Menu ignores the keyboard when it mounts while the keyboard is already open

[joshoakleaf]

Summary

Menu accounts for the on-screen keyboard, but it learns the keyboard height only from a keyboardDidShow event that arrives after it mounts. iOS does not replay that event for a keyboard that is already open, so a Menu that mounts while the keyboard is already up keeps a height of 0, measures against the full window, and lays its items out underneath the keyboard — where they cannot be tapped, and where its own overflow scrolling never engages, because as far as it knows the items fit.

Current behaviour

src/components/Menu/Menu.tsx in 5.14.5:

• L215 — const keyboardHeightRef = React.useRef(0);
• L221-228 — keyboardDidShow / keyboardDidHide set and clear that ref.
• L413-420 — both listeners are attached inside a mount effect.
• L343 — show() uses the ref: height: windowLayoutResult.height - keyboardHeightRef.current

When the keyboard is already visible at mount, no keyboardDidShow arrives, the ref stays 0, and L343 subtracts nothing.

Why this shows up in practice

Any menu that belongs to a row created while the user is typing. In our app a text field searches for people, and each person added brings a row with its own Menu. The field keeps focus (keyboardShouldPersistTaps="handled"), so every one of those menus mounts with the keyboard already open.

Two menus on one screen, same bundle and same keyboard state, made the cause unambiguous:

Menu	Mounts	Keyboard height it believes	Result
Rendered with the screen	Before any keyboard	correct	9 items, correctly placed clear of the keyboard
Rendered into a row added while typing	Keyboard already open	0	Ran to y=737 with the keyboard top at y=509; the last 6 items were untappable

Steps to reproduce

1. Render a TextInput inside a ScrollView with keyboardShouldPersistTaps="handled".
2. Render a Menu conditionally, so that it mounts only after the input has text — for example {value.length > 0 && <Menu ... />}.
3. Give the menu enough items to reach past the keyboard (about 8 on a 390×844 screen).
4. Focus the input, type a character, then tap the anchor without dismissing the keyboard.

The menu extends under the keyboard. Mount the same menu unconditionally and it positions correctly.

Expected behaviour

The menu measures against the space the keyboard leaves, whenever it mounted.

Suggested fix

Read the current keyboard metrics at open time instead of relying only on events. In show():

     setWindowLayout({
-      height: windowLayoutResult.height - keyboardHeightRef.current,
+      height:
+        windowLayoutResult.height -
+        (Keyboard.metrics()?.height ?? keyboardHeightRef.current),
       width: windowLayoutResult.width,
     });

Keyboard.metrics() returns undefined when the keyboard is not shown, so the existing ref stays as the fallback.

I have not tested this patch. I worked around the problem in application code instead, and I have not checked how Keyboard.metrics() behaves on Android.

Workaround

Call Keyboard.dismiss() before opening the menu. That makes the component's assumption true. It costs nothing in our case, because choosing from a menu is not typing.

Environment

• react-native-paper 5.14.5
• react-native 0.81.5
• Expo SDK 54
• iOS 26.2, iPhone 16e simulator