Re-apply Fix GPS crashes in the background on Android by mountiny · Pull Request #92171 · Expensify/App

mountiny · 2026-06-01T08:03:02Z

Re-applies #91155

We had to revert it, because the oldApp PR was not merged and deployed together with this change https://github.com/Expensify/Mobile-Expensify/pull/13944 - that is now in main so we can merge this again and it will go to next staging release together as it should

Explanation of Change

Replaces the Airship LiveUpdate-based GPS notification (introduced here) with a standalone Android foreground service (GpsTripService) driven directly from JS via a new GpsTripServiceModule native module. The old approach with Airship LiveUpdate was forcing us to use a simple service that was getting killed sometimes by the Low Memory Killer, changing it to a foreground service will make it higher priority making the service less likely to be killed.

Bumps expo-location to ^55.1.10 to fix crashes caused by:

java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Failed resolution of: Lexpo/modules/core/MapHelper;

when getting GPS updates in the background with active GPS trip.

Fixed Issues

$ #88700, #90931
PROPOSAL: N/A
MOBILE-EXPENSIFY: https://github.com/Expensify/Mobile-Expensify/pull/13944

Tests

Crashes # 1:

Start a GPS live tracking session
Go back to Home
Background the app
Leave the phone for 1 - 2 minutes (Can lock the phone)
Open the phone
Tap on the Live tracking notification
Repeat 4-7 for 2 - 3 times
Verify the app doesn't crash

Crashes # 2:

Navigate to WS Chat
Click + > Track Distance > GPS
Start the GPS tracking, kill and reopen the app
Stop the GPS tracking, then discard the distance tracking
Repeat steps 4-5
Start the GPS tracking
While the trip is in progress kill the app or force close
Reopen the app
Verify that the app doesn't crash

Starting GPS trip and backgrounding the app:

Start GPS trip
Verify that it shows a notification banner at the top of the screen
Verify that there is a notification on the lock screen and in the notifications panel
Navigate to a different screen and background the app
Tap on the GPS notification
Verify that it opens the app and navigates to the GPS screen with ongoing GPS trip
Background the app again
Tap on the GPS notification
Verify that it opens the app on the GPS screen (there should be no unnecessary navigation animation or anything like that)

Logging out:

Start GPS trip
Verify that the GPS notification appears
Log out
Verify that the GPS notification disappeared

App termination:

Start GPS trip
Verify that the GPS notification appears
Terminate the app
Verify that the GPS notification disappeared
Open the app again, it should show the Continue GPS trip recording? modal
Tap Continue trip
Verify that the GPS notification appears

Offline tests

N/A — the GPS foreground service runs locally on-device and does not make network requests.

QA Steps

Same as tests.

PR Author Checklist

Screenshots/Videos

Android: Native

Screen.Recording.2026-05-20.at.09.26.29.mov

Screen.Recording.2026-05-20.at.09.23.05.mov

Screen.Recording.2026-05-20.at.09.20.37.mov

Screen.Recording.2026-05-20.at.09.19.50.mov

…roid""

melvin-bot · 2026-06-01T08:03:11Z

@truph01 Please copy/paste the Reviewer Checklist from here into a new comment on this PR and complete it. If you have the K2 extension, you can simply click: [this button]

