Hiding a Safari Kavita window on iPadOS causes the reader to detect insufficient space for a double-page layout when reopened

What happened?

Sorry for the multiple issues this week, but I've been experimenting with reading profiles a lot more and have found a few edge cases.

I have Kavita saved to my iPad Home Screen as a Safari web app for convenience. I usually use the iPad in landscape orientation so I can display two pages at once using the Double layout modes. I have a widescreen reading profile bound to my library for this purpose, with the iPad associated with that profile. There are two related problems with using Kavita this way. The first is more of a UX annoyance, while the second appears to be a bug related to how iPadOS handles Safari/web apps. I'll explain the UX issue first because it helps explain the impact of the bug.

Double-to-Single layout changes create an implicit profile

If I rotate the iPad from landscape to portrait while reading, Kavita correctly detects that the reader area is unsuitable for the Double layout and automatically changes the layout to Single. This behavior itself is useful, but the problem is that automatically changing the layout also creates an implicit reading profile for the current series. If I rotate the iPad back to landscape, Kavita does not revert the layout change. I can manually change the layout back to Double, but the series still has an implicit profile associated with it. That implicit profile then overrides my library-level widescreen profile, including any future changes I make to that profile.

To restore the series to the same behavior as the rest of the library, I have to go back to the series page and use the Clear Reading Profiles action. This adds some friction to using an iPad as a Kavita reader. It would be nice if the automatic Double-to-Single layout override were more ephemeral than an implicit profile. Ideally, Kavita could temporarily switch from Double to Single when the reader area is too narrow, then automatically return to Double when enough space becomes available again, without modifying the reading profile or creating an implicit profile.

Backgrounding Safari incorrectly triggers the Double-to-Single override

The actual bug occurs when Kavita is backgrounded on iPadOS. If I have a series open using a Double layout in Safari, swipe up to return to the iPad Home Screen, wait a few seconds, and then return to Kavita, the reader sometimes incorrectly determines that there is not enough space for a Double layout and switches the setting to Single, despite the iPad remaining in landscape orientation the entire time. Because of the implicit-profile behavior described above, this also creates an implicit reading profile for the series, which then has to be manually cleared.

I can reproduce this using both Safari directly and Kavita installed as an iPadOS Home Screen web app. This is occurring on iPadOS 26 with Safari. I also tried reproducing it using Firefox on the same iPad and did not observe the same behavior, although I did not test Firefox extensively.

Steps to reproduce

1. Optional: Create a Kavita Home Screen web app on iPadOS 26

   • Open Safari.
   • Navigate to the Kavita server.
   • Tap the Share icon in the top-right corner.
   • Tap View More.
   • Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen.
   • Name it Kavita and leave Open as Web App enabled.

2. Open a series using a Double layout

   • Open Kavita as a web app, or navigate to the server in Safari.
   • Log in.
   • While the iPad is in landscape orientation, open a chapter from any series.
   • Ensure the reading profile layout is set to Double or Double Manga.

3. Background the window

   • With the chapter still open in the Double layout, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to return to the iPad Home Screen.
   • Wait approximately 5 seconds. If Kavita is reopened immediately, the bug may not occur.
   • Reopen Safari or the Kavita web app.

4. Observe the result

   • The reader reports that the layout has been changed to Single because there is insufficient space to render the Double layout.
   • The iPad has remained in landscape orientation the entire time.
   • An implicit reading profile is created for the series as a result.

Possible cause

It seems like when the Kavita window is put in the background the viewport stops rendering, so Kavita sees the wrong dimensions and automatically triggers the layout override.

What did you expect?

Layout should remain double when reopening Kavita

Kavita Version Number - If you don't see your version number listed, please update Kavita and see if your issue still persists.

0.9.1 - Stable

Are you accessing kavita through a reverse proxy? If yes, confirm that the issue persists with a direct connection

Yes

What operating system is Kavita being hosted from?

Docker (LSIO Container)

If the issue is being seen on Desktop, what OS are you running where you see the issue?

None

If the issue is being seen in the UI, what browsers are you seeing the problem on?

No response

If the issue is being seen on Mobile, what OS are you running where you see the issue?

iOS

If the issue is being seen on the Mobile UI, what browsers are you seeing the problem on?

Safari

Relevant log output

Additional Notes

No response