Prevent fixed-position background-image: cover from resizing in mobile browsers upon address bar hide

Question

Sorry for a lack of example on this one, but I figure it's easy enough to understand.

I have a fixed background on my site, which is currently implemented like this:

#background {
    position: fixed;
    top: 0;
    bottom: 0;
    left: 0;
    right: 0;
    background-color: #28305e;
    background-image: url(../images/background.jpg);
    background-size: cover;
    -moz-background-size: cover;
    background-position: center center;
    z-index: -10;
}

<div id="background"></div>

This is great in all browsers so far except for mobile browsers where they hide the address bar upon scroll-down. When the address bar is hidden, the viewport expands vertically, and the background-image jarringly resizes itself. On this particular site it will be common for users to scroll up and down, and the effect is distracting.

Any ideas or strategies on working around this or implementing the background in a different way?

I could wrap the entire thing in a fixed container, and set the overflow-y to scroll, which prevents the address bar from ever being hidden, but I'd prefer not to do this (Google Glass can't scroll through those containers, haha... Would like to demo on there as well).

I've been trying to think of something that provides background-image: cover functionality with some sort of buffer, so that it renders larger than the viewport, and won't re-render unless the viewport is expanded beyond that buffer, but I'm not sure how to implement that.

EDIT: I actually did implement this and detailed the process in an answer below. However, even with this buffer setup (which extends the height of the background image to be 60+ pixels larger than the viewport height), upon the address bar hiding, it still shows a blank background-color segment that gets revealed, and once you stop scrolling, it renders the rest of the background image.

Still looking for a way to keep the native address bar hide functionality (which has now been expanded to iOS Safari on iPad in iOS 8), and also have a fullscreen background image that always fully renders even if the viewport changes height when hiding the address bar. Starting to wonder if I should just be filing bug reports for all the browsers...

Photodrama

And this has just become an even larger issue, as Safari on iOS 8 for iPad, now does the same thing: shrinks the browser header upon scrolling down. – Photodrama

hey @addMitt, none of the solution seems to work perfectly. have you found any fix for the issue? – Maquette

I have not, and recent tests show the same issues are still occurring. I have stopped developing mobile pages with fullscreen background images. The only way this will ever work normally is if we are allowed to make fixed containers larger than the viewport height, and when you scroll down and hide the address bar, the browser properly renders the remainder of the background image, instead of showing it as completely white until you stop scrolling. This will need to be fixed in browsers however. – Photodrama

Answer 1

Almost 5 years later, there is finally a fix for this, due to changes in how Safari and now Chrome for Android calculate vh units. Check it out! https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2016/12/url-bar-resizing

Unfortunately it is difficult to show this off on any of the code playgrounds due to them always embedding results in iframes.

I just used the following code on a background element:

#background {
    position: fixed;
    top: 0;
    left: 0;
    width: 100%;
    height: 100vh;
    background-image: url(../images/background.jpg);
    background-size: cover;
    z-index: -1;
}

And that's all there is to it! Just need Chrome for Android 56, or Safari for iOS (not certain which version but this may have been in Safari for a long time now).

Photodrama

This works great on Chrome for Android, so thank you! Unfortunately the problem persists on the latest Firefox for Android. Any advice to fix it on Firefox as well? – Zulemazullo

As of July 2020 this does work on Chrome in Android, Safari in iOS, and I assume all webkit/blink based browsers (Edge, Opera, ...). It does not work however in Firefox. – Kahl

This is a good solution if you have only a single fixed background, but if you're attempting a parallax effect with multiple fixed backgrounds (much like this example) then you're probably straight out of luck. – Eyeleen

Firefox on Android have recently rolled out a new feature that allows the user to have the address bar at the bottom. So far it looks like it helps the situation. – Edgeways

I feel like this needs to be upvoted way more! It took me way too long to find this solution. This works flawlessly from my experience, even on Firefox mobile (regardless of above comments) I suggest trying this method before looking else where if you're reading this. Cheers author. – Velvetvelveteen

