diff --git a/LinuxApplication.cs b/LinuxApplication.cs
index 152caf2..a0867a9 100644
--- a/LinuxApplication.cs
+++ b/LinuxApplication.cs
@@ -761,12 +761,17 @@ public class LinuxApplication : IDisposable
         if (view is SkiaNavigationPage navPage && navPage.CurrentPage != null)
         {
             RefreshViewTheme(navPage.CurrentPage);
+            navPage.Invalidate(); // Force redraw of navigation page
         }
 
         // Special handling for ContentPage - it stores content in Content property
-        if (view is SkiaPage page && page.Content != null)
+        if (view is SkiaPage page)
         {
-            RefreshViewTheme(page.Content);
+            page.Invalidate(); // Force redraw to pick up theme-aware background
+            if (page.Content != null)
+            {
+                RefreshViewTheme(page.Content);
+            }
         }
 
         // Recursively process children
diff --git a/Views/SkiaButton.cs b/Views/SkiaButton.cs
index 8bdbfdb..058f41a 100644
--- a/Views/SkiaButton.cs
+++ b/Views/SkiaButton.cs
@@ -558,7 +558,7 @@ public class SkiaButton : SkiaView, IButtonController
         // This ensures buttons are visible even without explicit styling
         if (!hasExplicitBackground)
         {
-            bgColor = SkiaTheme.Gray200SK; // Default button background
+            bgColor = SkiaTheme.ButtonBackgroundSK; // Theme-aware default button background
         }
 
         bool hasBackground = hasExplicitBackground ? bgColor.Alpha > 0 : true;
@@ -688,8 +688,8 @@ public class SkiaButton : SkiaView, IButtonController
         }
         else
         {
-            // Default button (gray background) - use dark text for contrast
-            textColor = SkiaTheme.Gray800SK;
+            // Default button - use theme-appropriate text color for contrast
+            textColor = SkiaTheme.CurrentTextSK;
         }
 
         if (!IsEnabled)
diff --git a/Views/SkiaCheckBox.cs b/Views/SkiaCheckBox.cs
index d2b27fc..2ce08fc 100644
--- a/Views/SkiaCheckBox.cs
+++ b/Views/SkiaCheckBox.cs
@@ -289,7 +289,10 @@ public class SkiaCheckBox : SkiaView
         // Get colors as SKColor
         var colorSK = ToSKColor(Color);
         var checkColorSK = ToSKColor(CheckColor);
-        var uncheckedBoxColorSK = ToSKColor(UncheckedBoxColor);
+        // Use theme-aware color for unchecked box if default white
+        var uncheckedBoxColorSK = UncheckedBoxColor == Colors.White
+            ? SkiaTheme.CurrentSurfaceSK
+            : ToSKColor(UncheckedBoxColor);
         var borderColorSK = ToSKColor(BorderColor);
         var disabledColorSK = ToSKColor(DisabledColor);
         var hoveredBorderColorSK = ToSKColor(HoveredBorderColor);
diff --git a/Views/SkiaCollectionView.cs b/Views/SkiaCollectionView.cs
index d60a39b..4219918 100644
--- a/Views/SkiaCollectionView.cs
+++ b/Views/SkiaCollectionView.cs
@@ -429,14 +429,19 @@ public class SkiaCollectionView : SkiaItemsView
                         rawHeight = ItemHeight;
                     }
 
-                    var measuredHeight = Math.Max(rawHeight, ItemHeight);
-                    if (!_itemHeights.TryGetValue(index, out var cachedHeight) || Math.Abs(cachedHeight - measuredHeight) > 1f)
+                    // Store the actual measured height for row sizing
+                    var cellHeight = Math.Max(rawHeight, ItemHeight);
+                    if (!_itemHeights.TryGetValue(index, out var cachedHeight) || Math.Abs(cachedHeight - cellHeight) > 1f)
                     {
-                        _itemHeights[index] = measuredHeight;
+                        _itemHeights[index] = cellHeight;
                         _heightsChangedDuringDraw = true;
                     }
 
