Workspace - Home page is displayed before landing on workspace overview page

[mitarachim]

If you haven’t already, check out our contributing guidelines for onboarding and email contributors@expensify.com to request to join our Slack channel!

---

Version Number: v9.3.62-5
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: No
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #85234
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): sieiidji@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: iOS 26.3 / iPhone 13, Tecno Spark 8/Android 11
App Component: Workspace Settings

Action Performed:

1. Launch the hybrid app
2. Sign in with a new account (don't create a workspace during onboarding)
3. Tap on FAB button > Create Workspace > Tap Confirm

Expected Result:

Home page is not displayed and the user is navigated directly to workspace overview page

Actual Result:

Home page is displayed before landing on workspace overview page

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7139323_1777301839666.video_2026-04-27_17-51-31.mp4

View all open jobs on GitHub

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @ZhenjaHorbach

[melvin-bot]

You have been assigned to this deploy blocker because you recently merged this PR: #85234

[melvin-bot]

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

[OSBotify]

Investigation Summary

Classification: Frontend bug
Causing PR: #85234 - "Introduce a Bottom Tab Navigator for Top-Level Navigation" by @WojtekBoman (High confidence)
Related Issues: #85260

Recommendation: REVERT

This is a large navigation refactor that introduced a real createBottomTabNavigator for the top-level navigation structure. The bug (Home page flashing before landing on workspace overview) is staging-only and not reproducible in production, which aligns with this PR being the cause. The fix needs to happen in Expensify/App.

Assigned: @WojtekBoman (PR author), @ZhenjaHorbach (approving reviewer), @mountiny (approving reviewer) from highest-confidence causing PR only
Labels: DeployBlockerCash kept (frontend App bug). DeployBlocker removed (no backend involvement).

Detailed Analysis

Evidence

• The melvin-bot explicitly linked PR Introduce a Bottom Tab Navigator for Top-Level Navigation #85234 to this deploy blocker because the author recently merged it.
• PR Introduce a Bottom Tab Navigator for Top-Level Navigation #85234 merged on 2026-04-24, which places it in the current staging deploy (version v9.3.62-5 is staging-only, not reproducible in production).
• The bug occurs during workspace creation via the FAB button in the HybridApp. The issue is a brief flash of the Home page before navigating to the workspace overview page.
• PR Introduce a Bottom Tab Navigator for Top-Level Navigation #85234 introduced a TAB_NAVIGATOR (using createBottomTabNavigator) as the top-level navigation structure, replacing the previous model where full-screen navigators (ReportsSplitNavigator, WorkspaceNavigator, etc.) were individual screens registered directly in the root stack.
• The createWorkspaceWithPolicyDraftAndNavigateToIt function in src/libs/actions/App.ts was modified in this PR. It now calls Navigation.navigate(routeToNavigate, {forceReplace: true}) when not transitioning from OldDot and not in a modal context. The forceReplace path in linkTo/index.ts dispatches a REPLACE action — in the new TabNavigator structure, this can momentarily expose the Home tab (the default active tab) before the WORKSPACE_INITIAL route finishes rendering.
• The dismissModal + afterTransition + navigate sequence used when coming from a modal context also interacts with the new TabNavigator in ways that can briefly render the Home tab before the workspace screen is focused.

Verification

• Affected files: src/libs/actions/App.ts, src/libs/Navigation/Navigation.ts, src/libs/Navigation/helpers/linkTo/index.ts, src/libs/Navigation/AppNavigator/Navigators/TabNavigator.tsx, src/libs/Navigation/AppNavigator/AuthScreens.tsx
• PR Introduce a Bottom Tab Navigator for Top-Level Navigation #85234 directly modifies all of these files. The src/libs/actions/App.ts change added the forceReplace: true option to the workspace navigation call and the Navigation.isTopmostRouteModalScreen() / dismissModal branch.
• The bug only affects iOS and Android (HybridApp native), not mWeb — consistent with the TabNavigator.native.tsx file introduced in this PR for native-specific tab behavior.

Root Cause

With the old navigation model, full-screen navigators were pushed directly onto the root stack, so navigating to WORKSPACE_INITIAL would push the WorkspaceNavigator onto the stack with no intermediate Home screen visible. With the new TAB_NAVIGATOR model, all full-screen navigators (including HOME and WORKSPACE_NAVIGATOR) are children of a single TAB_NAVIGATOR. When createWorkspaceWithPolicyDraftAndNavigateToIt dispatches navigation after workspace creation, the new forceReplace: true path or the dismissModal + afterTransition sequence momentarily reveals the TabNavigator's default active tab (Home) for one animation frame before the WorkspaceNavigator tab is focused, producing the visible flash.