
A display cutout is an area on some devices that extends into the display surface. It allows for an edge-to-edge experience while providing space for important sensors on the front of the device.
Android supports display cutouts on devices running Android 9 (API level 28) and higher. However, device manufacturers can also support display cutouts on devices running Android 8.1 or lower.
This page describes how to implement support for devices with cutouts, including how to work with the cutout area—that is, the edge-to-edge rectangle on the display surface that contains the cutout.
Choose how your app handles cutout areas
If you don't want your content to overlap with a cutout area, it’s generally
sufficient to make sure your content does not overlap with the status bar
and the navigation bar. If you're rendering into the cutout area, use
WindowInsetsCompat.getDisplayCutout()
to retrieve a DisplayCutout
object
that contains the safe insets and bounding box for each cutout. These APIs let
you check whether your content overlaps with the cutout so that you can
reposition if needed.
You can also determine whether content is laid out behind the cutout area. The
layoutInDisplayCutoutMode
window layout attribute controls how your content is drawn in the cutout area.
You can set layoutInDisplayCutoutMode
to one of the following values:
LAYOUT_IN_DISPLAY_CUTOUT_MODE_DEFAULT
: with this default setting, content renders into the cutout area when displayed in portrait mode, but content is letterboxed when displayed in landscape mode.LAYOUT_IN_DISPLAY_CUTOUT_MODE_SHORT_EDGES
: content renders into the cutout area in both portrait and landscape modes.LAYOUT_IN_DISPLAY_CUTOUT_MODE_NEVER
: content never renders into the cutout area.
You can set the cutout mode either programmatically or by setting a
style in
your activity. The following example defines a
style to apply the LAYOUT_IN_DISPLAY_CUTOUT_MODE_SHORT_EDGES
attribute to the activity.
<style name="ActivityTheme"> <item name="android:windowLayoutInDisplayCutoutMode"> shortEdges <!-- default, shortEdges, or never --> </item> </style>
The following sections describe the different cutout modes in more detail.
Default behavior
By default, in portrait mode with no special flags set, the status bar on a device with a cutout is resized to be at least as tall as the cutout, and your content displays in the area below. In landscape or fullscreen mode, your app window is letterboxed so that none of your content displays in the cutout area.
Render content in short edge cutout areas
For some content, such as video, photos, maps, and games, rendering in the
cutout area can be a great way to provide a more immersive, edge-to-edge
experience for users. With
LAYOUT_IN_DISPLAY_CUTOUT_MODE_SHORT_EDGES
,
the content extends into the cutout area on the short edge of the display in
both portrait and landscape, regardless of whether the system bars are hidden or
visible. When using this mode, be sure that no important content overlaps with
the cutout area.
Here are some examples of LAYOUT_IN_DISPLAY_CUTOUT_MODE_SHORT_EDGES
:

LAYOUT_IN_DISPLAY_CUTOUT_MODE_SHORT_EDGES
.
Never render content in the display cutout area
With LAYOUT_IN_DISPLAY_CUTOUT_MODE_NEVER
,
the window is never allowed to overlap with the cutout area.
See the following examples of LAYOUT_IN_DISPLAY_CUTOUT_MODE_NEVER
:


LAYOUT_IN_DISPLAY_CUTOUT_MODE_NEVER
.
Best practices for display cutout support
When working with display cutouts, consider the following:
- Be mindful of the placement of critical elements of the UI. Don't let the cutout area obscure any important text, controls, or other information.
- Don't place or extend any interactive elements that require fine-touch recognition into the cutout area. Touch sensitivity might be lower in the cutout area.
- Where possible, use
WindowInsetsCompat
to retrieve the status bar height and determine the appropriate padding to apply to your content. Avoid hardcoding the status bar height, as this can lead to overlapping or cut-off content.

WindowInsetsCompat
to avoid overlapping or cutting off content.- Use
View.getLocationInWindow()
to determine how much window space your app is using. Don't assume the app is using the entire window, and don't useView.getLocationOnScreen()
. Use
shortEdges
ornever
cutout modes if your app needs to transition into and out of immersive mode. Default cutout behavior can cause content in your app to render in the cutout area while the system bars are present, but not while in immersive mode. This results in the content moving up and down during transitions, as demonstrated in the following image.Figure 5. Example of content moving up and down during transitions. In immersive mode, be careful using window versus screen coordinates, since your app doesn't use the whole screen when letterboxed. Because of the letterbox, coordinates from the screen origin are not the same as coordinates from the window origin. You can transform screen coordinates to the view’s coordinates as needed by using
getLocationOnScreen()
. The following image shows how coordinates differ when content is letterboxed:Figure 6. Window versus screen coordinates when content is letterboxed. When handling
MotionEvent
, useMotionEvent.getX()
andMotionEvent.getY()
to avoid similar coordinate issues. Don't useMotionEvent.getRawX()
orMotionEvent.getRawY()
.
Test how your content renders

Be sure to test all of your app's screens and experiences. Test on devices with different types of cutouts, if possible. If you don't have a device with a cutout, you can simulate common cutout configurations on any device or emulator running Android 9 or higher by doing the following:
- Enable Developer options.
- In the Developer options screen, scroll down to the Drawing section and select Simulate a display with a cutout.
- Select the cutout type.