diff --git a/static/boot.js b/static/boot.js
index ae17eb2e..ca94570a 100644
--- a/static/boot.js
+++ b/static/boot.js
@@ -1022,6 +1022,11 @@ let _imeComposing=false;
 })();
 function _isImeEnter(e){return e.isComposing||e.keyCode===229||_imeComposing;}
 window._isImeEnter=_isImeEnter;
+function _isVirtualKeyboardLikelyOpen(){
+  const vv=window.visualViewport;
+  if(!vv||!window.innerHeight)return true;
+  return window.innerHeight-vv.height>120;
+}
 $('msg').addEventListener('keydown',e=>{
   // Autocomplete navigation when dropdown is open
   const dd=$('cmdDropdown');
@@ -1039,13 +1044,14 @@ $('msg').addEventListener('keydown',e=>{
     }
   }
   // Send key: respect user preference.
-  // On touch-primary devices (software keyboard), default to Enter = newline
-  // since there's no physical Shift key. Users send via the Send button.
+  // On touch-primary devices with the software keyboard open, default to
+  // Enter = newline since there's no physical Shift key. Hardware keyboards on
+  // tablets keep desktop behavior when the viewport is not keyboard-shrunk.
   // The 'ctrl+enter' setting also uses this behavior (Enter = newline).
   // Users can override in Settings by explicitly choosing 'enter' mode.
   if(e.key==='Enter'){
     if(_isImeEnter(e)){return;}
-    const _mobileDefault=matchMedia('(pointer:coarse)').matches&&window._sendKey==='enter';
+    const _mobileDefault=matchMedia('(pointer:coarse)').matches&&window._sendKey==='enter'&&_isVirtualKeyboardLikelyOpen();
     if(window._sendKey==='ctrl+enter'||_mobileDefault){
       if(e.ctrlKey||e.metaKey){e.preventDefault();send();}
     } else {
diff --git a/tests/test_mobile_layout.py b/tests/test_mobile_layout.py
index 46ac1972..46cdc0a7 100644
--- a/tests/test_mobile_layout.py
+++ b/tests/test_mobile_layout.py
@@ -1188,6 +1188,24 @@ def test_mobile_enter_newline_uses_match_media():
         "boot.js must use matchMedia('(pointer:coarse)') for mobile detection"
 
 
+def test_mobile_enter_newline_checks_virtual_keyboard_viewport():
+    """Touch devices should only force newline while the software keyboard is likely open."""
+    boot_js = (REPO / "static" / "boot.js").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert "function _isVirtualKeyboardLikelyOpen()" in boot_js, \
+        "boot.js must isolate the software-keyboard viewport heuristic"
+    assert "window.visualViewport" in boot_js and "window.innerHeight-vv.height>120" in boot_js, \
+        "software-keyboard detection must compare visualViewport height against window.innerHeight"
+    assert "&&_isVirtualKeyboardLikelyOpen()" in boot_js, \
+        "mobile Enter newline override must not apply when a hardware keyboard leaves the viewport unshrunk"
+
+
+def test_mobile_enter_newline_preserves_legacy_fallback_without_visual_viewport():
+    """Browsers without visualViewport should keep the previous touch Enter=newline behavior."""
+    boot_js = (REPO / "static" / "boot.js").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert "if(!vv||!window.innerHeight)return true;" in boot_js, \
+        "missing visualViewport support must preserve the legacy touch-primary newline fallback"
+
+
 def test_mobile_enter_newline_only_overrides_enter_default():
     """Mobile newline override must only apply when _sendKey is the default 'enter'."""
     boot_js = (REPO / "static" / "boot.js").read_text(encoding="utf-8")