Description

Fixes a regression introduced in #3240 where the native stack header title renders behind the status bar on Android 15 (SDK 35) with edge-to-edge enabled.

Root cause

PR #3240 changed CustomToolbar.onApplyWindowInsets to read systemBars insets from unhandledInsets (received from ancestor views) instead of rootWindowInsets.

When SafeAreaProvider from react-native-safe-area-context wraps the app (standard setup), it consumes the systemBars.top inset before it reaches CustomToolbar. As a result:

unhandledInsets.getInsets(Type.systemBars()).top == 0  // consumed by ancestor

So CustomToolbar computes paddingTop = 0 and the toolbar title renders at y=0, visually behind the status bar.

Before #3240, rootWindowInsets was used with ignoreVisibility = true, which always provided a stable, non-zero status bar height regardless of what ancestors consumed.

Fix

For the status bar top height specifically, fall back to rootWindowInsets when unhandledInsets.top == 0. rootWindowInsets always contains the raw window insets that no ancestor can consume:

val statusBarTop = if (shouldApplyTopInset) {
    val fromUnhandled = systemBarInsets.top
    if (fromUnhandled > 0) fromUnhandled
    else resolveInsetsOrZero(WindowInsetsCompat.Type.systemBars()).top // fallback to rootWindowInsets
} else 0

This preserves the intent of #3240 (use ancestor-received insets when available) while fixing the regression when an ancestor has already consumed the top inset.

Affected versions

• 4.19.0 – 4.24.0 🐞
• 4.18.0 ✅ (used rootWindowInsets, worked correctly)

Changes

• CustomToolbar.kt: fall back to rootWindowInsets for statusBarTop when unhandledInsets.top == 0

Test code and steps to reproduce

1. Enable edge-to-edge (edgeToEdgeEnabled=true in gradle.properties)
2. Wrap the app with SafeAreaProvider from react-native-safe-area-context (standard setup)
3. Push any screen with a native header using createNativeStackNavigator
4. Run on Android 15 physical device or emulator

Expected: Header title appears below the status bar
Actual (4.19.0+): Header title renders behind/under the status bar

Environment

• React Native: 0.85.0
• Android: 15 (SDK 35), edgeToEdgeEnabled=true
• Architecture: New Architecture (Fabric)
• @react-navigation/native-stack: 7.6.1
• react-native-safe-area-context: ^5.7.0

Checklist

• Included code example that can be used to test this change
• Updated TS types
• Updated documentation