We have encountered an issue affecting Samsung devices running One UI versions released in 2025, related to launching Activities while another Activity is in Picture-in-Picture mode (PiP).
Problem Details:When an Activity is running in PiP mode, Samsung’s system incorrectly treats the PiP window as foreground, and the Activity underneath it (the “parent” or related Activity) as background.Attempts to launch a new Activity from the Activity underneath PiP (or from the app context considered to be background) result in the launch being blocked or ignored by the system due to Android’s Background Activity Launch restrictions combined with an OEM implementation that enforces this more aggressively.
This is manifested as a failure to open new Activities, no exceptions thrown, but startActivity() calls are effectively ignored.Logs include repeated BackgroundActivityStartController.abottLaunch errors or similar messages indicating a blocked background activity launch. This prevents typical navigation workflows where the app intends to transition from content playing in PiP mode back to full-screen or other screens.
Steps to Reproduce:Launch an Activity with PiP enabled, trigger Picture-in-Picture mode.While the PiP window is displayed and active, attempt to launch another Activity from the Activity beneath PiP.Observe that the new Activity does not start and the system blocks the request silently.
This issue is reproducible on several Samsung devices with One UI.
Expected Behavior:The system should allow launching new Activities from components underneath PiP or properly handle the transition without blocking due to incorrect foreground/background status.Navigation workflows should not be broken by PiP mode status.
This bug limits app navigation fluidity and blocks proper UI transitions when PiP is active.It especially impacts use cases with media playback, video calls, or multitasking where PiP is essential.
Please investigate and provide a system update or guidance to resolve this Picture-in-Picture mode and activity launch blocking issue on Samsung devices.Ideally, allow launching Activities from underneath PiP windows or improve system handling of background status in this scenario.