iOS - Chat - Emoji picker is not responsive

[applause-bot]

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Version Number: 9.3.90-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: No
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #92153
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): jsodinjosdjsoinjsiojs@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: iPhone 15 Pro Max / iOS 26.5
App Component: Money Requests

Action Performed:

1. Launch Expensify app.
2. Open any chat.
3. Tap emoji picker.

Expected Result:

Emoji picker will open.

Actual Result:

Emoji picker is not responsive.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7168435_1780311090185.ScreenRecording_06-01-2026_18-50-50_1.mp4

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Applause Internal Information
Exported by: Mita Rachim
Bug ID: 7168435

[applause-bot]

While Applause doesn't embed attachments for this bug, here are the links for quick view:
https://platform.applause.com/services/links/v1/external/0085845d70312106900a605997dd97b1f76bc1189ba9e0015bfbd54b047fa36e

[melvin-bot]

You have been assigned to this deploy blocker because you recently merged this PR: #92153

[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.

[MelvinBot]

Proposal

⚠️ High-confidence analysis. Root cause traced end-to-end through code + the installed FullStory plugin source. Not yet runtime-confirmed on an iOS build.

Problem

On iOS native, tapping the emoji picker button in a chat does nothing — the picker never opens. iOS-only, reproducible on staging but not production. The only thing on staging that isn't in production is Expensify/App#92153, which bumped FullStory packages (@fullstory/babel-plugin-react-native ^1.5.2 → ^1.6.4, @fullstory/babel-plugin-annotate-react ^2.3.2 → ^2.4.0).

Root Cause

Expensify/App#92153's real change is FullStory's babel plugin now injecting its synthetic ref as non-enumerable (the previous "leaking ref" bug it fixed was caused by the ref being enumerable). The installed plugin source confirms this verbatim, and gates it to iOS:

// React versions >= 19 — synthetic refs are non-enumerable to prevent leaking through {...rest} spreads
props = Object.defineProperty({ ...props }, 'ref', { value: ..., enumerable: false, configurable: true });
...
shouldInjectRef = (global.RN$Bridgeless || global.__turboModuleProxy != null) && Platform.OS === 'ios' && !Platform.isTV;

The emoji picker's open flow relies on a ref being forwarded through a {...props} spread, which a non-enumerable property does not survive:

1. The picker is mounted as <EmojiPicker ref={EmojiPickerAction.emojiPickerRef} /> — but EmojiPicker's export is wrapped in the withViewportOffsetTop HOC.
2. That HOC is a plain function component that forwards everything via {...(props as TProps)} — a spread copies enumerable props only, so the now-non-enumerable ref is dropped and never reaches the inner component.
3. The inner EmojiPicker({viewportOffsetTop, ref}) (React 19 ref-as-prop) therefore gets ref === undefined, so useImperativeHandle(ref, ...) is a no-op and emojiPickerRef.current stays null.
4. On tap, showEmojiPicker early-returns because !emojiPickerRef.current → nothing happens → "not responsive".

This explains every symptom: iOS-only (injection gated to iOS Fabric/TurboModules), staging-not-production (PR not yet in prod), and the button rendering fine but doing nothing on tap.

Why not the press handler / other suspects

@fullstory/babel-plugin-annotate-react@2.4.0 only added React Compiler support — it does not wrap Pressable or inject onPress. FullStory's press instrumentation fires after onPress and does not replace it, so the button's tap handler itself still works; the failure is the dropped imperative-handle ref, not a clobbered onPress. Note this likely affects other components that forward refs through {...props}/{...rest} spreads too — emoji picker is just the reported symptom.

Recommended Fix

Make withViewportOffsetTop forward ref explicitly instead of relying on the spread (destructuring reads non-enumerable props fine; only the ...rest/spread misses them):

function WithViewportOffsetTop({ref, ...props}: Omit<TProps, keyof ViewportOffsetTopProps> & {ref?: React.Ref<unknown>}) {
    ...
    return (
        <WrappedComponent
            {...(props as TProps)}
            ref={ref}
            viewportOffsetTop={viewportOffsetTop}
        />
    );
}

Then audit other HOCs/components that forward a ref only via a {...props}/{...rest} spread, since they are vulnerable to the same regression on iOS.

Fast fallback to unblock the deploy: revert Expensify/App#92153. That re-opens the tax-name autofocus bug (issue 76650) but immediately restores the emoji picker; the FullStory bump can be re-landed alongside the HOC fix above.

Verification note: this is iOS-native-only (FullStory's ref injection is gated to iOS) — it will not reproduce on the web build, so a web/Playwright test can't confirm it; it needs an iOS native build/simulator.

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Next Steps for Contributor+ team:
To accept: @MelvinBot implement [this](https://github.com/Expensify/App/issues/92197) to create a draft PR.
To refine: @MelvinBot <your feedback>
To reject: Explain why you are rejecting Melvin's proposal.

[IuliiaHerets]

Issue is not repro using adhoc build

ScreenRecording_06-01-2026.18-58-42_1.MP4