[Due for payment 2025-09-12] [$250] inconsistent emoji format for markdown

[mitarachim]

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Version Number: 9.0.63-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail: #63306
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): testpayment935@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Device used: Android
App Component: Chat Report View

Action Performed:

1. Open any chat
2. Type an emoji wrapped with a markdown (_*~😄~*_)

Expected Result:

Emoji is not formatted by the markdown

Actual Result:

Emoji is formatted by the strike through markdown for web and not for hybrid apps.( Inconsistent behavior )

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug6855442_1749550247789.screen_recording_20250609_204935_chrome.mp4

View all open jobs on GitHub

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021932429547807925863
• Upwork Job ID: 1932429547807925863
• Last Price Increase: 2025-07-29

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @zanyrenney

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @zanyrenney (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.

[dmkt9]

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

Emoji is formatted by the strike through markdown for web and not for hybrid apps.( Inconsistent behavior )

What is the root cause of that problem?

The emoji is wrapped in a span, and its parent span is styled with text-decoration: line-through;, which causes the emoji’s span to inherit that style

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

1. In react-native-live-markdown, the emoji styles are defined here with these properties:
   https://github.com/Expensify/react-native-live-markdown/blob/23e2d192545402ce8485f863c1032a172ce200db/src/web/utils/blockUtils.ts#L29-L37

case 'emoji':
    Object.assign(node.style, {
    ...markdownStyle.emoji,
    verticalAlign: 'middle',
    fontStyle: 'normal', // remove italic
    textDecoration: 'none', // remove strikethrough
    display: 'inline-block',
    });
    break;

2. We can apply the same styling to the emoji in our message component at here:
   

   App/src/styles/utils/emojiDefaultStyles/index.ts

   Line 6 in e0250b5

   const emojiDefaultStyles: EmojiDefaultStyles = {

3. To avoid the difference when selecting, we can adjust verticalAlign to top, or not if we want to be consistent with the input:

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

NA

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

NA

Reminder: Please use plain English, be brief and avoid jargon. Feel free to use images, charts or pseudo-code if necessary. Do not post large multi-line diffs or write walls of text. Do not create PRs unless you have been hired for this job.

[bernhardoj]

Copying from #54618

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

Double strike-through is seen on emoji.

What is the root cause of that problem?

We previously prevented the emoji from being formatted in #40617. The strikethrough style is applied from the parent (<del>) and the emoji itself. In that PR, we apply an inline-flex style so the emoji won't be affected by the parent strikethrough style.

But in #47547, we changed it to inline because selecting the text with emoji won't have the same height.

Compared to when using inline.

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

I think it's more important to prevent the emoji from being formatted compared to making sure the selection height to be same and it's barely noticeable too, so I suggest to use inline-flex back and add `textDecorationLine: 'none' to override the text decoration style on the emoji itself.

App/src/styles/utils/emojiDefaultStyles/index.ts

Lines 6 to 9 in e94df0f

	const emojiDefaultStyles: EmojiDefaultStyles = {
	...FontUtils.fontFamily.platform.EXP_NEUE,
	...display.dInline,
	};

const emojiDefaultStyles: EmojiDefaultStyles = {
    ...FontUtils.fontFamily.platform.EXP_NEUE,
    ...display.dInlineFlex,
    textDecorationLine: 'none',
};

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

N/A

[zanyrenney]

This feels kinda niche, but I really like the context and historic decisions listed out by @bernhardoj above which explain previous decisions on this sort of thing, which seems considered.

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021932429547807925863

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @jayeshmangwani (External)

[zanyrenney]

Already have the proposal from @bernhardoj if you can please review @jayeshmangwani

[jayeshmangwani]

@bernhardoj could you please add a bit more detail on why the display was changed to inline-flex? I’m a bit concerned that reverting this change might be confusing and could be mistaken for a regression, especially since the selection will look different compared to the current version after this update.