/Fabric] setPageWithoutAnimation from useLayoutEffect is ignored when targeting a newly added page #1196 is a separate bug: a setPage sent in the same commit that adds its page is dropped. I have a fix for it and will send it after this one.

Test Plan

What's required for testing (prerequisites)?

Android emulator or device, with TalkBack and other accessibility services off.

What are the steps to reproduce (after prerequisites)?

Added Issue #219 Empty Pager Repro to the example app and e2e/tests/issues/issue-219-empty-pager.e2e.ts. The pager mounts with no pages, and the status shows the page count, the selected page and how many onPageSelected events arrived:

Action	Before	After
Add pages	Pages: 4 | Selected: 0 | Events: 1, blank	Page A shown
Remove pages, add them back (twice)	blank	Page A shown
Add pages, then Select C	blank, still Selected: 0	Page C shown, Selected: 2

Verified

• On main all 3 new tests fail: the status shows Pages: 4 | Selected: 0 | Events: 1, but Page A never appears, and Select C leaves it at Selected: 0. 9.0.9 fails the same way, so it isn't from fix(android): keep the visible page when pages change before it #1188. With the fix they pass on every run (3 runs, plus the full suite).
• Full Android e2e suite with the fix: 29/29 tests pass. Android 16 emulator (arm64), release build.
• Checked by hand, on main and with the fix: dark mode switched before pages arrive (blank on main, and with only the requestLayout() override), orientation="vertical", pages arriving while a native-stack screen covers the pager, a nested pager that starts empty, and removing the last page while on it.
• format:check, lint (no new warnings), typecheck, prepare, test, example typescript and e2e typecheck pass.

Compatibility

OS	Implemented
iOS	n/a
Android	✅

Checklist

• I have tested this on a device and a simulator
• I added the documentation in README.md: not applicable
• I updated the typed files (TS and Flow): not applicable

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[troZee]

@Luccacvb could you fix the CI? 🙏