Mobile Chrome on iPhone – Black line slides down while loading Shopify product pages (Purity theme)

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing a strange issue on my Shopify store using the Purity theme.

Only in Chrome on iPhone (iOS), when a product page is loading, a black horizontal line appears at the top of the page and slides downward during the loading process.

The line disappears once the page has finished loading.

This does not happen in Safari on iPhone, and I haven’t noticed it on desktop browsers.

I initially thought it might be related to:

  • the browser address bar animation,
  • the theme’s page transition,
  • lazy loading,
  • or Chrome’s rendering on iOS.

Has anyone else seen this behavior?

Is this a known Chrome on iOS issue, or is there something in the Purity theme (CSS/JavaScript) that could cause it?

Any ideas on how to debug or fix it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

From your description, it sounds more like a Chrome on iOS rendering issue than a Shopify issue.

A few things I’d check:

  • Temporarily disable any page transition or loading animation in the Purity theme.

  • Inspect the header or other position: fixed elements for transform, backdrop-filter, or overflow styles.

  • Test with custom CSS/JS disabled to see if a customization is causing it.

Also, keep in mind that Chrome on iPhone uses Apple’s WebKit engine (just like Safari), but its UI behaves a bit differently, which can expose rendering quirks.

If you can share the store URL, I’d be happy to take a closer look.

Hello again. This problem is also being investigated by the Purity theme and they have not been able to resolve it. This problem occurs because of Chrome but does not occur on all Sholify stores, only on Purity.

Hey @Iulia1 ,

It looks like this may be more related to how Chrome on iOS renders the page rather than a Shopify specific issue especially since it only happens in Chrome and not Safari on the same device.

To help narrow it down could you share your store URL (or a preview link if it’s password protected)? It would also be helpful to know whether the issue still occurs after temporarily disabling any page transition or loading animation features in the Purity theme.

That should help determine whether it’s specific to the theme or a Chrome on iOS rendering quirk.

Thank You !

Thanks for the update. Since the issue only appears with the Purity theme in Chrome on iOS it does sound like a compatibility issue between the theme and Chrome’s rendering rather than Shopify itself.

Hopefully the Purity theme developers can identify the root cause and include a fix in a future update. Please keep the community posted if they find a solution, as it could help others experiencing the same issue.

Thank You !

It is the Chrome loading bar while your site is loading. You can check it by accessing another website to check.

Same issue on my side as well. I’m also seeing a black horizontal line sliding down during page load on Mobile Chrome (iPhone/iOS) with the Purity theme. It disappears once the page fully loads.

  • Tested on: iPhone 13 Pro (iOS), Chrome only (Safari works fine).
  • Not happening on: Desktop browsers or Android devices.

This seems like a Chrome-iOS-specific rendering quirk, possibly related to the theme’s CSS or JavaScript animations. If anyone has a fix or workaround, please share!

Hello @Iulia1

From the screenshot, the line does not look like Chrome’s address-bar animation. It appears inside the webpage and passes across the product content, which usually points to a theme element being temporarily rendered in the wrong position while the page initializes.

Chrome on iPhone uses WebKit for page rendering, just like Safari, although Chrome has its own browser interface and can still behave differently during loading.

The most likely causes in the Purity theme are:

  • A fixed or sticky mobile element, such as the bottom navigation, sticky add-to-cart bar, announcement bar, or loading overlay.
  • A page-transition element with a background or border that is animated using transform: translateY(...).
  • A parent element using transform, translate3d, or will-change, which can cause fixed-position elements to be painted incorrectly in WebKit.
  • JavaScript adding the final gallery or sticky-bar classes only after the page has already become visible.

The green and black bands visible in the screenshot make me suspect the mobile sticky navigation or sticky add-to-cart section rather than image lazy loading.

I would debug it by temporarily disabling these features one at a time in the theme editor:

  1. Sticky add-to-cart.
  2. Mobile bottom navigation.
  3. Page-loading or page-transition animation.
  4. Announcement or promotional bars.
  5. App embeds that add sticky widgets.

Also test a clean, unpublished copy of the latest Purity theme. If the line disappears in the clean copy, the cause is probably a customization or app script. If it still occurs, it is likely a theme bug that should be reported to NextSky with the screen recording, iPhone model, iOS version, Chrome version, product URL, and Purity theme version.

A developer should inspect the moving line in Chrome using Safari’s remote Web Inspector from a Mac. While the page is loading, look for elements using:

position: fixed;
position: sticky;
transform: translateY(...);
transform: translate3d(...);
transition: transform ...;
will-change: transform;
border-top: ...;
box-shadow: ...;

As a temporary diagnostic test, you can add the following to the theme’s Custom CSS:

@supports (-webkit-touch-callout: none) {
  body {
    overflow-x: hidden;
  }

  .sticky-add-to-cart,
  .mobile-bottom-navigation,
  .page-loading,
  .page-transition {
    transform: none !important;
    animation: none !important;
    transition: none !important;
  }
}

The class names above are examples and must be replaced with the actual Purity selectors. I would not leave this code permanently until the exact moving element has been identified, because it could disable intended sticky behavior or animations.

I con confirm is not a purity theme bug. It s a Chrome/IOS / Shopify. until now, nobody has a solution for this ugly problem.

Hi @Iulia1 ,

I just tested your store using the Chrome application on an iPhone (iOS), and the pages loaded normally on my end. I didn’t see any black horizontal line or sliding layout shifts during the loading process.

Here are a few quick troubleshooting steps you can try to verify this:

  1. Test in an Incognito Tab: Open Chrome on your iPhone, open an Incognito window, and load your product page. If the black line does not appear there, it is definitely a cache issue.
  2. Clear Chrome’s Cache.

I have attached a screenshot of how the page loads on my end without any lines. Let me know if clearing your browser cache helps resolve it!

Thanks!