Android - Spend - Report becomes blank after deleting other report

[lanitochka17]

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Version Number: 9.66.3-1
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: No
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #89353
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): jsosdjosjndosjodnjno@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Samsung Galaxy S25 FE / Android 16
App Component: Search

Action Performed:

1. Launch Expensify app.
2. Go to workspace chat.
3. Create two reports.
4. Go to Spend > Reports.
5. Select a report via checkbox.
6. Tap dropdown button > Delete.
7. Delete the report.

Expected Result:

The other report will not turn blank after deleting report.

Actual Result:

The other report turns blank after deleting report.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7144273_1777908056398.Screen_Recording_20260504_223812_Expensify.mp4

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[melvin-bot]

You have been assigned to this deploy blocker because you recently merged this PR: #88296

[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.

[JS00001]

@Krishna2323 can you take a look please?

[MelvinBot]

Proposal

What is the root cause of that problem?

When a report is deleted from Spend > Reports, deleteAppReport optimistically sets pendingAction: 'delete' on the report in the search snapshot (Report/index.ts:5972-5980). This flows through to BaseListItem, which wraps content in OfflineWithFeedback with shouldHideOnDelete defaulting to true (BaseListItem.tsx:168-175). When hideChildren triggers (OfflineWithFeedback.tsx:103), the deleted report's row collapses to an empty <View> shell — but is not removed from the FlashList data array.

On Android, the native FlashList (BaseSearchList/index.native.tsx:30-47) uses removeClippedSubviews without an estimatedItemSize prop. When the deleted item collapses to near-zero height, FlashList's view recycling mechanism can miscalculate layout for the remaining item, causing it to render blank. This is compounded by the fact that shouldAnimate is false for EXPENSE_REPORT type (Search/index.tsx:1730), so no FadeOutUp or LinearTransition animations fire to gracefully remove the collapsed item — it just stays as an invisible zero-height container in the list, confusing FlashList's layout engine.

Investigation details

Data flow:

1. User selects report A → Delete → deleteAppReport merges pendingAction: DELETE into snapshot
2. OfflineWithFeedback hides report A's children → empty <View> wrapper remains in FlashList data
3. shouldAnimate is false for EXPENSE_REPORT → no exit animation, no layout transition
4. FlashList on Android (with removeClippedSubviews, no estimatedItemSize) miscalculates layout
5. Report B's cell renders blank due to view recycling/layout miscalculation

Why Android-only: The native FlashList implementation uses removeClippedSubviews (index.native.tsx:42) which is an Android-specific optimization that clips views outside the visible area. Web uses a different list implementation that doesn't have this recycling behavior.

PR #88296 attribution: The PR modified MoneyRequestReportView components (report detail view), but these components are not used in the search list. The search list renders ExpenseReportListItem → ExpenseReportListItemRow, which don't import any components changed by the PR. The regression may have been exposed by timing/environment changes in staging rather than the PR's code changes directly.

Alternative explanations considered:

• Onyx snapshot data corruption → ruled out: optimistic update only modifies the deleted report's data
• Derived value reportTransactionsAndViolations cascade → ruled out: this affects report detail view, not search list
• React key collision in FlashList → unlikely: keyExtractor uses stable keyForList values

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

Enable exit animations for EXPENSE_REPORT type so deleted items properly animate out and trigger LinearTransition for remaining items, preventing the FlashList layout miscalculation. In Search/index.tsx:1730, change shouldAnimate to also be true for EXPENSE_REPORT type, or filter deleted items out of the data array before passing to FlashList so collapsed empty Views don't remain in the list.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

1. Add estimatedItemSize to the native FlashList — would help FlashList better handle layout changes, but doesn't address the root problem of invisible zero-height items persisting in the list.
2. Filter deleted items from data array — cleaner solution that removes the collapsed item entirely rather than relying on animations, but loses the ability to show undo/restore UI for deleted items.

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Next Steps for Contributor+ team: Reply with @MelvinBot implement this to create a draft PR, @MelvinBot <your feedback> to refine this analysis, or explain why you are rejecting Melvin's proposal.