⏺ That's it. The fix is: Removed ASSETCATALOG_COMPILER_LAUNCHIMAGE_NAME = LaunchImage from both Debug and Release build settings Added UILaunchStoryboardName = LaunchScreen to Info.plist Without a proper launch storyboard, UIKit falls back to a legacy compatibility mode that computes wrong screen dimensions on iPhone Air — causing the fractional tab bar height and the infinite layout loop. The LaunchScreen.storyboard already existed in the project but was never referenced.