Answer 2

I ended up creating a workaround for mobile. It may not degrade gracefully, but it's working well for the time being.

window.mobilecheck = function() {
  var check = false;
  (function(a){if(/(android|bb\d+|meego).+mobile|android|ipad|playbook|silk|avantgo|bada\/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)\/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up\.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows (ce|phone)|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s\-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|\-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw\-(n|u)|c55\/|capi|ccwa|cdm\-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd\-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc\-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|\-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(\-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf\-5|g\-mo|go(\.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd\-(m|p|t)|hei\-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs\-c|ht(c(\-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i\-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |\-|\/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |\/)|klon|kpt |kwc\-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|\/(k|l|u)|50|54|\-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1\-w|m3ga|m50\/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m\-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(\-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)\-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|\-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn\-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt\-g|qa\-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|\-[2-7]|i\-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55\/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h\-|oo|p\-)|sdk\/|se(c(\-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh\-|shar|sie(\-|m)|sk\-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h\-|v\-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl\-|tdg\-|tel(i|m)|tim\-|t\-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m\-|m3|m5)|tx\-9|up(\.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|\-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(\-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas\-|your|zeto|zte\-/i.test(a.substr(0,4)))check = true})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera);
  return check;
 }

 if (window.mobilecheck() == true) {
  var newHeight = $(window).height() + 70;
  $("#background").css("height", newHeight);
 }

I found that mobilecheck function on the internet ( http://detectmobilebrowsers.com/ ). If it returns true, I take my fixed background image container and add 70 to its height. Then when you drag the screen up and the web browser's address bar auto-hides (thus increasing the window height), it has enough extra height such that background-size: cover does not have to jarringly resize the background image to fit the screen again.

I could have just put the entire page into a fixed container and prevented mobile address bars from ever hiding, but I don't like sidestepping an otherwise neat feature of mobile browsers, and I know iOS isn't exactly thrilled with fixed containers that have their own scrollbars (there are workarounds of course, but I'd prefer my content to be in a more standard container).

EDIT: However, this workaround introduces this issue: CSS CHALLANGE: Background-Image with 100% height - White Space when Scrolling Mobile

Photodrama

Answer 3

For mobile safari you must, unintuitively, attach fixed backgrounds to the html element like so.

html {
    background: url(../img/bg.jpg) no-repeat center center fixed;
    background-size: cover;
    height: 100%;
    overflow: hidden;
}

Then set the scrolling to the body.

body {
    height: 100%;
    overflow: scroll;
}

You'll still need the background div for IE 8 since it doesn't support the background-size property, so mobile browsers should hide it. The cleanest way to do this is to exploit IE 8's inability to read a media query

@media only screen { #background { display: none; }}

Stem

This doesn't stop the BG image from resizing upon show/hide of the url-bar. It stops the show/hide of the url-bar. It also kills inertial scrolling. – Moonrise

Answer 4

For those still looking around for an answer, you can use the new vw and vh attributes with an element that is position: fixed.

This scrolls while the address bar moves/shrinks/etc., then remains fixed on the page.

#bgimg {
  display: block;
  background: no-repeat url(bg.png);
  position: fixed;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  width: 100vw;
  height: 120vh;
}

Larose

Unfortunately this still does not get past the problems outlined here when using background-size cover: #23777499 When it scrolls it reveals an empty background-colored space, which is then filled in once you stop scrolling (at least on iOS Safari). – Photodrama

Ok. Good to know... In Android's Chrome this works great. I'll have to test on iOS. Thanks. – Larose

I can confirm that it reveals itself without showing the background color in Android's Chrome as well (now... it didn't do that months ago, haha). However, whenever it resizes the viewport height due to the hiding of the address bar, the background-size: cover triggers again, and stretches itself to be 120vh of the current viewport height. This means every time you scroll up/down the background image jarringly resizes itself (back to the original problem! @_@ ) – Photodrama

It works perfectly for me on the latest Android Chrome which is on Lollipop. It wouldn't surprise me if this didn't work on KitKat. :P – Larose

I'm using a Nexus 5 with Lollipop and the latest Chrome as well. Are you using background-size: cover? Your answer doesn't include it in the CSS. – Photodrama

Answer 5

Its hard to say without an example but you may be missing width:100% that should stop any resizing with the scroll bar.

