TopAppBar flashing when navigating with Compose Navigation

Question

I have 2 screens which both have their own Scaffold and TopAppBar. When I navigate between them using the Jetpack Navigation Compose library, the app bar flashes. Why does it happen and how can I get rid of this?

Code:

Navigation:

@Composable
fun TodoNavHost(
    navController: NavHostController,
    modifier: Modifier = Modifier
) {
    NavHost(
        navController = navController,
        startDestination = TodoScreen.TodoList.name,
        modifier = modifier
    ) {
        composable(TodoScreen.TodoList.name) {
            TodoListScreen(
                onTodoEditClicked = { todo ->
                    navController.navigate("${TodoScreen.AddEditTodo.name}?todoId=${todo.id}")
                },
                onFabAddNewTodoClicked = {
                    navController.navigate(TodoScreen.AddEditTodo.name)
                }
            )
        }
        composable(
            "${TodoScreen.AddEditTodo.name}?todoId={todoId}", 
            arguments = listOf(
                navArgument("todoId") {
                    type = NavType.LongType
                    defaultValue = -1L
                }
            )
        ) {
            AddEditTodoScreen(
                onNavigateUp = {
                    navController.popBackStack() 
                },
                onNavigateBackWithResult = { result ->
                    navController.navigate(TodoScreen.TodoList.name)
                }
            )
        }
    }
}

Todo list screen Scaffold with TopAppBar:

@Composable
fun TodoListBody(
    todos: List<Todo>,
    todoExpandedStates: Map<Long, Boolean>,
    onTodoItemClicked: (Todo) -> Unit,
    onTodoCheckedChanged: (Todo, Boolean) -> Unit,
    onTodoEditClicked: (Todo) -> Unit,
    onFabAddNewTodoClicked: () -> Unit,
    onDeleteAllCompletedConfirmed: () -> Unit,
    modifier: Modifier = Modifier,
    errorSnackbarMessage: String = "",
    errorSnackbarShown: Boolean = false
) {

    var menuExpanded by remember { mutableStateOf(false) }
    var showDeleteAllCompletedConfirmationDialog by rememberSaveable { mutableStateOf(false) }

    Scaffold(
        modifier,
        topBar = {
            TopAppBar(
                title = { Text("My Todos") },
                actions = {
                    IconButton(
                        onClick = { menuExpanded = !menuExpanded },
                        modifier = Modifier.semantics {
                            contentDescription = "Options Menu"
                        }
                    ) {
                        Icon(Icons.Default.MoreVert, contentDescription = "Show menu")
                    }
                    DropdownMenu(
                        expanded = menuExpanded,
                        onDismissRequest = { menuExpanded = false }) {
                        DropdownMenuItem(
                            onClick = {
                                showDeleteAllCompletedConfirmationDialog = true
                                menuExpanded = false
                            },
                            modifier = Modifier.semantics {
                                contentDescription = "Option Delete All Completed"
                            }) {
                            Text("Delete all completed")
                        }
                    }
                }

            )
        },
[...]

Add/edit screen Scaffold with TopAppBar:

@Composable
fun AddEditTodoBody(
    todo: Todo?,
    todoTitle: String,
    setTitle: (String) -> Unit,
    todoImportance: Boolean,
    setImportance: (Boolean) -> Unit,
    onSaveClick: () -> Unit,
    onNavigateUp: () -> Unit,
    modifier: Modifier = Modifier
) {
    Scaffold(
        modifier,
        topBar = {
            TopAppBar(
                title = { Text(todo?.let { "Edit Todo" } ?: "Add Todo") },
                actions = {
                    IconButton(onClick = onSaveClick) {
                        Icon(Icons.Default.Save, contentDescription = "Save Todo")
                    }
                },
                navigationIcon = {
                    IconButton(onClick = onNavigateUp) {
                        Icon(Icons.Default.ArrowBack, contentDescription = "Back")
                    }
                }
            )
        },
    ) { innerPadding ->
        BodyContent(
            todoTitle = todoTitle,
            setTitle = setTitle,
            todoImportance = todoImportance,
            setImportance = setImportance,
            modifier = Modifier.padding(innerPadding)
        )
    }
}

Answer 1

The flashing is caused by the default cross-fade animation in more recent versions of the navigation-compose library. The only way to get rid of it right now (without downgrading the dependency) is by using the Accompanist animation library:

implementation "com.google.accompanist:accompanist-navigation-animation:0.20.0"

And then replace the normal NavHost with Accompanist's AnimatedNavHost, replace rememberNavController() with rememberAnimatedNavController() and disable the transitions animations:

AnimatedNavHost(
        navController = navController,
        startDestination = bottomNavDestinations[0].fullRoute,
        enterTransition = { _, _ -> EnterTransition.None },
        exitTransition = { _, _ -> ExitTransition.None },
        popEnterTransition = { _, _ -> EnterTransition.None },
        popExitTransition = { _, _ -> ExitTransition.None },
        modifier = modifier,
    ) {
        [...}
    }

Answer 2

I think I found an easy solution for that issue (works on Compose version 1.4.0).

My setup - blinking

All of my screens have their own toolbar wrapped in the scaffold:

// Some Composable screnn

Scaffold(
    topBar = { TopAppBar(...) }
) {
    ScreenContent()
}

Main activity which holds the nav host is defined like that:

// Activity with NavHost

setContent {
    AppTheme {
        NavHost(...) { }
    }
}

Solution - no blinking!

Wrap you NavHost in activity in a Surface:

setContent {
    AppTheme {
        Surface {
            NavHost(...) { }
        }
    }
}

Rest of the screens stay the same. No blinking and transition animation between destinations is almost the same like it was with fragments (subtle fade in/fade out). So far I haven't found any negative side effects of that.