Generally, we use height:100vh
for fullscreen layout which is easy hack and convenient way to get better design.
Example
.content {
height: 100vh;
}
But when we test our design on actual device, we encounter several issues:
- Mostly Chrome and Firefox browsers on mobile have got a UI (address bar etc) at the top.
- On Safari it get's more tricky address bar is at the bottom.
- Different browsers have different sized viewports
- Mobile devices calc browser viewport as (top bar + document + bottom bar) = 100vh
- Whole document is filled to the page using 100vh
Problems
- On Chrome
Scrollbar issues has been detected. Bad user flow and difficult to navigate the content.
Note: I have also tested this issues on safari which makes more bad user flow
Solutions
Detect the height of the app by using JS
Setting the height of the page (using javascript) with the window.innerheight
property.
const documentHeight = () => {
const doc = document.documentElement
doc.style.setProperty('--doc-height', `${window.innerHeight}px`)
}
window.addEventListener(‘resize’, documentHeight)
documentHeight()
Using, CSS Variable
:root {
--doc-height: 100%;
}
html,
body {
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
height: 100vh; /* fallback for Js load */
height: var(--doc-height);
}
Here, documentHeight function sets new style property var('--doc-height') and includes current window height.
Final Results
Chrome Browser
Note: There is no any vertical extra scrollbar is appearing now also no issues on Safari too. The bottom address bar of safari is always on the bottom which makes good user flow to the website
Conclusion
👏👏 By coming this far I hope you can solve the mobile devices viewport issues. So, I suggest you give it a try on your project and enjoy it!
Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions and leave me a comment if you have any problems or questions.
Till then,
Keep on Hacking, Cheers
Top comments (45)
You never should use static measurements to set a
height
nor awidth
unless it's completely necessary.On the other hand, using
min-height: 100vh;
is totally Ok.Or:
depending on what you want to achieve
window innerHeight is safer and there are observers which you can use, I have a powerful React hook which does this, using 100vh is unsafe to use and very likely to break in some browsers.
I'm not supporting IE since long time ago plus checked the usage for Opera Mini since 5 years ago in multiple webapps in production with hundreds of thousands of users, still got 0%: caniuse.com/viewport-units
Using JavaScript has some drawbacks as well:
In CSS you can also use a calc to extract the navbar size if not fixed just like that:
Plus using min-height this way lets the content to grow more than a viewport if it's needed automagically (smartphone in landscape is a good test for that).
Note that the first one grows more than a viewport due to its texts getting more space.
The last one is just a viewport height. 😁
Re-render on window size change is not a problem since this is a very rare event and it really on re-renders on size change. Also Safari mobile has lots of problems with 100vh
Not at all. Issues related with smartphone try to artificially alter the behavior based on observation of the outer picture.
I mean, the browser UI is not part of the DOM, hence it will look the same in any website.
While altering your site based on browser+device makes your webApp consistent across-devices, usually an individual who's used to a given browser or a given device will expect that things to happen.
Moreover converting your WebApp into a PWA or making a native webview for iOS and/or Android, will behave different than opening it in the browser.
So each approach has pros and cons, just need to define whad do you really need for that specific use-case. 😊
Last but not least, let me introduce you to
@supports
feature query: spec, in which you can add vendor prefixed conditions to know which browser rendered your webApp and thus apply a calc on it like that:Or using Browser Hacks:
Hope it helps somehow
Fun fact: I'm actually the guy who came up with the msie10+ detection hack you mention in your last example.
Unfortunately, since the wrongful handling of 100vh in mobile browsers is not by a fixed height, you can only using the maximum deviation to fix the issue, which then results in large parts of the screen being unused.
Also, reading innerHeight and writing it to a CSS variable won't take too much time and CPU cycles; detecting scroll movements that should trigger the issue and removing the listener if it doesn't arise will be much more involved.
Sure that last paragraph is what solves any situation I can think off, there's no point of discussion here.
I'm trying to define in my head all the situations in which that makes a real difference and not just a "some pixels extra-scroll" thingy, and asking me "is there any alternative way?" Just because linking information is the way I can remember something for years plus I usualy learn something else while trying to answer the question 😅.
@joelbonetr I don't support IE too but we have a new IE on the block called Safari which is the worst in implementing standards and compatible APIs. They are literally thinking browsers are not needed anymore and in a few years they are gone and everything is an app...
Hahaha I know, they have implemented better flex compat in the last 2 years at least, it was a pain in the ass before that but yes, Safari is the new IE.
