Merge release/1.18.0 into trunk

[wpmobilebot]

Merging release/1.18.0 into trunk.

Via intermediate branch merge/release-1.18.0-into-trunk, to help fix conflicts if any:

                          release/1.18.0  ----o-- - - -
                                               \
         merge/release-1.18.0-into-trunk        `---.
                                                     \
                                   trunk  ------------x- - -

[wpmobilebot]

📊 Performance Test Results

Comparing d48cbfe vs trunk

app-size

Metric	trunk	d48cbfe	Diff	Change
App Size (Mac)	1402.94 MB	1403.26 MB	+0.32 MB	⚪ 0.0%

site-editor

Metric	trunk	d48cbfe	Diff	Change
load	1076 ms	1060 ms	16 ms	⚪ 0.0%

site-startup

Metric	trunk	d48cbfe	Diff	Change
siteCreation	7547 ms	7565 ms	+18 ms	⚪ 0.0%
siteStartup	2872 ms	2868 ms	4 ms	⚪ 0.0%

---

Results are median values from multiple test runs.

Legend: 🟢 Improvement (faster) | 🔴 Regression (slower) | ⚪ No change (<50ms diff)