mjasikowski · 2026-06-01T08:04:16Z

Reviewer Checklist

I have verified the author checklist is complete (all boxes are checked off).
I verified the correct issue is linked in the ### Fixed Issues section above
I verified testing steps are clear and they cover the changes made in this PR
- I verified the steps for local testing are in the Tests section
- I verified the steps for Staging and/or Production testing are in the QA steps section
- I verified the steps cover any possible failure scenarios (i.e. verify an input displays the correct error message if the entered data is not correct)
- I turned off my network connection and tested it while offline to ensure it matches the expected behavior (i.e. verify the default avatar icon is displayed if app is offline)
I checked that screenshots or videos are included for tests on all platforms
I included screenshots or videos for tests on all platforms
I verified that the composer does not automatically focus or open the keyboard on mobile unless explicitly intended. This includes checking that returning the app from the background does not unexpectedly open the keyboard.
I verified tests pass on all platforms & I tested again on:
- Android: HybridApp
- Android: mWeb Chrome
- iOS: HybridApp
- iOS: mWeb Safari
- MacOS: Chrome / Safari
- MacOS: Desktop
If there are any errors in the console that are unrelated to this PR, I either fixed them (preferred) or linked to where I reported them in Slack
I verified there are no new alerts related to the canBeMissing param for useOnyx
I verified proper code patterns were followed (see Reviewing the code)
- I verified that any callback methods that were added or modified are named for what the method does and never what callback they handle (i.e. toggleReport and not onIconClick).
- I verified that comments were added to code that is not self explanatory
- I verified that any new or modified comments were clear, correct English, and explained "why" the code was doing something instead of only explaining "what" the code was doing.
- I verified any copy / text shown in the product is localized by adding it to src/languages/* files and using the translation method
- I verified all numbers, amounts, dates and phone numbers shown in the product are using the localization methods
- I verified any copy / text that was added to the app is grammatically correct in English. It adheres to proper capitalization guidelines (note: only the first word of header/labels should be capitalized), and is either coming verbatim from figma or has been approved by marketing (in order to get marketing approval, ask the Bug Zero team member to add the Waiting for copy label to the issue)
- I verified proper file naming conventions were followed for any new files or renamed files. All non-platform specific files are named after what they export and are not named "index.js". All platform-specific files are named for the platform the code supports as outlined in the README.
- I verified the JSDocs style guidelines (in STYLE.md) were followed
If a new code pattern is added I verified it was agreed to be used by multiple Expensify engineers
I verified that this PR follows the guidelines as stated in the Review Guidelines
I verified other components that can be impacted by these changes have been tested, and I retested again (i.e. if the PR modifies a shared library or component like Avatar, I verified the components using Avatar have been tested & I retested again)
I verified all code is DRY (the PR doesn't include any logic written more than once, with the exception of tests)
I verified any variables that can be defined as constants (ie. in CONST.ts or at the top of the file that uses the constant) are defined as such
If a new component is created I verified that:
- A similar component doesn't exist in the codebase
- All props are defined accurately and each prop has a /** comment above it */
- The file is named correctly
- The component has a clear name that is non-ambiguous and the purpose of the component can be inferred from the name alone
- The only data being stored in the state is data necessary for rendering and nothing else
- For Class Components, any internal methods passed to components event handlers are bound to this properly so there are no scoping issues (i.e. for onClick={this.submit} the method this.submit should be bound to this in the constructor)
- Any internal methods bound to this are necessary to be bound (i.e. avoid this.submit = this.submit.bind(this); if this.submit is never passed to a component event handler like onClick)
- All JSX used for rendering exists in the render method
- The component has the minimum amount of code necessary for its purpose, and it is broken down into smaller components in order to separate concerns and functions
If any new file was added I verified that:
- The file has a description of what it does and/or why is needed at the top of the file if the code is not self explanatory
If a new CSS style is added I verified that:
- A similar style doesn't already exist
- The style can't be created with an existing StyleUtils function (i.e. StyleUtils.getBackgroundAndBorderStyle(theme.componentBG)
If the PR modifies code that runs when editing or sending messages, I tested and verified there is no unexpected behavior for all supported markdown - URLs, single line code, code blocks, quotes, headings, bold, strikethrough, and italic.
If the PR modifies a generic component, I tested and verified that those changes do not break usages of that component in the rest of the App (i.e. if a shared library or component like Avatar is modified, I verified that Avatar is working as expected in all cases)
If the PR modifies a component related to any of the existing Storybook stories, I tested and verified all stories for that component are still working as expected.
If the PR modifies a component or page that can be accessed by a direct deeplink, I verified that the code functions as expected when the deeplink is used - from a logged in and logged out account.
If the PR modifies the UI (e.g. new buttons, new UI components, changing the padding/spacing/sizing, moving components, etc) or modifies the form input styles:
- I verified that all the inputs inside a form are aligned with each other.
- I added Design label and/or tagged @Expensify/design so the design team can review the changes.
If a new page is added, I verified it's using the ScrollView component to make it scrollable when more elements are added to the page.
For any bug fix or new feature in this PR, I verified that sufficient unit tests are included to prevent regressions in this flow.
If the main branch was merged into this PR after a review, I tested again and verified the outcome was still expected according to the Test steps.
I have checked off every checkbox in the PR reviewer checklist, including those that don't apply to this PR.

Screenshots/Videos

Android: HybridApp

Android: mWeb Chrome

iOS: HybridApp

iOS: mWeb Safari

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

MacOS: Desktop

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chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-06-01T08:06:52Z

+            return START_NOT_STICKY
+        }
+
+        return START_STICKY


Preserve the deep link when Android restarts the GPS service

If Android kills this foreground service while a trip is still active, returning START_STICKY allows the system to recreate it later with a null intent. In that restart path lines 21-23 fall back to default text and deepLink is null, so the rebuilt ongoing GPS notification has no ContentIntent and tapping it no longer opens the in-progress GPS screen. Returning START_REDELIVER_INTENT here or persisting the last deep link would keep the notification actionable after the exact low-memory/service-restart scenario this change is meant to handle.

Useful? React with 👍 / 👎.

codecov · 2026-06-01T08:10:15Z

Codecov Report

✅ Changes either increased or maintained existing code coverage, great job!

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
...rc/components/GPSTripStateChecker/index.native.tsx	`73.68% <ø> (ø)`
...tStepDistanceGPS/GPSNotifications/index.android.ts	`0.00% <0.00%> (ø)`
... and 353 files with indirect coverage changes

sentry · 2026-06-01T08:15:56Z

📲 Install Builds

Android

🔗 App Name	App ID	Version	Configuration
Expensify	org.me.mobiexpensifyg	9.3.89-6 (509038906)	Release

⚙️ app Build Distribution Settings

melvin-bot · 2026-06-01T09:06:07Z

@mountiny looks like this was merged without a test passing. Please add a note explaining why this was done and remove the Emergency label if this is not an emergency.

mountiny · 2026-06-01T09:08:41Z

This is straight reapplication of the existing code that was tested before. Seems like Ai reviewer was stuck and that led to the Emergency label, not Emergency so removing the label

github-actions · 2026-06-01T09:13:10Z

🚧 @mountiny has triggered a test Expensify/App build. You can view the workflow run here.

github-actions · 2026-06-01T09:29:36Z

🧪🧪 Use the links below to test this adhoc build on Android, iOS, and Web. Happy testing! 🧪🧪
Built from App PR #92171.

