diff --git a/docs/superpowers/evidence/android-ui-hint-labels-2026-08-27.json b/docs/superpowers/evidence/android-ui-hint-labels-2026-08-27.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d1f5fecc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/superpowers/evidence/android-ui-hint-labels-2026-08-27.json
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+{
+  "intent": "Let android_ui address Flutter/Material text fields by their visible label, so a form can be filled by name instead of by screen position.",
+  "scope": [
+    "python_pkg/android_ui/_elements.py",
+    "python_pkg/android_ui/tests/test_driver.py",
+    "python_pkg/android_ui/README.md",
+    "Non-goal: no change to any app under test — the gap was in this tool, not in the app"
+  ],
+  "changes": [
+    "Parse the node's `hint` attribute and carry it on UiElement (default \"\", so existing constructor calls are unaffected).",
+    "Rank hint below text and content-desc but above resource-id in `label`, and add it to the `matches` haystack: Material clears the hint once content arrives, so a filled field still answers to its real text.",
+    "Keep a node that has only a hint, which the previous 'must be labelled' filter dropped.",
+    "Document that wrapping such a field in Semantics(label:)/MergeSemantics is a trap that empties Android's tree, and that a11y changes must be verified with uiautomator dump rather than flutter test."
+  ],
+  "verification": [
+    {
+      "command": "python3 -m pytest python_pkg/android_ui/tests/ -q",
+      "result": "pass",
+      "evidence": "59 passed (57 before, +2 new: hint names an empty field; real text outranks the hint once typed)"
+    },
+    {
+      "command": "pre-commit run --files python_pkg/android_ui/_elements.py python_pkg/android_ui/tests/test_driver.py python_pkg/android_ui/README.md",
+      "result": "pass",
+      "evidence": "no failures reported"
+    },
+    {
+      "command": "python3 -m python_pkg.android_ui dump  # workout_app manual-workout form, real device 23181JEGR08034",
+      "result": "pass",
+      "evidence": "Fields previously dumped as '' now read 'Start time (HH:MM)', 'End time (HH:MM)', 'Location name', 'How did you get there?', 'Cost (e.g. 40 PLN)', 'What sport/activity', 'What was done'. Nine fields then filled by name, each reporting 'typed into <label> and verified'."
+    }
+  ],
+  "risks": [
+    "A screen whose hint duplicates another element's text could become ambiguous; matches() already raises AmbiguousElementError rather than acting on a coin flip.",
+    "hint is only present while a Material field is empty, so resolve every target from one dump pass before typing rather than re-dumping between fields."
+  ],
+  "rollback": [
+    "git revert the commit; UiElement.hint defaults to \"\" so nothing else depends on it.",
+    "After rollback, re-run the android_ui suite and expect Material fields to dump as anonymous EditTexts again."
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/python_pkg/android_ui/README.md b/python_pkg/android_ui/README.md
index c341ec0a..bfe69012 100644
--- a/python_pkg/android_ui/README.md
+++ b/python_pkg/android_ui/README.md
@@ -73,5 +73,17 @@ ui.wait_for("Connected.", timeout=30)
   app's Settings gear is one — that is an a11y bug in the app, and this tool
   surfacing it is the point. Add a `Semantics(label: …)` and it becomes
   addressable.
+  - **But check `hint` first.** Material/Flutter text fields publish their
+    label as `hint` and leave text/content-desc empty; those ARE addressable
+    (since 2026-08-27) and need no app change. Adding a `Semantics(label:)`
+    wrapper to such a field is actively harmful — it emits a SECOND labelled
+    node at the same rect, and wrapping in `MergeSemantics` to collapse them
+    removes the `hint` from Android's tree entirely, making the whole form
+    anonymous. Verified on the manual-workout form; reverted.
+  - Verify any a11y change with `adb exec-out uiautomator dump`, never with
+    `flutter test`: the widget test asserts on Flutter's internal
+    `SemanticsNode`, while this tool reads Android's `AccessibilityNodeInfo`.
+    Nine widget tests passed green on the build whose on-device labels had
+    just gone empty.
 - Scrolling is not yet modelled: a widget outside the viewport is not in the
   tree. Scroll with `adb shell input swipe` first, or add `scroll_to()`.
diff --git a/python_pkg/android_ui/_elements.py b/python_pkg/android_ui/_elements.py
index cca853d6..58f5b131 100644
--- a/python_pkg/android_ui/_elements.py
+++ b/python_pkg/android_ui/_elements.py
@@ -42,11 +42,20 @@ class UiElement:
     bounds: tuple[int, int, int, int]
     enabled: bool
     focused: bool
+    # Material/Flutter text fields publish their label as `hint` and leave
+    # text/content-desc empty, so without this an entire form is anonymous
+    # edit boxes and the only way to fill it is by screen position.
+    hint: str = ""
 
