[Due for payment 2026-03-17] [$250] iOS- Chat- Input is not focused when searching a chat

[vincdargento]

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Version Number: v9.3.23-2
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: No
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: N/A
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): htad26+wewteruiy@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: iPhone 13/iOS 26.2.1
App Component: Other

Action Performed:

1. Sign in with an account
2. Tap on FAB > Start chat
3. Observe the input field

Expected Result:

The input is focused and keyboard appears automatically

Actual Result:

The input isn't focused and keyboard doesn't appear automatically

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

bug.mp4

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @JmillsExpensify

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022024625667050006130
• Upwork Job ID: 2024625667050006130
• Last Price Increase: 2026-03-02

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @JmillsExpensify (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.

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @Gonals (DeployBlockerCash), see https://stackoverflowteams.com/c/expensify/questions/9980/ for more details.

[melvin-bot]

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

[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: Unable to definitively identify a single causing PR (Medium confidence)
Root Cause: iOS Native lacks onTabSelect-on-mount mechanism for input focus

Recommendation: NEEDS INVESTIGATION

The issue is architectural rather than caused by a single recent PR. Further investigation needed to determine the correct fix approach.

Labels: Keeping both DeployBlockerCash and DeployBlocker labels until root cause is confirmed by the team.

Detailed Analysis

Evidence

The bug occurs when opening "Start chat" on iOS Native. The input field should auto-focus but does not.

Key findings:

1. NewChatPage.tsx line 508: textInputAutoFocus={false} - Auto-focus is disabled
2. NewChatSelectorPage.tsx lines 37-48: Focus is supposed to be triggered via onTabSelectFocusHandler
3. NewChatSelectorPage.tsx line 82: onTabSelect={onTabSelectFocusHandler} only fires when tabs change, NOT on initial mount
4. PR [InteractionManager - Deprecation] Added logic to fire onTabSelect on mount (on Web) #76586 added a patch (react-native-tab-view+4.1.0+003+fix-web-onTabSelect-on-mount.patch) to call onTabSelect on mount for Web only
5. No equivalent patch exists for iOS Native (PagerViewAdapter.tsx)

Root Cause

On iOS Native, the onPageSelected callback (which triggers onTabSelect) is only called when the user changes tabs, not on initial mount. This means:

• When "Start chat" opens, NewChatSelectorPage renders
• NewChatPage has textInputAutoFocus={false}
• onTabSelectFocusHandler is never called on initial mount
• chatPageInputRef.current?.focus() is never executed
• Input remains unfocused

Web works because PR #76586 added a patch to call onTabSelect when layout is ready.

Verification

Files affected:

• /home/runner/_work/App/App/src/pages/NewChatPage.tsx (line 508)
• /home/runner/_work/App/App/src/pages/NewChatSelectorPage.tsx (lines 37-48, 82-87)
• /home/runner/_work/App/App/patches/react-native-tab-view/react-native-tab-view+4.1.0+003+fix-web-onTabSelect-on-mount.patch

Recommended Actions

1. Option A: Add a similar patch for iOS Native to call onTabSelect on mount in PagerViewAdapter.tsx
2. Option B: Change textInputAutoFocus={false} to textInputAutoFocus={true} conditionally for iOS Native
3. Option C: Add a useEffect in NewChatSelectorPage to manually focus the input on mount for iOS Native

The team should determine which approach aligns best with the architecture. I recommend tagging @blazejkustra (author of PR #76586) and @nkdengineer for input.