Android 🤖	iOS 🍎
https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-android-Adhoc-ba59ced8e73-787d16a-6089d90c1e2ef583199987e8837e302783830ccf/index.html	https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-ios-device-AdHoc-ba59ced-787d16a-5f5f34a9bd9f0b7bb7ef85c74c748c7ce82a6fc2/index.html

Web 🕸️
https://92171.pr-testing.expensify.com

👀 View the workflow run that generated this build 👀

OSBotify · 2026-06-01T10:24:08Z

🚀 Deployed to staging by https://github.com/mountiny in version: 9.3.90-0 🚀

platform	result
🕸 web 🕸	success ✅
🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

Bundle Size Analysis (Sentry):

Android
iOS

MelvinBot · 2026-06-01T10:27:09Z

Help site review — no changes required

I reviewed the changes in this PR against the help site files under App/docs/articles and no help site updates are required.

Why: This PR is an Android-only implementation/reliability change. It replaces the Airship LiveUpdate-based GPS notification with a native Android foreground service (GpsTripService / GpsTripServiceModule) and bumps expo-location to fix a crash. The user-facing behavior is unchanged:

The notification still uses the same copy — the JS keeps calling translate('gps.notification.title') and translate('gps.notification.body') (GPSNotifications/index.android.ts).
GPS tracking still runs in the background, shows an active-tracking notification, opens the app to the GPS screen on tap, and clears on logout / app termination — exactly as before, just via a higher-priority foreground service so it's less likely to be killed.
No new buttons, tabs, settings, labels, or feature names were introduced.

The existing article Distance-Expenses.md already documents this behavior accurately:

No. GPS tracking runs in the background on your mobile device. A notification confirms that tracking is active, so you can use other apps or lock your phone while driving.

Since this is an under-the-hood fix with no change to user-facing copy, behavior, or UI, I did not create a draft help site PR. If you'd like a docs update anyway (or you think a user-facing detail did change), let me know and I'll draft one.

IuliiaHerets · 2026-06-01T20:18:13Z

Hi @mountiny. Does this PR apply to iOS? There is no notification banner for the GPS trip

Bug7168849_1780334685416.ScreenRecording_06-01-2026_11-40-36_1.mp4

cc @mjasikowski @truph01 @flaviadefaria

OSBotify · 2026-06-02T06:05:26Z

🚀 Deployed to production by https://github.com/lakchote in version: 9.3.90-3 🚀

platform	result
🕸 web 🕸	success ✅
🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

GCyganek · 2026-06-02T06:17:55Z

Hi @mountiny. Does this PR apply to iOS? There is no notification banner for the GPS trip

@IuliiaHerets This is Android only, iOS works differently as it uses Live Activity

Revert "[CP Staging] Revert "Fix GPS crashes in the background on And…

8a95bc8

…roid""

mountiny self-assigned this Jun 1, 2026

mountiny requested review from a team as code owners June 1, 2026 08:03

melvin-bot Bot requested review from flaviadefaria and truph01 and removed request for a team June 1, 2026 08:03

mjasikowski approved these changes Jun 1, 2026

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mountiny mentioned this pull request Jun 1, 2026

[Due for payment 2026-06-09] [Due for payment 2026-06-08] Track Distance - GPS trip/tracking notification does not appear #92073

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chatgpt-codex-connector Bot reviewed Jun 1, 2026

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mountiny merged commit ba59ced into main Jun 1, 2026
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mountiny deleted the revert-92170-revert-91155-@GCyganek/gps/fix-android-gps-crashes-in-bg branch June 1, 2026 09:06

melvin-bot Bot added the Emergency label Jun 1, 2026

mountiny removed the Emergency label Jun 1, 2026

github-actions Bot mentioned this pull request Jun 1, 2026

Investigate workflow job failing on main: test / test (job 6) #92176

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OSBotify mentioned this pull request Jun 1, 2026

Deploy Checklist: New Expensify 2026-06-01 #92180

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melvin-bot Bot mentioned this pull request Jun 2, 2026

[Due for payment 2026-06-09] [Due for payment 2026-06-08] [$250] Android - App crashes reopening while the GPS trip is in progress after discard tracking twice #88700

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mountiny commented Jun 1, 2026

Explanation of Change

Fixed Issues

Tests

Offline tests

QA Steps

PR Author Checklist

Screenshots/Videos

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mjasikowski commented Jun 1, 2026

Reviewer Checklist

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📲 Install Builds

Android

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Help site review — no changes required

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