     @property
     def label(self) -> str:
-        """The best human-facing name for this element."""
-        return self.text or self.content_desc or self.resource_id
+        """The best human-facing name for this element.
+
+        ``hint`` ranks below the others but above nothing: it is a field's
+        placeholder, which Material clears once the field has content, so it
+        names an EMPTY field and defers to real text as soon as one is typed.
+        """
+        return self.text or self.content_desc or self.hint or self.resource_id
 
     @property
     def center(self) -> tuple[int, int]:
@@ -56,7 +65,7 @@ class UiElement:
 
     def matches(self, query: str, *, exact: bool = False) -> bool:
         """Return True if ``query`` names this element."""
-        haystacks = (self.text, self.content_desc, self.resource_id)
+        haystacks = (self.text, self.content_desc, self.hint, self.resource_id)
         if exact:
             return any(h == query for h in haystacks)
         return any(query.lower() in h.lower() for h in haystacks if h)
@@ -101,18 +110,20 @@ def _parse_tree(xml: str) -> list[UiElement]:
             continue
         text = node.get("text", "")
         desc = node.get("content-desc", "")
+        hint = node.get("hint", "")
         res = node.get("resource-id", "")
         cls = node.get("class", "")
         # An EMPTY text field has no text, content-desc or resource-id, so a
         # "must be labelled" filter drops it -- and an empty field is exactly
         # the thing a caller needs to find in order to type into it. Keep every
         # editable node regardless of label.
-        if not (text or desc or res or cls.endswith("EditText")):
+        if not (text or desc or hint or res or cls.endswith("EditText")):
             continue
         elements.append(
             UiElement(
                 text=text,
                 content_desc=desc,
+                hint=hint,
                 resource_id=res,
                 class_name=cls,
                 bounds=(
diff --git a/python_pkg/android_ui/tests/test_driver.py b/python_pkg/android_ui/tests/test_driver.py
index 52b5648b..c56e473e 100644
--- a/python_pkg/android_ui/tests/test_driver.py
+++ b/python_pkg/android_ui/tests/test_driver.py
@@ -24,11 +24,12 @@ MOD = "python_pkg.android_ui.driver"
 def _node(text: str = "", **attrs: str) -> str:
     """Render one ``<node>`` element for a fake dump.
 
-    ``attrs`` accepts ``desc``, ``res``, ``cls``, ``bounds``, ``enabled`` and
-    ``focused``; each falls back to a representative default.
+    ``attrs`` accepts ``desc``, ``hint``, ``res``, ``cls``, ``bounds``,
+    ``enabled`` and ``focused``; each falls back to a representative default.
     """
     return (
         f'<node text="{text}" content-desc="{attrs.get("desc", "")}" '
+        f'hint="{attrs.get("hint", "")}" '
         f'resource-id="{attrs.get("res", "")}" '
         f'class="{attrs.get("cls", "android.widget.TextView")}" '
         f'bounds="{attrs.get("bounds", "[0,0][100,50]")}" '
@@ -209,3 +210,29 @@ class TestTap:
             c for c in ui.device.calls if c[:3] == ("shell", "input", "keyevent")
         ]
         assert keyevents, "expected the keyboard to be dismissed first"
+
+
+def test_hint_names_an_empty_material_field() -> None:
+    """A Flutter/Material field publishes its label only as ``hint``.
+
+    Such a field carries no text and no content-desc, so without hint it is an
+    anonymous edit box and the only way to fill it is by screen position --
+    which is how a mis-tap silently writes a value into the wrong field.
+    """
+    dump = _node(cls="android.widget.EditText", hint="Location name")
+    (element,) = drv._parse_tree(_tree(dump))
+
+    assert element.label == "Location name"
+    assert element.matches("location")
+
+
+def test_real_text_outranks_the_hint_once_typed() -> None:
+    """Material clears the hint when content arrives, so text must win.
+
+    Otherwise a filled field would still answer to its placeholder and a
+    caller could not tell an empty field from a completed one.
+    """
+    dump = _node("17:30", cls="android.widget.EditText", hint="Start time (HH:MM)")
+    (element,) = drv._parse_tree(_tree(dump))
+
+    assert element.label == "17:30"