Another way to implement a fixed background on mobile is to have a background div with position: absolute and overflow: hidden and all your other background implementations, Then have a content div with overflow-y:scroll; and set the height of the content div using jquery or any other method you choose to get the window height with.

Check out this JS Fiddle for an example.

Phillisphilly

It's more about how the background-size: cover works, where it takes and image and makes it fit while keeping image aspect ratio. So, if you have a portrait viewport, it will center the image, enlarge it until it fits the vertical resolution, and allow the horizontal edges of the picture to be cropped. I like this functionality, but due to the previously described behavior, it resizes every time a mobile browser increases the viewport size and hides its address bar. – Photodrama

It is still possible to add a div container to hold and scroll your content as I explained above so that the scrolling isn't happening within your background div- therefore not resizing your image. I didn't suggest that you change anything with your background-size:cover. Just add the scrolling to a div that sits on top of your background div so it doesn't interfere when the scroll bar appears. Also, I believe your edit contains an unrelated question to your original that you should ask separately in order to get an accurate answer. – Phillisphilly

Answer 6

I made this. I found that if you never really scroll the body/window you never trigger the autohide for Chrome. So wrap the content in a bigger div and just scroll that and the autohide never triggers. BUT ALSO!!! The autohide never triggers. (Address bar is always there). Wouldn't doubt for second you could hide the address bar after this but then how does the user get the address bar back?

html, body {
  height: 100%; 
  overflow: hidden;
}
body {
  height: 100%;
}
#background {
  position: fixed;
  left: 50%;
  bottom: 0px;
  min-width: 100%;
  min-height: 120%;
  z-index: 0;
  background: url('background.gif');
  margin-left: -50%;
  background-position: center center;
  background-attachment: fixed;  
  background-size: cover;
}
#main_container {
  width: inherit;
  height: inherit;
  overflow-y: scroll;
}
.block {
  position: relative;
  text-align: center;
  background: transparent;
  height: 100%;
  z-index: 9;
}
.block {
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
  background: rgba(224, 224, 224, 0.4);
}
.block::before {
  content: '';
  display: inline-block;
  height: 100%; 
  vertical-align: middle;
}
.centered {
  display: inline-block;
  vertical-align: middle;
}

<div id="main_container">
  <div class="block" >
    <div class="centered">
      <h1 class="circle">Some text</h1>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="block">  
    <div class="centered">
      <h1>Some text</h1>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="block">  
    <div class="centered">
      <h1>Some text</h1>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="block">  
    <div class="centered">
      <h1>Some text</h1>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="block" >
    <div class="centered">
      <h1>Some text</h1> 
    </div>
  </div>
</div>
<div id="bg"></div>

Shimmy

Welcome to Stack Overflow! Looks like a good answer! Nice. However your last sentence looks like a question. Do you mean to say the user cannot get the A.B. (I'm assuming Address Bar) back? If you are not sure, it would be better to say something like "However I'm not sure you could get it back if you could make it disappear." – Dripps

Thanks Glut. Yes it is a question. If you make the A.B. (address bar) dissappear what would one do to get the A.B. to reappear. Hope that helps. The most important point ibwant to get across is the Address Bar will not hide at all with this technique. – Shimmy

This is why I have been hesitant to accept any answers. The only workaround really is to prevent it from hiding at all. Ideally, there would be a solution that allows for auto-hide, and also for the newly exposed section of the background-image (which is set to "cover"), to render properly, and not as an empty blank space that is later filled in upon ceasing scrolling. – Photodrama