Storyline Master Slide object states flickering

A bug seems to have crept into the September 2026 versions of Storyline which has broken how I use objects on the master slide. I often use Rectangles with multiple states for topic titles, which I change with triggers depending on which topic the learner is viewing. 

In the September 2026 versions of Storyline the Normal state is briefly shown when I move from slide to slide. This never used to be the case. 

I also noticed that the flicker occurs when the initial state is set to something other than Normal. Even without using triggers, the Normal state is displayed for a few milliseconds. 

Here is a screenshot of the rectangle set to the initial state of Topic 1, which I would expect to persist seamlessly between slides. 

Please take a look at these examples. 

In the first example, the flicker is very noticeable when you move from slide to slide. 

https://360.articulate.com/review/content/75207938-075a-4cc8-a250-428ce0c1baf2/review?version=1

In this example, adding an image to the Master slide fixes the issue. It's very odd. 

https://360.articulate.com/review/content/75207938-075a-4cc8-a250-428ce0c1baf2/review

Has anyone else noticed this?