[Time Tracking] - Back button on confirm page returns to wrong page when submitting from report details RHP

[jponikarchuk]

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Version Number: 9.3.1-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: N/A - new feature, doesn't exist in prod
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #78137
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): applausetester+sinodn23d@applause.expensifail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Mac 26.1 / Chrome
App Component: Money Requests

Action Performed:

Precondition:

• Log in with Expensifail account.
• Time tracking feature is enabled on OD.

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Go to workspace chat.
3. Click + > Create expense > Time.
4. Create a time expense.
5. Open the time expense.
6. Click Report > Remove from report.
7. Go to self DM.
8. Open the unreported time expense.
9. Click on the report header.
10. Click Submit it to someone.
11. Select workspace chat.
12. On confirm page, click RHP back button.

Expected Result:

RHP will return to recipient list.

Actual Result:

Back button on confirm page returns to time input page instead of recipient list when submitting from report details page.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

• Android: App
• Android: mWeb Chrome
• iOS: App
• iOS: mWeb Safari
• iOS: mWeb Chrome
• Windows: Chrome
• MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screenshots/Videos

1.mp4

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[melvin-bot]

You have been assigned to this deploy blocker because you recently merged this PR: #78137

[melvin-bot]

💬 A slack conversation has been started in #expensify-open-source

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @twisterdotcom (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details. Please add this bug to a GH project, as outlined in the SO.

[github-actions]

👋 Friendly reminder that deploy blockers are time-sensitive ⏱ issues! Check out the open `StagingDeployCash` deploy checklist to see the list of PRs included in this release, then work quickly to do one of the following:

1. Identify the pull request that introduced this issue and revert it.
2. Find someone who can quickly fix the issue.
3. Fix the issue yourself.

[OSBotify]

🔍 Investigation Summary

Classification: Frontend bug
Causing PR: #78137 - "[Behind Time Tracking Beta] Create time expenses in workspace reports" by @mhawryluk (High confidence)
Related Issues: None found

Recommendation: REVERT

The PR introduced a navigation bug in the time expense flow. The issue is reproducible on staging but not production (new feature), and the fix should be straightforward, but reverting is safer to unblock the deploy while a proper fix is developed.

📋 Detailed Analysis

Evidence

The issue occurs when submitting a time expense from the report details page. The reproduction steps are:

1. Create time expense in workspace chat
2. Remove it from report (making it unreported)
3. Open unreported expense from self DM
4. Click "Submit it to someone" from report header
5. Select workspace chat (recipient list)
6. On confirm page, click back button
7. Bug: Goes to time input page instead of recipient list

Root Cause

In PR #78137, the author added time expense support but implemented the back navigation incorrectly in src/pages/iou/request/step/IOURequestStepConfirmation.tsx at lines 437-438:

if (isTimeRequest) {
    return Navigation.goBack(ROUTES.MONEY_REQUEST_CREATE_TAB_TIME.getRoute(action, iouType, initialTransactionID, reportID));
}

This logic always navigates back to the time input page (MONEY_REQUEST_CREATE_TAB_TIME), regardless of how the user reached the confirmation page.

However, the correct behavior should follow the same pattern as other expense types (lines 441-454), which checks:

• If transaction?.isFromGlobalCreate is false (submitting from report details)
• If !transaction?.participantsAutoAssigned (user manually selected participants)
• Then navigate to MONEY_REQUEST_STEP_PARTICIPANTS (recipient list)

The time request logic was placed before this general logic, causing it to short-circuit and skip the proper navigation flow for submissions from report details.

Why This Is a Frontend Bug

This is purely a navigation/UI logic issue in the App code:

• No API errors
• No backend data issues
• The bug is in the React Navigation flow within IOURequestStepConfirmation.tsx
• Affects iOS App, Android App, and Web platforms (all frontend)