I ran into a peculiar bug lately. Users were briefly seeing a "Sign Up/Sign In" button appear in the UI when the page refreshed, even though they were already logged in. Despite my code being correct, the issue persisted. This led me to investigate the root cause, which I discovered was related to Server-Side Rendering and how it interacts with state management within my Angular application. Let me explain.
In modern web development, Server-Side Rendering (SSR) is essential for SEO and perceived performance. However, when combined with client-side authentication providers like Firebase (which I use in most of my projects), it can introduce a jarring UX issue: the Flash of Unauthenticated Content (FOUC).
In this article, we'll explore why this happens in Angular and how to solve it using platform-aware signals.
What is Flash of Unauthenticated Content?
It's a brief moment when content intended for a particular state, whether authenticated or not, appears on screen before the browser has determined the authentication status. It usually happens during Server-side rendering, which can lead to access of unauthorized content or user confusion.
The Problem: The "Sign In" Flicker
When a user refreshes a page on an SSR-enabled Angular app, the sequence of events often looks like this:
Upon loading of the page, the Sign Up/Sign In button appears briefly
Loading spinner appears to indicate the authentication state is being determined
State is determined and the user is able to see their profile details
- The Server Render: The server (Node.js) executes your app. Since Firebase stores session data in the browser's IndexedDB, the server has no idea who the user is. It defaults to an "Unauthenticated" state.
- The Delivery: The server sends HTML to the browser showing a "Sign In" button.
- The Hydration: The browser renders that HTML instantly.
- The Switch: A few milliseconds later, the client-side JavaScript boots up, Firebase finds the session, and the "Sign In" button suddenly swaps for a "Profile" icon.
This is how my initial implementation looked like:
This creates a "negative UX" where the interface feels unstable or broken.
The Solution: SSR-Aware States
The fix involves a paradigm shift: If the server doesn't know the auth state, it shouldn't guess. Instead, we force the server to render a "Loading" or "Pending" state, which remains active until the client-side environment can provide a definitive answer.
1. The Platform-Aware AuthService
We use Angular’s PLATFORM_ID and isPlatformBrowser to branch our logic. By keeping our isLoading signal set to true on the server, we prevent the UI from prematurely showing the login UI.
2. Implementing the UI Guard
In the component template, we use the isLoading signal to control what the user sees during that critical first second.
By leveraging Angular Signals, the transition from isLoading(true) to false is extremely efficient. Once the browser takes over and Firebase emits the auth event, the signal updates, and Angular's hydration process ensures the DOM updates seamlessly without a full re-render.
Key Takeaway
When working with SSR, "Loading" is a valid and often preferred initial state. It is far better to show a spinner for 200ms than to show a login button that disappears as soon as the user tries to click it.
Check out the project, Nova Reel, here: https://nova-reels.web.app/
GitHub Repo + Codelab: https://github.com/waynegakuo/nova-reel
Nova Reel is a web application for browsing, discovering, and getting personalized recommendations for movies and TV shows. It leverages Google's Gemini AI to provide intelligent recommendations based on user favorites. Built using Angular, AI orchestration is done using Genkit with Google's Gemini 3 Pro as the underlying LLM.
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