-                    var actualBounds = new SKRect(bounds.Left, bounds.Top, bounds.Right, bounds.Top + measuredHeight);
+                    // Vertically center the content within the cell bounds
+                    // Use rawHeight (actual content height) for centering, not cellHeight
+                    var contentHeight = Math.Min(rawHeight, bounds.Height);
+                    var verticalOffset = Math.Max(0, (bounds.Height - contentHeight) / 2);
+                    var actualBounds = new SKRect(bounds.Left, bounds.Top + verticalOffset, bounds.Right, bounds.Top + verticalOffset + contentHeight);
                     itemView.Arrange(new Rect(actualBounds.Left, actualBounds.Top, actualBounds.Width, actualBounds.Height));
                     itemView.Draw(canvas);
 
diff --git a/Views/SkiaItemsView.cs b/Views/SkiaItemsView.cs
index c17d0b3..172d5a4 100644
--- a/Views/SkiaItemsView.cs
+++ b/Views/SkiaItemsView.cs
@@ -149,10 +149,12 @@ public class SkiaItemsView : SkiaView
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Gets the height for a specific item, using cached height or default.
+    /// Always returns at least ItemHeight to allow vertical centering of smaller content.
     /// </summary>
     protected float GetItemHeight(int index)
     {
-        return _itemHeights.TryGetValue(index, out var height) ? height : _itemHeight;
+        var cached = _itemHeights.TryGetValue(index, out var height) ? height : _itemHeight;
+        return Math.Max(cached, _itemHeight);
     }
 
     /// <summary>
diff --git a/Views/SkiaLabel.cs b/Views/SkiaLabel.cs
index ceb6c70..592a16e 100644
--- a/Views/SkiaLabel.cs
+++ b/Views/SkiaLabel.cs
@@ -711,10 +711,6 @@ public class SkiaLabel : SkiaView
 
         if (needsMultiLine)
         {
-            var textBoundsDbg = new SKRect();
-            paint.MeasureText(displayText, ref textBoundsDbg);
-            if (displayText.StartsWith("Full XAML") || displayText.StartsWith("Shell nav"))
-                Console.WriteLine($"[Label OnDraw] '{displayText.Substring(0, Math.Min(15, displayText.Length))}' textW={textBoundsDbg.Width:F0} boundsW={contentBounds.Width:F0} LineBreakMode={LineBreakMode}");
             DrawMultiLineText(canvas, paint, font, contentBounds, displayText);
         }
         else
@@ -1126,6 +1122,15 @@ public class SkiaLabel : SkiaView
                 continue;
             }
 
+            // Check if the entire paragraph fits on one line - no need to wrap
+            // Use small tolerance to account for floating point precision
+            float paragraphWidth = paint.MeasureText(paragraph);
+            if (paragraphWidth <= maxWidth + 1.0f)
+            {
+                lines.Add(paragraph);
+                continue;
+            }
+
             if (LineBreakMode == LineBreakMode.CharacterWrap)
             {
                 WrapByCharacter(paragraph, paint, maxWidth, lines);
@@ -1236,9 +1241,11 @@ public class SkiaLabel : SkiaView
         }
         else
         {
+            // Use advance width (paint.MeasureText return value) not bounding box width
+            // This must match what WrapText uses for consistency
             var textBounds = new SKRect();
             paint.MeasureText(displayText, ref textBounds);
-            width = textBounds.Width;
+            width = paint.MeasureText(displayText);  // Advance width, not textBounds.Width
             height = textBounds.Height;
 
             // Account for character spacing
diff --git a/Views/SkiaLayoutView.cs b/Views/SkiaLayoutView.cs
index 96d386c..6634eb0 100644
--- a/Views/SkiaLayoutView.cs
+++ b/Views/SkiaLayoutView.cs
@@ -454,8 +454,6 @@ public class SkiaStackLayout : SkiaLayoutView
                 // Horizontal stack: give each child its measured width
                 // Don't constrain - let content overflow if needed (parent clips)
                 var useWidth = childWidth;
-                if (child is SkiaLabel lbl)
-                    Console.WriteLine($"[HStack Arrange] Label '{lbl.Text?.Substring(0, Math.Min(15, lbl.Text?.Length ?? 0))}' childWidth={childWidth:F0} contentWidth={contentWidth:F0} offset={offset:F0}");
 