I work with Windows 11 + WSLg in my personal desktop and Windows 10 + WSL2 in company's laptop so I bought an iPad mini just to test things in Safari as reference (or in any browser because in iPad OS or iOS all browsers rely on Safari 😐).
@joelbonetr
Just embed the script before the content like so:
No issues with SSR and SEO at all.
A drop in the sea. Just add to the script above the following:
Here, I am not using static measurements. From js we can detect the app height and it automatically fits it and when we encounter browsers address bar then
using 100vh
does not solve the problem. In my case, above code doesn't solve the issue. But thanks for the reply.Positioning the bottom bar with
will fix your nav bar to the bottom without issues, then you can get the scroll to modify it's position to ptovide a js effect or to trigger a keyframe
issues on mobile with vh..
html, body, .some-page-wrapper { height: 100% }
usually works even without JS... for most basic layouts. Then you don't have to use100vh
min-height: 100vh
is meant for when you want some block to have at least the height of the viewport's height. You cannot use % on those situations.Moreover, height 100% (which means the height of its content without taking into account the padding nor the margin) is the default implicit behavior on any div, section, aside...
Edit: WRONG, see comment below
I completely understand how 100vh and % works. I think you misunderstood the context of the post. If you meant to make the body 100vh, basically setting the html, and the body to 100% is the same thing as setting the body to 100vh. duhhh! But the thing is, using the % method doesn't give you the issues mentioned in the post when viewing the layout on mobile phones.
ANdI think you misunderstood how height 100% works in the context of my answer. What you are saying is definitely wrong - go test it yourself if setting both html, and body to 100% isn't the same thing as setting the body to 100vh.. maybe you need to learn how setting the height to percentage works if you have set the height of the parent. for a percentage value to work for height, the parent's height must be determined, and in this case setting HTML and the body to 100% does fill the whole viewport height(and yet doesn't cause the issues mentioned on mobile devices)
@esspetess oh sorry you're right, I misunderstood the comment (6 months old post 😂). Still you should use
min-height
instead ofheight
property, otherwise if the content exceeds the container it will overlap with the following container and cause weird effects.Have a great day
Cool solution, it helped me, thank you! In addition I've improved this approach with some debounce mechanism (setTimeout) that will limit count of function executions.
Tankyou !! Appreciated :)
Sometimes debouncing cost more then running the code itself. Just as an FYI.
This seems like a really useful pattern for using CSS variables in general. Thanks for the post.
Of course, for a lot of use cases the added complexity might not be worth the UX wins vs a slightly alternative design choice. Ultimately it's about helping the user do a thing they came to do, and roundabout complexity isn't exactly helping all the time. But figuring that out and agreeing on it with the designer is easier said than done!
IMO this sort of thing is best approached with a sense of repeating this pattern consistently where needed for styling to ensure it's not a one-off. 🙂
Coming soon: lv*, sv* & dv* units to address this issue.
Wow that's interesting.
Until its validation, I wonder how the css
env()
function could be used to solve our 100vh issue. (it already has a quite broad browser support)Earlier I tried using env() but it doesn't solve my issue so need to revert back.
Might be helpful but does not know anything about this so far :)
So this is a bit of a heated topic isn’t it?! Whilst I applaud your ingenuity I’d be careful about doing this kind of thing with JsS, or as some users suggest, doing a calc- because that assumes you know the height of that element.
Instead use -webkit-fill-available
Here’s some more information about that css rule: allthingssmitty.com/2020/05/11/css...
This situation is far from ideal and I know the Safari team are working hard to address these issues so they don’t become “the next IE”.
This is a good option if you DONT need to use css Calc() function
ex:
body {
min-height: calc(100vh-70px);
/* mobile viewport bug fix */
min-height: -webkit-fill-available;
}
The webkit solution would not take into account the 70px adjustment
I've used the JS solution described in this post and it seems to be the best available option at the moment (until the new dynamic viewport units are adopted)
Thanks for using this solution 👍
Many ways to solve the same problem.
Glad I came across this.
Thanks 👍
Nicely done for thinking of cross-browser issues.
I'm using Safari on my phone.
Thank you 👍
This is helpful.
Thanks 👍
Meaning, most people are doing this wrong? Or maybe most people already know this?
Due to browser dependencies and layout issue we need to tackle this kind of problem so it depends on project requirement. But, I suggest not to use
100vh
on smaller devices.Some comments have been hidden by the post's author - find out more