                 // Respect child's VerticalOptions for horizontal layouts
                 var useHeight = Math.Min(childHeight, contentHeight);
diff --git a/Views/SkiaPage.cs b/Views/SkiaPage.cs
index 22b8f14..989bb74 100644
--- a/Views/SkiaPage.cs
+++ b/Views/SkiaPage.cs
@@ -141,16 +141,24 @@ public class SkiaPage : SkiaView
 
     protected override void OnDraw(SKCanvas canvas, SKRect bounds)
     {
-        // Draw background color
+        // Draw background color - use theme-aware default if not set
+        SKColor bgColor;
         if (BackgroundColor != null && BackgroundColor != Colors.Transparent)
         {
-            using var bgPaint = new SKPaint
-            {
-                Color = GetEffectiveBackgroundColor(),
-                Style = SKPaintStyle.Fill
-            };
-            canvas.DrawRect(bounds, bgPaint);
+            bgColor = GetEffectiveBackgroundColor();
         }
+        else
+        {
+            // Use theme-aware page background when no explicit color is set
+            bgColor = SkiaTheme.CurrentPageBackgroundSK;
+        }
+
+        using var bgPaint = new SKPaint
+        {
+            Color = bgColor,
+            Style = SKPaintStyle.Fill
+        };
+        canvas.DrawRect(bounds, bgPaint);
 
         // Draw background image if set
         if (BackgroundImage != null)
diff --git a/Views/SkiaSearchBar.cs b/Views/SkiaSearchBar.cs
index 8655b2e..e6e1a6f 100644
--- a/Views/SkiaSearchBar.cs
+++ b/Views/SkiaSearchBar.cs
@@ -143,10 +143,16 @@ public class SkiaSearchBar : SkiaView
         float cornerRadius = (float)CornerRadius;
         float iconSize = (float)IconSize;
 
-        // Draw background
+        // Draw background - use theme-aware color if not explicitly set
+        var bgColor = SearchBarBackgroundColor.ToSKColor();
+        // If using default light color, check for dark mode
+        if (SearchBarBackgroundColor.Red > 0.9f && SearchBarBackgroundColor.Green > 0.9f && SearchBarBackgroundColor.Blue > 0.9f)
+        {
+            bgColor = SkiaTheme.InputBackgroundSK;
+        }
         using var bgPaint = new SKPaint
         {
-            Color = SearchBarBackgroundColor.ToSKColor(),
+            Color = bgColor,
             IsAntialias = true,
             Style = SKPaintStyle.Fill
         };
diff --git a/Views/SkiaTheme.cs b/Views/SkiaTheme.cs
index 6ec70f4..6bec6b8 100644
--- a/Views/SkiaTheme.cs
+++ b/Views/SkiaTheme.cs
@@ -317,4 +317,43 @@ public static class SkiaTheme
     internal static readonly SKColor DarkHoverSK = DarkHover.ToSKColor();
 
     #endregion
+
+    #region Theme-Aware Helpers
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Returns true if dark mode is currently active.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static bool IsDarkMode => Application.Current?.UserAppTheme == AppTheme.Dark;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets the appropriate button background color for the current theme.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static SKColor ButtonBackgroundSK => IsDarkMode ? DarkSurfaceSK : Gray200SK;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets the appropriate text color for the current theme.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static SKColor CurrentTextSK => IsDarkMode ? DarkTextSK : TextPrimarySK;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets the appropriate background color for input controls in the current theme.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static SKColor InputBackgroundSK => IsDarkMode ? DarkBackgroundSK : BackgroundWhiteSK;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets the appropriate border color for the current theme.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static SKColor CurrentBorderSK => IsDarkMode ? Gray600SK : BorderLightSK;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets the appropriate surface background for the current theme.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static SKColor CurrentSurfaceSK => IsDarkMode ? DarkSurfaceSK : BackgroundWhiteSK;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets the appropriate page background for the current theme.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static SKColor CurrentPageBackgroundSK => IsDarkMode ? DarkBackgroundSK : BackgroundWhiteSK;
+
+    #endregion
 }